| Idaho Light Foot Militia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates of operation | c. 2009–present |
| Active regions | Idaho, United States |
The Idaho Light Foot Militia (ILFM) is a privately organized militia in the state of Idaho. The Idaho Light Foot Militia is distinct from a state defense force in that it is not recognized as part of the organized militia by the government of Idaho, but is rather privately organized by private citizens in the unorganized militia. The ILFM was founded in 2009. [1]
The Members of the militia believe they are the "teeth of the Constitution" at a time of economic and political uncertainty for the United States. [2] [3]
Members participate in training and attend monthly meetings. [4] As of 2021, the militia consisted of over 600 members. [5]
Idaho is a landlocked state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington and Oregon to the west; the state shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border to the north with the Canadian province of British Columbia. Idaho's state capital and largest city is Boise. With an area of 83,569 square miles (216,440 km2), Idaho is the 14th-largest state by land area. The state has a population of approximately two million people; it ranks as the 13th-least populous and the seventh-least densely populated of the 50 U.S. states.
A militia is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or serve as a pool of available manpower for regular forces to draw from.
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms. It was ratified on December 15, 1791, along with nine other articles of the Bill of Rights. In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court affirmed for the first time that the right belongs to individuals, for self-defense in the home, while also including, as dicta, that the right is not unlimited and does not preclude the existence of certain long-standing prohibitions such as those forbidding "the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill" or restrictions on "the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons". In McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010) the Supreme Court ruled that state and local governments are limited to the same extent as the federal government from infringing upon this right. New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen (2022) assured the right to carry weapons in public spaces with reasonable exceptions.
Boise is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,684 people residing in the city. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is 41 miles (66 km) east of the Oregon border and 110 miles (177 km) north of the Nevada border. The downtown area's elevation is 2,704 feet (824 m) above sea level.
The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the U.S. military's reserve components of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force when activated for federal missions. It is a military reserve force composed of National Guard military members or units of each state and the territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico National Guard, and the District of Columbia National Guard, for a total of 54 separate organizations. It is officially created under Congress's Article I, Section 8 enumerated power to "raise and support Armies". All members of the National Guard are also members of the organized militia of the United States as defined by 10 U.S.C. § 246. National Guard units are under the dual control of state governments and the federal government.
Fedayeen Saddam was a paramilitary militia Fedayeen organization intensely loyal to the Ba'athist Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. The name was chosen to mean "Saddam's Men of Sacrifice". At its height, the group had 30,000–40,000 members. The Fedayeen operated completely outside the law, above and outside political and legal structures.
The Order, also known as the Silent Brotherhood, was a Neo-Nazi terrorist organization active in the United States between September 1983 and December 1984. The group raised funds via armed robbery. Ten members were tried and convicted for racketeering, and two for their role in the 1984 murder of radio talk show host Alan Berg.
In the United States, state defense forces (SDFs) are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government. State defense forces are authorized by state and federal law and are under the command of the governor of each state.
Clement Leroy "Butch" Otter is an American businessman and politician who served as the 32nd governor of Idaho from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2006, and reelected in 2010 and 2014. Otter served as lieutenant governor from 1987 to 2001 and in U.S. Congress from the first district from 2001 to 2007.
Gun politics in the United States is characterized by two primary opposing ideologies regarding private firearm ownership.
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, and constitutional militia. While groups such as the Posse Comitatus existed as early as the 1980s, 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. 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. 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.
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.
The Brother Speed Motorcycle Club is an American outlaw motorcycle club that was formed in Boise, Idaho in 1969, and is active in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. It once was referred to by the Oregon Department of Justice as one of the nine "motorcycle clubs" active in their state.
Oath Keepers is an American far-right anti-government militia whose leaders have been convicted of violently opposing the government of the United States, including the transfer of presidential power as prescribed by the United States constitution. It was incorporated in 2009 by founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes, a lawyer and former paratrooper. In 2023, Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, and another Oath Keepers leader, Kelly Meggs, was sentenced to 12 years for the same crime. Three other members have pleaded guilty to this crime, and four other members have been convicted of it.
James Freeman Curtis II, participant in the 1849 California Gold Rush, Chief of Police of San Francisco, officer in the California state militia and volunteer in the American Civil War.
The Three Percenters are an American and Canadian far-right anti-government militia.
The New York Light Foot Militia (NYLFM) is a militia movement organization founded by George Curbelo in 2015 in the U.S. state of New York.
Dorothy Moon is an American far-right politician who served as a Republican member of Idaho House of Representatives from the 8B district from 2016 to 2022. Moon has been the Chair of Idaho Republican Party since July 2022.