Norman Olson (born 1946) 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 1994, Olson and Ray Southwell founded the Michigan Militia, an organized militia group established in response to perceived threats on the rights of citizens by the federal government, specifically what they perceived was then-President Bill Clinton's desire to pass strict gun control laws. [1] Olson owned a 120-acre (0.49 km2) wooded property in Northern Michigan which served as the militia's training base, where members learned paramilitary skills. [2]
Olson drew the attention of the U.S. government to himself and the Michigan Militia when he reported that Oklahoma City bombing accomplice Terry Nichols had attended one of his meetings. He also claimed that the bombing was carried out by the government of Japan in retaliation for a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, which Olson claimed was perpetrated by the United States. [3] The conspiracy theory was deemed so extreme by fellow militiamen that he was expelled from the Michigan Militia after losing four elections for commander. [2] [4]
Also in 1995, Olson testified about the militia movement to the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security. [5]
In 2000, Olson ordered militias across the United States to defend the Indianapolis Baptist Temple, whose property was to be seized after multiple failures to pay taxes. He ordered militias to surround the church to prevent the government from entering, and claimed the incident could be "Waco II". [6]
In 2004, Olson purchased 22 acres (89,000 m2) near Nikiski, Alaska, on the Kenai Peninsula, where he and Southwell moved with their families. [7] He organized the Alaska Citizens Militia. He ran for lieutenant governor with the Alaskan Independence Party's nomination, but withdrew from the election. [8]
The Toledo War (1835–36), also known as the Michigan–Ohio War or the Ohio–Michigan War, was a boundary dispute between the U.S. state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan over what is now known as the Toledo Strip. Control of the mouth of the Maumee River and the inland shipping opportunities it represented, and the good farmland to the west were seen by both parties as valuable economic assets.
The Battle of Windsor was a short-lived campaign in the eastern Michigan area of the United States and the Windsor area of Upper Canada. A group of men on both sides of the border, calling themselves "Patriots", formed small militias in 1837 with the intention of seizing the Southern Ontario peninsula between the Detroit and Niagara Rivers and extending American-style government to Canada. They based groups in Michigan at Fort Gratiot, Mount Clemens, Detroit, and Gibraltar. The Patriots were defeated by British and American government forces, respectively.
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.
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.
The Posse Comitatus is a loosely organized American far-right populist social movement which began in the late 1960s. Its members spread a conspiracy-minded, anti-government, and anti-Semitic message linked to white supremacy aiming to counter what they believe is an attack on their social and political rights as white Christians.
A naval militia is a reserve military organization administered under the authority of a state government in the United States. It is often composed of reservists of the Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and Coast Guard Reserve, retirees and volunteers. They are distinguishable from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary which is a federally chartered civilian volunteer component of the U.S. Coast Guard and falls under the command of the Commandant of the Coast Guard through the Chief Director of the Auxiliary, and the United States Maritime Service and United States Merchant Marine, both of which are federal maritime services.
The sovereign citizen movement is a loose group of litigants, anti-government activists, 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 to not be subject to any government statutes, unless they consent to them. The movement appeared in the United States 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. The FBI describes sovereign citizens as "anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or 'sovereign' from the United States".
The National Socialist Movement (NSM) is a far-right, Neo-Nazi, white supremacist hate based organization based in the United States. It is a part of the Nationalist Front. The party claimed to be the "largest and most active" National Socialist organization in the United States. It is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
"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.
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 far-right armed militias, sovereign citizens, and tax protesters. Ideologies held by patriot movement groups often focus on anti-government conspiracy theories, with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) describing a common belief that "government has been infiltrated and subverted" and is no longer legitimate. 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 government.
The redemption movement is an element of the pseudolaw movement, mainly active in the United States and Canada, that promotes fraudulent debt payment schemes. Redemption promoters allege that a secret fund is created for every citizen at birth and that a procedure exists to "redeem" or reclaim this fund to pay bills. Common redemption schemes include acceptance for value (A4V), Treasury Direct Accounts (TDA) and secured party creditor "kits," collections of pseudolegal tactics sold to participants despite a complete lack of any actual legal basis. Such tactics are sometimes called "money for nothing" schemes, as they propose to extract money from the government by using secret methods. The name of the A4V scheme in particular has become synonymous with the movement as a whole.
In the United States, a common definition of terrorism is the systematic or threatened use of violence in order to create a general climate of fear to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, religious, or ideological change. This article serves as a list and a compilation of acts of terrorism, attempts to commit acts of terrorism, and other such items which pertain to terrorist activities which are engaged in by non-state actors or spies who are acting in the interests of state actors or persons who are acting without the approval of foreign governments within the domestic borders of the United States.
The Constitution Society is a nonprofit educational organization headquartered at San Antonio, Texas, U.S., and founded in 1994 by Jon Roland, an author and computer specialist who has run for public office as a Libertarian Party candidate on a "Constitutionalist Platform". The society publishes online a large selection of works on constitutional history, law, and government.
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.
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 FEMA camps conspiracy theory is a belief, particularly within the American Patriot movement, that the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is planning to imprison US citizens in concentration camps, following the imposition of martial law in the United States after a major disaster or crisis. In some versions of the theory, only suspected dissidents will be imprisoned. In more extreme versions, large numbers of US citizens will be imprisoned for the purposes of extermination as a New World Order is established. The theory has existed since the late 1970s, but its circulation has increased with the advent of the internet and social media platforms.
The Three Percenters are an American and Canadian far-right anti-government militia.
Pseudolaw consists of pseudolegal statements, beliefs, or practices that are claimed to be based on accepted law or legal doctrine but which deviate significantly from most conventional understandings of law and jurisprudence or which originate from non-existent statutes or legal principles the advocate or adherent incorrectly believes exist.