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American militia movement is a term used by law enforcement and security analysts to refer to a number of private organizations that include paramilitary or similar elements. These groups may refer to themselves as militia, unorganized militia, [1] and constitutional militia. [2] While groups such as the Posse Comitatus existed as early as the 1980s, [3] the movement gained momentum after standoffs with government agents in the early 1990s. By the mid-1990s, such groups were active in all 50 US states, with membership estimated at between 20,000 and 60,000. [4] The movement is most closely associated with the American right-wing. Most modern organizations calling themselves militias are illegal private paramilitary organizations laws that require official sanctioning of a state government in order to be constitutional. [5] [6] While a common belief among members of modern paramilitary groups is that the constitution protects the ability of citizens to have the capability to overthrow the government by force when seen tyrannical, the Supreme Court has ruled differently. [5] [6]
The catalysts of the American militia movement started with the FBI's 1992 shootout with Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, and the 1993 Waco siege which David Koresh and the Branch Davidians were involved in at Mt. Carmel in Waco, Texas. [7] [8] [9] Critic Mark Pitcavage described the predecessors of the modern militia movement: [3]
The militia movement is a right-wing movement that arose following controversial standoffs in the 1990s. It inherited paramilitary traditions of earlier groups, especially the conspiratorial, anti-government Posse Comitatus. The militia movement claims that militia groups are sanctioned by law but uncontrolled by government; in fact, they are designed to oppose a tyrannical government. The movement's ideology has led some adherents to commit criminal acts, including stockpiling illegal weapons and explosives and plotting to destroy buildings or assassinate public officials, as well as lesser confrontations.
The Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, the second anniversary of the Waco fire, drew nationwide attention to the militia movement because Timothy McVeigh was associated with the Michigan Militia, he possibly attended meetings before the attack. [10] This increased public scrutiny and law enforcement pressure, and brought in more recruits due to the heightened awareness of the movement. [11]
In March 1996, agents of the FBI and other law enforcement organizations surrounded the 960-acre (390 ha) eastern Montana "Justus Township" compound of the Montana Freemen. The Freemen were a Sovereign Citizen group that included elements of the Christian Identity ideology, espoused common law legal theories, and rejected the legitimacy of the Federal Reserve. [4] Montana legislator Carl Ohs mediated through the standoff. Both Randy Weaver (one of the besieged at Ruby Ridge) and Bo Gritz (a civilian negotiator at Ruby Ridge) had attempted to talk to the group but had given up in frustration, as did Colorado Senator Charlie Duke when he had attempted negotiations. [12] A break finally came when far right leaders abandoned the group to their fate. [13] The group surrendered peacefully after an 81-day standoff and 14 of the Freemen faced criminal charges relating to circulating millions of dollars in bogus checks and threatening the life of a federal judge. [12] The peaceful resolution of this and other standoffs after Ruby Ridge and Waco have been credited by some to the creation of the Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) in the U.S. Department of Justice in 1994. [14]
A 1999 US Department of Justice analysis of the potential militia threat at the millennium conceded that the vast majority of militias were reactive (not proactive) and posed no threat. [15] By 2001, the militia movement seemed to be in decline, having peaked in 1996 with 858 groups. [16] With the post-2007 global financial crisis and the election of Barack Obama to the United States presidency in 2008, militia activity experienced a resurgence. [17] [18] [19] Militia groups have recently been involved in several high-profile standoffs, including the Bundy Standoff in 2014 and the Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016.
Many militia groups strongly supported the candidacy and presidency of Donald Trump, with their focus on anti-government sentiment being replaced with opposing perceived enemies of Trump who were often alleged to be deeply imbedded within the bureaucracy or "deep state". Starting in 2020, militia groups were heavily involved in rallies against COVID-19 related restrictions, gun control measures, and Black Lives Matter protests. [20] After Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election, many militia groups mobilized to protest the results, including large scale participation in the "Stop The Steal" movement, promoting false claims that the election result was fraudulent. [21] [22]
In the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, members with ties to various militia groups participated in the attack. [22] [21] In recent years, there have been increasing incidents in which Republicans aligned themselves with militia groups in exchange for their support. [23] [24] [25]
On January 11, 2024, Congressman Jamie Raskin and Senator Ed Markey proposed the Preventing Private Paramilitary Activity Act as an attempt to federally prohibit "publicly patrolling, drilling, or engaging in [harmful paramilitary tactics]" and "falsely assuming the functions of law enforcement." [26] The bill as of yet has not been codified into law.
Most militia organizations envisage themselves as legally legitimate organizations, despite the fact that all 50 states prohibit private paramilitary activity. [27] [28] [29] Others subscribe to the "insurrection theory" which describes the right of the body politic to rebel against the established government in the face of tyranny. (In the 1951 case Dennis v. United States , the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the insurrection theory, stating that as long as the government provides for free elections and trials by jury, "political self-defense" cannot be undertaken.) [30]
Beliefs within the militia movement encompass a combination of ideologies and positions commonly associated with various groups, including the sovereign citizens movement, the 1960s tax protest movement, the John Birch Society, the Tea Party movement, and since 2016, Trumpism. These beliefs often revolve around anti-government sentiments, opposition to perceived encroachments on individual rights, and skepticism towards established institutions. The militia movement has gained attention for its advocacy of armed resistance and its involvement in controversial incidents, such as standoffs with law enforcement. It is important to note that not all individuals who identify with the militia movement share the same beliefs or engage in illegal activities. [31]
While militia organizations vary in their ideologies and objectives, with many high-profile organizations espousing anti-tax, anti-immigration, survivalist, sovereign citizen, libertarian, land rights views, they generally share a common belief in the imminent or actual rise of a tyrannical global socialist government in the United States which, they believe, must be confronted through armed force. [31] [32] [33] This tyrannical government is linked to the New World Order conspiracy theory and is named by the militiamen as the eponymous conspiracy theory. [34]
The Southern Poverty Law Center identified 334 militia groups at a peak in 2011. It identified 276 in 2015, up from 202 in 2014 and in 2022 nearly 200 groups still exist, down from 2015. [35]
Group name | Area | Beliefs | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
3 Percenters | Nationwide | Right-libertarianism [37] (majority) Patriot movement | [38] [39] |
Arizona Border Recon | Arizona | [40] | |
Hutaree | Michigan, southern | Christian nationalism Christian Patriot movement | [41] |
Idaho Light Foot Militia | Idaho, statewide | Patriot movement | [42] |
Michigan Militia | Michigan, Redford | Patriot movement | [43] |
Militia of Montana | Montana, Noxon | American constitutionalism [ citation needed ] American nationalism Accelerationism [ citation needed ] | [44] |
Missouri Citizens Militia | Missouri, statewide | [45] | |
Missouri Militia | Missouri, Kansas City | [46] | |
New York Light Foot Militia | New York, statewide | Patriot movement | [47] |
Oath Keepers | Nationwide | Patriot movement Trumpism | [48] |
Ohio Defense Force | Ohio, statewide | [49] | |
Pennsylvania Light Foot Militia | Pennsylvania | [50] | |
Texas Light Foot Militia | Texas, statewide | [51] |
The constitutionalist wing of the American militia movement became active in the mid 1990s in a response of outrage about the violent confrontation at Ruby Ridge, the Waco Siege and gun control legislation. [52] [53] The movement is composed largely of veterans, libertarians, and Second Amendment advocates who share a common belief in individual liberties and civil responsibilities, according to their interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, as well as disdain for what are perceived to be abusive, usurpative, or tyrannical federal government decisions and actions, and a set of ideals associated with the values of the militia they see embodied in the Constitution. [54] [55] From the inception of the modern movement there has been controversy over whether the movement was an important part of a complete response to many important threats, or a threat in itself. [56]
Scholars Stanley C. Weeber and Daniel G. Rodeheaver offer a description of the constitutionalist militia movement that identifies four types: [57]
Other writers view constitutionalism as the movement, having a militia wing, rather than a militia movement with a constitutionalist wing. [56]
Throughout American history, there have been other constitutionalist revivals in opposition to various government actions. [56] Some writers [58] have asserted that the modern revival of the constitutional militia movement began as early as 1958 but that, in this early phase, it was associated ideologically with the white supremacist Christian Identity movement mixed with constitutionalist elements. A fear of Communism was prevalent in the United States during the Twentieth Century, against which was set the modern revival of the constitutional militia movement. These militia revivals believed in the sanctity of the U.S. Constitution, and that certain groups are conspiring to destroy America. Unlike the Christian Identity groups, the Constitutionalist militias generally resist casting blame on ethnic, racial or religious groups, but rather blame influential individuals or groups of individuals (e.g., the Bilderberg Group, the Trilateral Commission) who promote globalization, collectively known as the New World Order. [59] The Posse Comitatus is an exception to this principle, however, as it adheres to the antisemitic theory of the Zionist Occupation Government . [60]
Conceptually, a citizen's militia has been defined as a constitutionalist private army meeting regularly to practice combat skills and discuss weapons. The militia is defined as social groups practice "skills within a distinct territory, are not always anti-government, and have some opinions regarding use of terrorism to further militia goals." It may have an offensive, paramilitary, and/or defensive orientation depending on circumstances. [61]
Operational features listed in the book Militias in the New Millennium include the following: [62]
The Michigan Militia is a paramilitary Michigan-based organization founded in 1994 by Norman Olson, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. The group was formed in response to perceived encroachments by the federal government on the rights of citizens. It is part of the wider American militia movement.
James Gordon "Bo" Gritz is a retired United States Army Special Forces officer who served during the Vietnam War. Following his military career, Gritz became involved in various failed attempts to rescue prisoners of war (POWs) associated with the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue.
The Christian Patriot movement is a subset of the broader American Patriot movement that promotes Christian nationalism and emphasizes it as its core goal and philosophy. Like the larger Patriot movement, it promotes an interpretation of American history in which the federal government has turned against the ideas of liberty and natural rights expressed in the American Revolution.
Randall Claude Weaver was an American survivalist and self-proclaimed white separatist. He was a central actor in the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff with federal agents at his cabin near Naples, Idaho, during which his wife and son were killed. Weaver was charged with murder, conspiracy, and assault as well as other crimes. He was acquitted of most of the charges, but was convicted of failing to appear in court on a previous weapons charge and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He and his family eventually received a total of $3.1 million in compensation for the killing of his wife and son by federal agents.
The Posse Comitatus is a loosely organized American far-right extremist social movement which began in the late 1960s. Its members spread a conspiracy-minded, anti-government, and antisemitic message linked to white supremacy aiming to counter what they believe is an attack on their social and political rights as white Christians.
The sovereign citizen movement is a loose group of anti-government activists, vexatious litigants, tax protesters, financial scammers, and conspiracy theorists based mainly in the United States. Sovereign citizens have their own pseudolegal belief system based on misinterpretations of common law and claim not to be subject to any government statutes unless they consent to them. The movement appeared in the U.S. in the early 1970s and has since expanded to other countries; the similar freeman on the land movement emerged during the 2000s in Canada before spreading to other Commonwealth countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The FBI has called sovereign citizens "anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or 'sovereign' from the United States".
The Montana Freemen were an anti-government Christian Patriot militia based outside the town of Jordan, Montana, United States. The members of the group referred to their land as "Justus Township" and had declared their leaders and followers "sovereign citizens" no longer under the authority of any outside government. They became the center of public attention in 1996 when they engaged in a prolonged armed standoff with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Mark Pitcavage is a historian and analyst of far-right wing groups. He works with the Anti-Defamation League and was the creator of the now-archived Militia Watchdog website. The site has been an archive since 2000 when Pitcavage took the position of Director of Fact Finding for the Anti-Defamation League. Pitcavage earned a PhD in American military and social history from Ohio State University in 1995. His PhD dissertation was entitled "An Equitable Burden: The Decline of State Militias 1783-1858".
Ronald G. Cole is a figure in the American militia movement in the United States. He was the founder and leader of the Colorado Light Infantry militia groups in 1993. Cole is the author of the book Sinister Twilight, in which he attempts to explain the Branch Davidian side of the standoff with federal authorities that took place in Waco, Texas in 1993. Cole became a national anti-government figure after the events of the Waco siege.
In the United States, the patriot movement is a term which is used to describe a conglomeration of non-unified right-wing populist and nationalist political movements, most notably right-wing armed militias, sovereign citizens, and tax protesters. Ideologies held by patriot movement groups often focus on anti-government conspiracy theories, with the SPLC describing a common belief that "despise the federal government and/or question its legitimacy." The movement first emerged in 1994 in response to what members saw as "violent government repression" of dissenting groups, along with increased gun control and the Clinton administration.
Norman Olson is an American militia movement activist and the co-founder of the Michigan Militia. Olson is a Baptist minister and retired United States Air Force non-commissioned officer originally from Alanson, Michigan.
In the politics of the United States, the radical right is a political preference that leans towards ultraconservatism, white nationalism, white supremacy, or other far-right ideologies in a hierarchical structure which is paired with conspiratorial rhetoric alongside traditionalist and reactionary aspirations. The term was first used by social scientists in the 1950s regarding small groups such as the John Birch Society in the United States, and since then it has been applied to similar groups worldwide. The term "radical" was applied to the groups because they sought to make fundamental changes within institutions and remove persons and institutions that threatened their values or economic interests from political life.
Catherine Lowman Wessinger is an American religion scholar. She is the Rev. H. James Yamauchi, S.J. Professor of the History of Religions at Loyola University New Orleans where she teaches religious studies with a main research focus on millennialism, new religions, women and religion, and religions of India. She served as a consultant to federal law enforcement during the Montana Freemen standoff and has been cited for her expertise concerning the Branch Davidians and other apocalyptic groups.
The Militia of Montana (MOM) is a paramilitary organization founded by David and John Trochmann of Noxon, Montana, United States. The organization formed from the remnants of the United Citizens for Justice in late 1992 in response to the standoff during the siege in Ruby Ridge, Idaho. The Militia of Montana reached their member high point in 1999 and largely disbanded after the Y2K threat turned out to be minor.
The freeman on the land movement, also known as the freemen of the land, the freemen movement, or simply freemen, is a loose group of individuals who adhere to pseudolegal concepts and conspiracy theories implying that they are bound by statute laws only if they consent to those laws. Freemen on the land are mostly present in Commonwealth countries. The movement appeared in Canada in the early 2000s, as an offshoot of the sovereign citizen movement which is more prevalent in the United States.
The Three Percenters are an American and Canadian far-right anti-government militia.
The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) is a political organization of local police officials in the United States who contend that federal and state government authorities are subordinate to the local authority of county sheriffs and police. Self-described constitutional sheriffs assert that they are the supreme legal authority with the power and duty to defy or disregard laws they regard as unconstitutional. As a result, they may sometimes be referred to as sovereign sheriffs. The movement is related to previous nullification and interposition notions, and promotes such efforts. It has been described as far-right by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The CSPOA has claimed a membership of 400.
"Insurrectionist Theory" is a belief system that took shape in the United States, often relating to the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, that highlights the argument supporting the right to bear arms. Simply stated, it is a proposition arguing that “the possession of firearms by individuals serves as the ultimate check on the power of government”. Its proponents assert a right of revolution, which entails armed revolt premised on resistance against a perceived tyrannical government. The theory holds that individuals should bears arms as a "check" on the power of the government, invoking the constitutional concept of "consent of the governed". This theory is not accepted in American jurisprudence or case law, but relates to many popularly-held American values about sovereignty and has roots in the anti-monarchical character of the founding of the United States. This theory is often associated with the American militia movement and other anti-governmental groups.
The United Citizens' Alarm is an armed right-wing militia group in Utah, United States. Founded in 2020 in opposition to Black Lives Matter (BLM), the group has been considered a part of the U.S. extreme right, with some members being associated with the far-right Proud Boys.
The Rocky Mountain Rendezvous was an October 1992 meeting in Estes Park, Colorado of 150 to 175 adherents and leaders of the American militia movement, Patriot movement and the radical right that developed the modern strategy for right-wing terrorism in the United States. The Rendezvous was organized by Christian Identity Pastor Pete Peters in response to the Ruby Ridge standoff two months prior. Concerns included that the United States federal government was a police state engaged in systematic over taxation, wrongful imprisonment and murder of its citizens, described by the meeting as "genocide."
The militia movement has also always had a small number of people of color as members, and occasionally as leaders. [...] These facts do not absolve the militia movement of racism or prejudice—especially anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim bigotry—but it does mean that the militia movement is quite distinct from white supremacist movements such as neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan groups, or the alt right.
Three Percenters are part of the militia movement
(M)ilitias are social groups that practice skills within a distinct territory, are anti-government in outlook, and have definite opinions regarding use of terrorism to further militia goals.