The Minutemen was a

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

anti-communist, nativist organization formed in the United States in the early 1960s. The founder and head of the group was

Robert DePugh Robert Boliver DePugh (April 15, 1923 – June 30, 2009) was an American anti-communist activist who founded the Minutemen militant anti-Communist organization in 1961. Life and career DePugh was born in Independence, Missouri, where his ...

, a biochemist from

Norborne, Missouri Norborne is a city in southwest Carroll County, Missouri, Carroll County, Missouri, United States. The population was 634 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Norborne was founded in 1868 by Norborne B. Coats, a civil engineer for the r ...

. The Minutemen worked against the rise of

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. The group conducted themselves as others of the era, by preparing, organizing and supporting their community. The Minutemen organized themselves into small cells and stockpiled weapons for an anticipated

counter-revolution A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revoluti ...

. DePugh published a 10-page

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

guerilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tac ...

via the Minutemen in 1961.Barth, Alan (November 26, 1961). Report on the 'Rampageous Right'; Today's tensions have led to a proliferation of 'conservative extremists.' ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' The Minutemen's newsletter was called ''On Target''. He was a founder of the Patriotic Party in 1966.Hamilton, Neil A. (2002). ''Rebels and Renegades: A Chronology of Social and Political Dissent in the United States''. Taylor & Francis, In 1966, DePugh was arrested on federal weapons charges, which were later dismissed.

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

(September 14, 1966). Arms Charge Is Dismissed Against Head of Minutemen. ''

'' Their offices were bombed in 1967,Staff report (September 1, 1967). Dynamite Wrecks Office Of Leader of Minutemen and DePugh. ''

'' and DePugh resigned from the Minutemen in 1967. In February 1968, he was indicted by a federal

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

for

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

to commit

bank robbery Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank- ...

. Also in 1968, he was arrested for violation of federal firearms laws. He skipped

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

and went underground for over a year until he was caught in 1969 in

Truth or Consequences, New Mexico Truth or Consequences (often abbreviated as T or C) is a city in New Mexico, and the county seat of Sierra County. In 2020, the population was 6,052. It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names for having chosen to rename itse ...

. He was convicted in 1970 and released from prison in May 1973. DePugh later wrote an anti-communist quasi- survivalist manual, ''Can You Survive?'', and was associated briefly with

Liberty Lobby Liberty Lobby was a far-right think tank and lobby group founded in 1958 by Willis Carto. Carto was known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories, white nationalism, and Holocaust denial. The organization produced a daily five-mi ...

."Robert DePugh and The Minutemen"
at the Nizkor Project

Publications

The Minutemen's publication was a newsletter called "On Target". *''Principles of Guerrilla Warfare'', Robert DePugh. Published by the Minutemen, San Diego, CA, 1961. 10 pages.Google books, no preview
/ref> *''Blueprint for Victory'', Robert DePugh. 1966. *''Can You Survive?'' Robert DePugh. Published by Desert Publications, El Dorado, AZ, 1973. 214 pages.

References

External links

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 ...

files on the Minutemen and DePugh, obtained under the FOIA and hosted at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Headquarters file Part 1Headquarters file Part 2Headquarters file Part 3NYC office file 1NYC office file 2NYC office file 3NYC office file 4NYC office file 5NYC office file 6NYC office file 7NYC office file 8NYC office file 9NYC office file 10NYC office file 11NYC office file 12
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minutemen (Anti-Communist Organization) Anti-communist organizations in the United States Right-wing militia organizations in the United States

Publications

See also

References

Further reading

External links