EXECUTION OR SELF-DEFENSE?

Michael Hill, an Ohio militia chaplain, was shot and killed early Wednesday morning in a confrontation with a policeman in Frazeysburg, a small Ohio town some 50 miles northeast of Columbus. Militia members who were following Hill in a separate car claim that he was executed by the policeman,TIME correspondent Ed Barnes reports. But local police say that Hill pulled a .45-cal. semiautomatic handgun and pointed it at the policeman, who then fired four shots, hitting Hill three times. According to sworn affidavits obtained by TIME, Ken Adams, leader of theNorthern Michigan Militia, and three militia witnesses say the officer, Sgt. Matt May, pulled Hill to the side of the road twice. Police report that May stopped the car because it carried no state license plate; instead, it bore a homemade plate reading "militia." When first pulled over, Hill spoke to May, then drove on. A mile farther down the road, May pulled him over again. Police say that Hill then pulled the gun and pointed it at Sgt. May. The situation is potentially explosive: "It looks like this may become another right wing rallying point," Barnes says, noting that Adams -- mindful of past incidents inWaco, TexasandRuby Ridge, Idaho-- is working tomobilze media attentionandstir militia activity around the country.