Friday, January 1, 2010

The Three-Percent Makes the London Telegraph.

My thanks to TypeAy for forwarding me this link.

America's armed militia on the rise

Extremist "patriot" groups and other armed militias have undergone a dramatic resurgence in America, their numbers more than doubling in the past year amid growing Right-wing fears over expanding federal power and gun control.


By Tom Leonard in New York

Published: 4:35PM GMT 31 Dec 2009

Such groups – a mix of libertarians, gun rights advocates and survivalists – appeared to be in terminal decline before the election of Barack Obama, according to monitoring bodies.

The Southern Poverty Law Centre, which tracks extremist organisations, says it has so far counted more than 300 patriot groups this year, at least double last year's total of 150. The real total will be much higher as many groups do not go out of their way to publicise their existence.

A similar wave of anti-government groups, some of whose members dress in camouflage gear and conduct military training at weekends, sprung up during the Clinton administration.

However, SPLC researchers said there was a new race factor reflecting President Obama's ethnicity and immigration fears.

The groups themselves reject accusations of racism but agree that many members are deeply worried about gun control, are angered by the federal economic rescue packages, and are dismayed by government interference in areas such as health care. They voice frustration at what they perceive as America's international decline.

Tensions are running high and some fear major bloodshed springing from a minor event. A law enforcement official told the SPLC that "all that's lacking is a spark".

One of the new patriot groups is called Oath Keepers. Its members, like those in other groups, look for guidance from America's Founding Fathers.

Formed last spring, Oath Keepers' members – limited to current or former servicemen and police – swear to obey the US constitution rather than politicians.

Stewart Rhodes, the founder, told The Daily Telegraph that the situation was a "potential powder keg".

He said: "The one thing that would probably lead [groups] to armed resistance is if the government did try to confiscate weapons, but that was what finally led to fighting in the American Revolution".

Mike Vanderboegh, a former militia leader and founder of a vociferous gun rights group called the Three Percenters, pointed to a huge increase in sales of ammunition, many of it to new gun owners.

"This is far larger than Obama. It speaks to an existential fear of societal collapse," he said.

He said group members were looking for "practical self-defence", whether from "predatory government or street-level crime".

If the government carried out "another Waco" – the 1993 storming of a cult's Texas ranch, in which 76 occupants died – "you'd see a reaction bloody beyond belief", he added.

Heidi Beirich, a co-author of the SPLC's militia research, said the groups were characterised by "a lot of conspiracy mongering, gun nuttery and fear of a new world order that they think is controlling the US".

Conservatives have accused the SPLC and other monitoring groups of exaggerating the threat posed by such groups, although a Department of Homeland Security report in April voiced fears about rising extremism.

Mr Rhodes said his group's internet forum had 11,000 members. Its 10-point oath includes pledges not to disarm fellow Americans or force citizens into "any form of detention camps".

Mr Rhodes said: "I don't want to take it for granted that the destruction of the republic can't happen here." He said he had also attacked encroaching federal power under the Bush administration, adding: "They're refusing to acknowledge the fundamental American libertarian streak that says, 'We don't care who's in power, we don't like the expansion of executive power.'"

Jonathan White, a former police officer and academic who advises both the FBI and government on terrorism, said he was less worried by the threat from the organised patriot groups than from "lone wolf" individuals who would tend to dismiss militias as "a joke".

Richard Poplawski, a Pittsburgh man who shot dead three police officers in April, complained to friends that the government was infringing gun rights.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah? Well I worry about anybody who worries about our Patriot groups. They are on my watch list.

typeay said...

Wikipedia has pretty much been discredited as a source of reliable, empirical information. How is it that the slime encrusted S.P.L.C. STILL seems to maintain any press value as a viable news source on the topic of "militia groups"?

Anonymous said...

The media idiots just can't...or won't...get it right.

Happy D said...

Ya made the big time now Mike.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

"The Southern Poverty Law Centre" a boiler room operation to suck money out of unsuspecting liberals and media dupes..." There, fixed that part.

Well Done, Mike! One has to wonder which of the opposing sides impressed the article's author as the more rational. No, actually, I don't wonder.

Jeffrey Quick said...

"Southern Poverty Law Centre"
If they're going to quote the lying POS, they could at least spell their name correctly. After all, we favour using HRH's English when discussing their institutions.

cj428 said...

For once the fbi hired an adviser that got it right!

Anonymous said...

Here's another sad reflection on Europe (well, much of the world, really), also courtesy of the Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/denmark/6923401/Danish-police-shoot-terrorist-trying-to-enter-Mohammed-cartoonists-home.html

The Mohammed Turban Bomb cartoonist, having received numerous death threats, has to lock himself and grandson in the saferoom. Not to blow the religion-of-peace-nik's skull to pieces at the front door, but to hide and hope that the critter doesn't stick a chunk of plastique on the saferoom door.

What a way to live...

-S

Anonymous said...

Just call it a "neighborhood watch" group. There are even free blue and white signs you can post as you enter your neighborhood. Makes people feel all warm and fuzzy when they see the signs. Everybody likes the neighborhood watch program.

The Parking Lot Avenger said...

Subscribe to everything they send out free, make them spend money sending you litterbox liners. Dont bitch, be happy and free. Every year they send out an issue with web sites and groups, I found a great resource for finding people to send my money to, and it was sent to me free in a glossy printed magazine. I am a life member in a national organization who doesnt send me that kind of info , even if I want to pay for it:)