Patriot movement

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Three Percenters patrol Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia during the 2017 Unite the Right rally. Charlottesville "Unite the Right" Rally (35806115363).jpg
Three Percenters patrol Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia during the 2017 Unite the Right rally.

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. [1] [2] [3] 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." [3] 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. [4]

Contents

Several groups within the patriot movement have committed or endorsed violence, with U.S. law enforcement agencies labeling some groups "dangerous, delusional and sometimes violent." [5] [6] [7] The ADL and The American Scientific Affiliation has noted that groups often have connections to white supremacy, however, their connections to it have shrunk over time due to their recent inclusion of non-white members. [8] [1] Major events in America which alarm or inspire the patriot movement include the 1992 Ruby Ridge siege, the 1993 Waco siege and the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing. [9] The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) found that the economic decline and nomination of Barack Obama in 2008 caused the movement to "come roaring back", after declining from 800 groups in 1996 to less than 150 groups in 2000. [4] [10]

History

Historians of the patriot movement identify its origins in the 1980s American farm crisis. [11] [12] [13] As various policies combined to drive farmers deeply into debt, groups on the margins of American politics engaged rural communities with a range of conspiracy theory literature that drew on existing traditions of antisemitism, nativism and paleoconservatism. [14] The Posse Comitatus, the Liberty Lobby and Lyndon LaRouche were prominent in these campaigns [13] [15] which informed and shaped the ideology of the movement that emerged. [11] In the early 1990s, the patriot movement saw a surge of growth spurred by the confrontations at Ruby Ridge and Waco. [5] The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing was carried out by two patriot movement members, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. [10] [16] During the 1990s the movement organized using "gun shows and the Internet". [17] The movement was highly active in the mid-1990s and at a peak in 1996, contained around 800 separate groups. [10] It saw decline in the late 1990s. [9] [18] [19]

In 2009, the SPLC expressed concern about a resurgent patriot movement, [20] [21] and the Department of Homeland Security issued a report warning of heightened "Rightwing Extremism". [22] The SPLC attributed this growth to "an angry backlash against non-white immigration and ... the economic meltdown and the Presidency of Barack Obama." [23] It reported the growth of patriot groups with an increase from 149 in 2008, to 824 in 2010, to 1,274 in 2011 [24] and 1,360 in 2012. [25] According to the SPLC, the "explosive growth seems to have been driven by the election of our first black president and the approaching loss of a white majority in the U.S. that he represents. Another driver is the crash of the economy, which coincided neatly with the rise to national power of President Obama." [25]

The SPLC found that while "there are many people" in the patriot movement "that aren't engaged in illegal activity," the "normalizing of conspiracy theories"—such as the belief that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is building concentration camps; rumors of covert plans by Mexico to reconquer the American Southwest; and the anxiety Sharia law might become part of the U.S. court system—has played into the growth of the groups. [24] An extremist member of the patriot movement carried out the 2009 anti-abortion murder of George Tiller, [26] [27] and some extremists within the movement also have expressed support for Joseph Stack's 2010 plane crash into an Internal Revenue Service office. [28] The movement was connected to and received a boost in profile from the 2014 Bundy standoff and 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Two members of the movement, Jerad Miller and Amanda Miller, killed two police officers and a civilian during a violent shooting rampage in Las Vegas after leaving the Bundy standoff; they pinned a note to one of their victims saying "This is the beginning of the revolution." [7]

Views

Various patriot movement aligned groups have frequently been described as racist, xenophobic, extremist, antisemitic, anti-Islam, anti-immigrant, and violent by groups such as the SPLC, [29] [30] ADL, [31] and the FBI. [32]

Descriptions of the patriot movement include:

Additionally, the patriot movement has been associated with the following views:

Elements of the patriot movement have expressed support for various conspiracy theories:

In addition to the militia movement, which is said to have come out of the patriot movement, the patriot movement is often associated with the sovereign citizen movement, whose adherents believe that most US laws are illegitimate and do not apply to them. [8] [24]

Groups

Groups identifying with the movement include:

See also

Related Research Articles

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The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white supremacist groups, for its classification of hate groups and other extremist organizations, and for promoting tolerance education programs. The SPLC was founded by Morris Dees, Joseph J. Levin Jr., and Julian Bond in 1971 as a civil rights law firm in Montgomery.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Patriot movement</span> American Christian political movement

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.

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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">American militia movement</span> Political movement of paramilitary groups in the US

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.

Alternative theories have been proposed regarding the Oklahoma City bombing. These theories reject all, or part of, the official government report. Some of these theories focus on the possibility of additional co-conspirators that were never indicted or additional explosives planted inside the Murrah Federal building. Other theories allege that government employees and officials, including US President Bill Clinton, knew of the impending bombing and intentionally failed to act on that knowledge. Further theories allege that the bombing was perpetrated by government forces to frame and stigmatize the militia movement, which had grown following the controversial federal handlings of the Ruby Ridge and Waco incidents, and regain public support. Government investigations have been opened at various times to look into the theories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oath Keepers</span> American far-right organization since 2009

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.

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Percenters</span> American and Canadian far-right militia group

The Three Percenters are an American and Canadian far-right anti-government militia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patriot Front</span> American white nationalist group

Patriot Front is an American white supremacist and neo-fascist hate group. Part of the broader alt-right movement, the group split off from the neo-Nazi organization Vanguard America in the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally in 2017. Patriot Front's aesthetic combines traditional Americana with fascist symbolism. Internal communications within the group indicated it had approximately 200 members as of late 2021. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the group generated 82% of reported incidents in 2021 involving distribution of racist, antisemitic, and other hateful propaganda in the United States, comprising 3,992 incidents, in every continental state.

Carol Elizabeth Howe is a former informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Howe became a key figure in Oklahoma City bombing conspiracy theories when she said that she informed authorities of a right-wing extremist plan to blow up a federal building in Oklahoma a few months before the Oklahoma City bombing.

United Constitutional Patriots is a right-wing unofficial militia group based in Flora Vista in northern New Mexico, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), operating primarily in the southern part of the state detaining alleged illegal immigrants. It came to national attention in the United States by April 2019. The governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, released a statement indicating the vigilantes have no legal right to detain people entering the US. The head of UCP is Larry Mitchell Hopkins who uses the pseudonym Johnny Horton, Jr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boogaloo movement</span> American far-right extremist movement

The boogaloo movement, whose adherents are often referred to as boogaloo boys or boogaloo bois, is a loosely organized far-right anti-government extremist movement in the United States. It has also been described as a militia. Adherents say they are preparing for, or seek to incite, a second American Civil War or second American Revolution which they call "the boogaloo" or "the boog".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocky Mountain Rendezvous (1992)</span>

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."

References

  1. 1 2 ""Patriot" Movement". Anti-Defamation League . Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  2. ↑ Parish, Jane; Parker, Martin (December 3, 2001). The Age of Anxiety: Conspiracy Theory and the Human Sciences. Wiley. ISBN   9780631231684 – via Google Books.
  3. 1 2 "Key Events and Crimes of the Patriot Movement". Southern Poverty Law Center . April 16, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Potok, Mark (March 1, 2012). "The 'Patriot' Movement Explodes". Southern Poverty Law Center . Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Right-wing Counterculture Uses Waco as Rallying Cry| Herald-Journal April 24, 1995
  6. 1 2 Winerip, Michael (June 23, 1996). "Ohio Case Typifies the Tensions Between Militia Groups and Law". The New York Times.
  7. 1 2 Sullivan, Kevin. "Primed to Fight The Government". Washington Post.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 AMERICAN MILITIAS: Rebellion, Racism & Religion by Richard Abanes, review by Dennis L. Feucht in American Scientific Affiliation.
  9. 1 2 Report: 'Explosive' Growth Of 'Patriot Movement' And Militias Continues by Mark Memmott npr.org March 13, 2012
  10. 1 2 3 4 Janofsky, Michael (April 11, 1996). "Closer Watch of Paramilitary Groups Is Urged". The New York Times.
  11. 1 2 Gallaher, Carolyn (2003). On the Fault Line: Race, Class, and the American Patriot Movement.
  12. ↑ Wright, Stuart T. (2007). Patriots, politics, and the Oklahoma City bombing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-87264-5.
  13. 1 2 Levitas, Daniel (2004). The Terrorist Next Door.
  14. ↑ Matthew Lyons; Chip Berlet (2000). Right-wing populism in America: too close for comfort . New York: Guilford Press. ISBN   1-57230-562-2.
  15. ↑ "Shedding Light on Liberty Lobby". News & Record (Greensboro). June 3, 1995. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  16. ↑ Michel, Lou. "American Terrorist", 2001.
  17. 1 2 3 "Online NewsHour:Militia Movement - April 3, 1997". PBS . Archived from the original on March 26, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Militias 'in retreat'". BBC News. May 11, 2001.
  19. ↑ "Patriots No More". CBS News. April 19, 2001. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
  20. ↑ Militia movement on the rise - 22 August 2009 - MiamiHerald.com
  21. ↑ Bright, Arthur (August 14, 2009). "Report: militia activity on the rise in US". Christian Science Monitor.
  22. ↑ Carty, Daniel (April 16, 2009). "Homeland Security Chief Defends Report On Right Wing Extremists". CBS News. Archived from the original on March 10, 2010. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
  23. ↑ Gaynor, Tim (March 4, 2010). "U.S. right-wing groups, militias surge: study". Reuters.
  24. 1 2 3 Right-wing 'patriot' groups girding for actual class warfare, report says By Patrik Jonsson | csmonitor.com | 8 March 2012
  25. 1 2 Potok, Mark (November 2, 2013). "Hatewatch Exclusive: Alleged LAX Shooter Referenced 'Patriot' Conspiracy Theories". Southern Poverty Law Center.
  26. ↑ Berlet, Chip (June 3, 2009). "Anti-Abortion Violence and the Right-Wing Patriot Movement". Huffington Post.
  27. ↑ Saulny, Susan; Davey, Monica (June 2, 2009). "Seeking Clues on Suspect in Shooting of Doctor". The New York Times .
  28. ↑ "Extremists in 'Patriot' Movement Calling Joe Stack a Hero". ABC News. September 7, 2010.
  29. ↑ "Key Events and Crimes of the Patriot Movement". SPLCenter.org. April 15, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  30. ↑ "THE 'PATRIOT' MOVEMENT TIMELINE". SPLCenter.org. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  31. ↑ "The Oath Keepers: Anti-Government Extremists Recruiting Military and Police". ADL.org. September 16, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  32. ↑ "Terrorism in the United States 1996". FBi.gov. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  33. ↑ Duignan, Brian; John Philip Jenkins. Militia movement. Britannica.
  34. ↑ Tea Party Lights Fuse for Rebellion on Right By DAVID BARSTOW| nyt.com February 15, 2010
  35. 1 2 3 4 Patriot Movement is Alive and Well in the US Los Angeles Daily News December 26, 1994 |Wilmington NC, Star-News Google News Archive Search
  36. ↑ "QAnon, false flags and baby-eating liberals: How Arizona Patriots build community around conspiracy theories". www.azcentral.com. The Arizona Republic. October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  37. ↑ Zaitchik, Alexander (2010). "'Patriot' Paranoia: A Look at the Top Ten Conspiracy Theories". Intelligence Report. Fall 2010 (139). Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  38. 1 2 3 Janofsky, Michael (May 31, 1995). "Demons and Conspiracies Haunt a 'Patriot' World". The New York Times.
  39. ↑ "'Patriot' spokesmen call McVeigh a pawn at most". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette– via Google News Archive.

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