September 17, 2000Charged US guardsman speaks out
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- A former National guardsman cleared of all charges in an anti-NATO graffiti attack and bombing attempt at a Milwaukee base spoke out Saturday night, saying he holds no grudges against either the National Guard or the government that accused him.The criminal complaint against Milan Mititch, dismissed Friday, said a tipster told investigators Mititch had spoken of his animosity toward the Guard.
"I harbor no animosity toward the Army or the National Guard," Mititch told The Associated Press on Saturday. "I never have. That statement is false, false, false.
"I'm very proud of my 17 years with them."
Mititch, 35, a commuter airline pilot and son of a Serbian immigrant, said one of the worst things to come from his arrest was "the cloud that has been cast over the Serbian community in Milwaukee."
"I am absolutely devastated by the fact that the entire Serb community has been brought under suspicion, and I am the focal point of that," he said as he sat in his lawyer's home for his first interview since his arrest.
Mititch had contended from the start that he was on vacation with his mother in Door County, about 140 miles north of Milwaukee, when an intruder broke into the 128th Air Guard Refueling Wing on July 19, scrawled "Free Kosova," an Albanian spelling for Kosovo, on a satellite dish and left behind two pipe bombs when guards chased the intruder away. The bombs did not explode.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Friday that a continuing FBI investigation found evidence that didn't support the case against Mititch and that officials now believe the July 19 incident is connected to another graffiti incident that occurred March 17, when a Humvee vehicle was burned and graffiti left at the scene. The FBI had confirmed Mititch was in Philadelphia on that date.
The two felony counts against Mititch of federal explosives violations, which carried a sentence of up to 40 years in prison, were dismissed.
"I feel in many respects it was an act of God," Mititch said in the interview. "I happened to be working in Philadelphia when these crimes occurred -- by coincidence. I could just as easily have been at home."
Mititch said the spelling of "Kosova" made him think whoever invaded the base was someone of another ethnic origin. He wouldn't say which one, saying he didn't want to label anyone as he was labeled.
A guard at the base who chased the intruder had identified Mititch as the man who broke into the compound.
The intruder also wrote vulgar remarks about "KFOR," the NATO-led force charged with maintaining peace between Serbs and Albanians in the Yugoslavian province of Kosovo. Personnel from the 128th provided support services during a NATO bombing campaign in Yugoslavia last year.
Mititch spent 35 days in custody before his release on $100,000 bond Aug. 23.
He said he and his lawyer, Nick Kostich, had not talked about suing the federal government.
"I have no plans at this time of that type. Basically all I want is a normal life," Mititch said. "I don't have any grudges towards anyone."
He said he would like to resume his career as a pilot, though he is not sure whether that will be possible with the negative attention he's received. He was suspended without pay by American Eagle and hasn't spoken with his employer since his arrest.
"People think that once a case is dismissed it's over," Mititch said. "In a case like this, it may never be over. I may be living with this for the rest of my life."