The American militia movement is a term used by
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...
and security analysts to refer to a number of private organizations that include
paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
or similar elements. These groups may refer to themselves as
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
, unorganized militia, and constitutional militia.
![Charlottesville](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Charlottesville_%22Unite_the_Right%22_Rally_%2835806115363%29.jpg)
While groups such as the
Posse Comitatus
The ''posse comitatus'' (from the Latin for "power of the county/community/guard"), frequently shortened to posse, is in common law a group of people mobilized by the conservator of peace – typically a reeve, sheriff, chief, or another speci ...
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 10,000 and 250,000.
[Berlet, Chip & Lyons, Matthew (2000). ]
Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort
'', Guilford.
History
Although the
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
patriot movement
In the United States, the patriot movement is a term which is used to describe a conglomeration of non-unified right-wing populist, nationalist political movements, most notably far-right armed militias, sovereign citizens, and tax protester ...
had long been a fringe factor in American politics, cultural factors paved the way for the wide-scale growth of the ideological militia movement. The catalysts came with the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
's 1992 shootout with
Randy Weaver
Randall Claude Weaver (January 3, 1948 – May 11, 2022) was an American survivalist, former Iowa factory worker, and self-proclaimed white separatist. He was a central actor in the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff at his cabin near Naples, Idaho, th ...
at
Ruby Ridge
Ruby Ridge was the site of an eleven-day siege in 1992 in Boundary County, Idaho, near Naples. It began on August 21, when deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) initiated action to apprehend and arrest Randy Weaver under a bench ...
, and the 1993
Waco siege
The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the law enforcement siege of the compound that belonged to the religious sect Branch Davidians. It was carried out by the U.S. federal government, Texas state law enforcement, and the U.S. mi ...
involving
David Koresh
David Koresh (; born Vernon Wayne Howell; August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993) was an American cult leader who played a central role in the Waco siege of 1993. As the head of the Branch Davidians, a religious sect and offshoot of the Davidian Sev ...
and the
Branch Davidians
The Branch Davidians (or the General Association of Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists) were an apocalyptic new religious movement founded in 1955 by Benjamin Roden. They regard themselves as a continuation of the General Association of ...
at Mt. Carmel in
Waco, Texas
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...
.
[Rise Of Citizen Militias: Angry White Guys With Guns](_blank)
Daniel Junas ''CovertAction Quarterly'' April 24, 1995[Robert H. Churchill, "Arming for the Last Battle: Secular and Religious Millennial Impulses within the Militia Movement", 1999 Annual Conference of the Center for Millennial Studies, Boston University, Boston, MA, November 9, 1999]
Online copy
/ref> Critic Mark Pitcavage
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 ...
described the militia movement of the 1990s:[Pitcavage, Mark; Institute for Intergovernmental Research: ''Camouflage and Conspiracy. The Militia Movement From Ruby Ridge to Y2K''. American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 44, No. 6, Pages 957–981, SAGE Publications, 2001.]
During the 1990s public attention to the militia movement began to grow. The Oklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by two anti-government extremists, Timothy McVeigh and Terry N ...
on April 19, 1995, the second anniversary of the Waco fire, drew nationwide attention to the militia movement as Timothy McVeigh
Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children, injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one-third o ...
was associated with the Michigan Militia
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 ...
, having possibly attended meetings before the attack. This increased public scrutiny and law enforcement pressure, and brought in more recruits due to the heightened awareness of the movement.[Militia Nation](_blank)
Chip Berlet and Matthew N. Lyons ''Progressive Magazine''
In March 1996, agents of the FBI and other law enforcement organizations surrounded the eastern Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
"Justus Township" compound of the Montana Freemen
The Montana Freemen were an anti-government militant Christian Patriot group 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 follower ...
. The Freemen were a Sovereign Citizen
''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'.
The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...
group that included elements of the Christian Identity
Christian Identity (also known as Identity Christianity) is an interpretation of Christianity which advocates the belief that only Celtic and Germanic peoples, such as the Anglo-Saxon, Nordic nations, or Aryan people and people of kindred blood ...
ideology, espoused common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
legal theories, and rejected the legitimacy of the Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...
. Montana legislator Carl Ohs mediated through the standoff. Both Randy Weaver
Randall Claude Weaver (January 3, 1948 – May 11, 2022) was an American survivalist, former Iowa factory worker, and self-proclaimed white separatist. He was a central actor in the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff at his cabin near Naples, Idaho, th ...
(one of the besieged at Ruby Ridge
Ruby Ridge was the site of an eleven-day siege in 1992 in Boundary County, Idaho, near Naples. It began on August 21, when deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) initiated action to apprehend and arrest Randy Weaver under a bench ...
) and Bo Gritz
James Gordon "Bo" Gritz (; born January 18, 1939) is an American former United States Army Special Forces officer and presidential candidate. After serving in the Vietnam War and retiring from the military, Gritz has worked on attempted POW res ...
(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.[Freemen surrender peacefully to FBI](_blank)
''Cable News Network'' June 14, 1996 A break finally came when far right leaders abandoned the group to their fate. 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. 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
The Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) is a division of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. CIRG enables the FBI to rapidly respond to, and effectively manage, special cr ...
) in the U.S. Department of Justice in 1994.
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. By 2001, the militia movement seemed to be in decline, having peaked in 1996 with 858 groups. With the post-2007 global financial crisis and the election of Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
to the United States presidency in 2008, militia activity experienced a resurgence. 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
On January 2, 2016, an armed group of far-right extremists seized and occupied the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon, and continued to occupy it until law enforcement made a final arrest on February 11 ...
in 2016.
Militia groups strongly supported the candidacy and presidency of Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, with their focus on anti-government sentiment being replaced with opposing perceived enemies of Trump. During Trump's presidency, support among militia groups was further solidified. In 2020, militia groups were heavily involved in rallies against COVID-19 related restrictions, gun control measures, and Black Lives Matter protests. After Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*5 January:
**C ...
, militia groups mobilized to protest the election results, including participating in the "Stop the Steal
After Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election, then-incumbent Donald Trump pursued an unprecedented effort to overturn the election, with support and assistance from his campaign, proxies, political allies, and many of h ...
" movement that falsely claims that the election was fraudulent.
In the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, members with ties to various militia groups participated in the attack. In recent years, there have been increasing incidents in which Republicans have been co-opted by militia groups in exchange for the militias' political and ideological support.
Legal legitimacy
Most militia organizations envisage themselves as legally legitimate organizations, despite the fact that all 50 states prohibit private paramilitary activity. Others subscribe to the " insurrection theory" which describes the right of the body politic
The body politic is a polity—such as a city, realm, or state—considered metaphorically as a physical body. Historically, the sovereign is typically portrayed as the body's head, and the analogy may also be extended to other anatomical par ...
to rebel against the established government in the face of tyranny. (In the 1951 case ''Dennis v. United States
''Dennis v. United States'', 341 U.S. 494 (1951), was a United States Supreme Court case relating to Eugene Dennis, General Secretary of the Communist Party USA. The Court ruled that Dennis did not have the right under the First Amendment to the ...
'', 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.)
Opposition to the government
While militia organizations vary in their ideologies and objectives, with many high profile organizations espousing anti-tax, anti-immigration
Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...
, survivalist, sovereign citizen
''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'.
The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...
, libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
, land rights and southern restoration views, they generally share a common belief in the imminent or actual rise of a tyrannical government in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
which, they believe, must be confronted through armed force. Some believe in the New World Order conspiracy theory.
Active militia groups
The Southern Poverty Law Center
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 su ...
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.
Constitutionalists
The constitutionalist
Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law".
Political organizations are constitutional ...
wing of the American militia movement became active in the mid 1990s in a response of outrage about the violent confrontation at Ruby Ridge
Ruby Ridge was the site of an eleven-day siege in 1992 in Boundary County, Idaho, near Naples. It began on August 21, when deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) initiated action to apprehend and arrest Randy Weaver under a bench ...
, the Waco Siege
The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the law enforcement siege of the compound that belonged to the religious sect Branch Davidians. It was carried out by the U.S. federal government, Texas state law enforcement, and the U.S. mi ...
and gun control
Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.
Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
legislation. The movement is composed largely of veteran
A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military.
A military veteran that has ...
s, libertarians
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and Minarchism, minimize the ...
, 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. 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.
Scholars Stanley C. Weeber and Daniel G. Rodeheaver offer a description of the constitutionalist militia movement that identifies four types:
# The Open Constitutionalist, with the Cascade Brigade as an example
# Constitutionalist/Command Structure, with the Alabama Constitutional Militia and the Michigan Militia as examples
# Constitutionalist/Cell Structure, with the Militia of Montana and the Texas Constitutional Militia as examples
# Underground/ No Public Contact, with the Sons of Liberty (Alabama) as example
Other writers view constitutionalism
Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law".
Political organizations are constitutional ...
as the movement, having a militia wing, rather than a militia movement with a constitutionalist wing.
Throughout American history, there have been other constitutionalist revivals in opposition to various government actions.[Robert H Churchill, ''To Shake Their Guns in the Tyrant's Face: Libertarian Political Violence and the Origins of the Militia Movement'', University of Michigan Press (March 3, 2009) .] Some writers 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
Christian Identity (also known as Identity Christianity) is an interpretation of Christianity which advocates the belief that only Celtic and Germanic peoples, such as the Anglo-Saxon, Nordic nations, or Aryan people and people of kindred blood ...
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 Bilderberg meeting (also known as the Bilderberg Group) is an annual off-the-record conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defin ...
, the Trilateral Commission
The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...
) who promote globalization, collectively known as the New World Order. The Posse Comitatus
The ''posse comitatus'' (from the Latin for "power of the county/community/guard"), frequently shortened to posse, is in common law a group of people mobilized by the conservator of peace – typically a reeve, sheriff, chief, or another speci ...
is an exception to this principle, however, as it adheres to the antisemitic theory of the ''Zionist Occupation Government
The Zionist occupation government, Zionist occupational government or Zionist-occupied government (ZOG), sometimes also referred to as the Jewish occupational government (JOG), is an antisemitic conspiracy theory claiming Jews secretly contr ...
''.
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.
Operational features listed in the book ''Militias in the New Millennium'' include the following:[Weeber, Stan C. + Rodeheaver, Daniel G.. "Militias in the New Millennium: A test of Smelser's theory of collective behavior," Page 188]
#Training in combat scenarios and weaponry skills in mock actions and maneuvers
#Has an identifiable territory in which members reside
#Bases organization philosophies on anti-government rhetoric
#Development of contingency plans in case of governmental provocation
#Considers bombing, kidnappings, separatism, "paper terrorism", or other extreme measures to protect the organic Constitution
#Considers the viability of criminal activity to acquire weapons and explosives
See also
*Domestic terrorism in the United States
Domestic terrorism in the United States consists of incidents which are confirmed to be domestic terrorist acts. These attacks are considered domestic because they occurred within the United States and they were carried out by U.S. citizens and ...
*Second American Civil War
The "Second American Civil War" is an umbrella term used by academics in order to reclassify historical eras of significant political violence in the history of the United States as a "civil war" or, more commonly, to discuss the potential outbre ...
*Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...
*Leaderless resistance
Leaderless resistance, or phantom cell structure, is a Rebellion, social resistance strategy in which small, independent groups (Clandestine cell system, covert cells), or individuals (a solo cell is called a "Lone wolf (terrorism), lone wolf"), ch ...
*Minutemen (anti-Communist organization)
The Minutemen was a militant anti-communist, nativist organization formed in the United States in the early 1960s. The founder and head of the group was Robert DePugh, a biochemist from Norborne, Missouri. The Minutemen worked against the rise of ...
*Private military company
A private military company (PMC) or private military and security company (PMSC) is a private company providing armed combat or security services for financial gain. PMCs refer to their personnel as "security contractors" or "private military ...
* List of private military contractors
*List of US private military companies
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*Second American Revolution
The Second American Revolution is a rhetorical or hyperbolic historiographical term that has been invoked on a number of occasions throughout the history of the United States. While it has been used as a metonym for past events, another ideologic ...
* Christian Patriot movement
The Christian Patriot movement is a subset within the broader American Patriot movement that promotes and emphasizes Christian nationalism as their core goal and philosophy. Like the larger movement, it promotes a Historical revisionism, revisio ...
* Ranch Rescue
Ranch Rescue was a volunteer organization that claimed to assist American ranchers and other owners of property near the United States-Mexico border in the protection of their property. The organization claimed that the protection was necessary d ...
* Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...
* White Terror
White Terror is the name of several episodes of mass violence in history, carried out against anarchists, communists, socialists, liberals, revolutionaries, or other opponents by conservative or nationalist groups. It is sometimes contrasted wit ...
References
Further reading
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{{Authority control
Political movements in the United States
Terrorism in the United States
Paleoconservatism
Far-right terrorism