The militia extremists of the '90s are back, and organizing quietly in the woods
By David Neiwert Saturday Jul 11, 2009 1:00pm
A couple of months ago, a newly formed militia reared its head in a familiar place -- the Panhandle of Northern Idaho. Sisyphus at 43rd State Blues had a full description:
Sporting a photoshopped image of the Statue of Liberty with the torch replaced by an assault rifle, as well as displaying the flag from the "Republic of Idaho", another newly formed Idaho militia crawls out from the wilderness to register their displeasure with the status quo yet offering no solutions other than vague grade school platitudes and a thinly veiled threat of revolution. As is their wont they invoke the civil war cry of state sovereignty. ...
The General applied to be a sniper with them, and got a positive response. Kewl!
But it's not just northern Idaho. It's occurring across a broad swath of the Northwest, mostly in rural precincts, as a Missoulian story recently explored:
“It's the old Freemen days,” Anderson said. “That's what we're seeing here again. And it's not just Lincoln County.”
Lincoln County Detective Capt. Jim Sweet agrees that “there's an uprising of anti-government groups that's definitely connected to the election of the Obama administration.”
Law enforcement agencies throughout the multi-state region, Sweet said, are “talking about the patterns. It's obviously bigger than Lincoln County.”
People are afraid of losing gun rights, he said, and they're stockpiling weapons and ammunition, and they want a sheriff who will stand up to federal agents.
“It's a power thing,” Anderson said. “They want the power to buck the fed and federal gun laws.”
Anderson said he traveled recently to Kalispell for an “intelligence meeting” with several federal, state and local jurisdictions - including the FBI, county sheriffs and city police - to discuss “this radical response to Obama's election, and to make sure we all know what's going on.”
And Sweet said he likewise met with authorities in northern Idaho to discuss the same “resurgence of the radical right. It's not something you can ignore at this point.”
Certainly, Anderson said, people have the right to gather and debate and prepare, but authorities similarly have an “obligation to try to stay ahead of the game, so things don't get blown out of proportion like they did before.”
Sweet believes the Eureka petitioners are likely “harmless in and of themselves,” but he worries that opportunists - more dangerous elements with increasingly radical anti-government sentiments - might be attracted to the activity in Lincoln County.
“Our fear is that, once it fails, their recall petition won't be good enough for them,” Sweet said. “We have people tied to the Freemen trying to take over the sheriff's office. We'd be foolish not to pay attention.”
At its most extreme, this same tide of paranoia and fearfulness is also washing up more bona-fide hate groups on our shores -- particularly our old friends the neo-Nazis from Aryan Nations:
"Six months ago, I had four contacts a month, wanted information and membership applications," O'Brien said. "Now it's up to four or five a day."
...
"It means that white America is waking up," O'Brien said. "That's what it says to me that people are starting to get involved and understand the plight of our race.
The KOMO piece also contained a real nugget of wisdom from an experienced voice:
Eradicating the hate can be a long road.
"You never, never decrease the problem by ignoring it," said Tony Stewart of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations.
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The militias never went away, they were just ignored by the Bush Administration and became more quiet. Our home grown nuts are more dangerous to this nation than Al Qaida could ever be.
Turned legitimate and became private contractors in Iraq?
These people get their encouragement by the less government ideology of the leaders of the Republiklan party.
Seems it was Angelia Davis of the Black Panthers , that said less goverment today and even less tomorrow . Funny st.ronnie said the same thing go figure .
They said it for completely different reasons and you know it.
sounded better to me . But what do you expect from an old lefty from berkeley no less .
Gov expanded massively during the 80s and onwards. Every fancy pet project and any excuse to spend the taxpayer dollar on cost plus 'defense' project. And to add insult to injury they corrupted the university system into an a branch of the MIC.
Defense establishments and private corporations are the places to develop weapons, not centers of civilian learning.
I am intersted if there are any people out there who are of non-conservative (ie liberal or free-thinking) persuasion who think the possiblity of defensive armed resistance may be significant.
After looking into "militias" in my area, I have concluded that many have not thought out their missions and possible enemies one bit or chosen to equip themselves with anything other than what they can fit on their Visa at the local Army-Navy. They run around in forest camo with carbines and AK-47's as if they were going to conduct USA-in- VietNam style offensive operations against regular army or national guard units. One picture that made me laugh was a group of about 8 in road march formation in an open clearing, on a road. Just one jeep or LAV type vehicle popping through the trees would have mowed them down in seconds, those boys never getting close enough to anything to use their cute little $500 M4s and KalashKnock-offs.
Any militia that thinks they will be going toe to toe with any uniformed force in the woods on foot is either suicidal or has no military acumen whatsoever. Even the modest military training I have suggests that any action on the part of civilian units, including the raving maniac bigots will be defensive in nature. Perhaps they should google the Waco seige and examine the methods of the resistance in Baghdad if they want a clue as to how to train and what to expect if The Glenn Beck future rolls around.
...in more then one way, they have viewed "Waco".
I don't think you get a $500 M4 these days.
looks like I left out the "1"
Except for the missing monkey-bar footage, this could just as easily be mistaken for one of those Al Qaida "training films". ...
..pull them in now and get it over with before they do any real damage?
the good old Constitution says they have a right to do all this shit. Until they actually break the law, nobody can touch them.
Things won't happen until people die. That's the way it's always been, and it won't change until the laws and/or the Constitution changes. 'Til then, more bodies.
It's the American way, dontcha know.
..the Constitution means nothing to them...and they will stomp on it till they are in control. Heck, they practically are, now.
This is why Republicans like Bob Barr found religion and opposed the Patriot Act, ostensibly to protect the Constitution but really to protect American terrorist organizations like this one. I predict there'll be a showdown over Bush's unconstitutional anti-terrorism laws once the Republican murders escalate, and all the Republican tools will claim to never have supported it.
they start practicing in the cites , it will be too late .
... funny they only seem to give a sh*t about the constitution when a Dem is in office.
Incidentally, I don't see them joining up to fight a real battle, you with people who shoot back at you. This is nothing but the redneck version of golf. LOL.
Can I buy you a beer?
... and make it a real beer, none of that macrobrew piss. OK?
..."only seem to give a sh*t about the constitution when a Dem is in office."
...the reason these militia guys are front page is...(they have always been there)...is that mainstream media is making you pay attention to it.
David Niewert is also trying to sell a book...
David Niewert and lamestream media has brought this to your attention...not the silly guys with guns!
Then invite us to one of your Teabagging Parties again.
BTW, saw Ron Paul's kid on Beck's show this week (there was a guest host), and if I heard him correctly, Dr. Paul the Younger was saying that government run health care would end up just like the version of FEMA that botched it following Hurricane Katrina.
I'm not joining you guys. Ever. My enemy's enemy is NOT my friend.
when Bush and Cheney were taking away their rights?
nt
My guess is that this militia movement will make the movement of the 90s seem tame by comparison. 10 more years of eliminationist propaganda and a black president.
for some HATE is an addiction. these are people that get high off of feeling superior to others. it's also a matter of belonging to a culture club. i suspect all races have these type of groups. what's interesting is that these groups have been around for years. according to my grandfather it was very common to be pressured to belong to these HATE groups in the day. sometimes you were threatened. i always wondered if there's a link to this behavior and(darwinian) biology. they will always exist. especially since there are some who believe the GUN is mightier than the pen.
We have guns, too.
What else do they have better to do now that the Palin rallies are over?
Maybe they'll all mistake each other for deer.
Cheney will take them all hunting...
Nah. His specialty is attempting to bag small flightless pen raised birds and bagging old lawyers in the process.
...It allows for much mischief.
Now let us open our books...
PS. Thanks David
and when the time comes to round up these rightwing domestic terrorists maybe they'll also go after their prominent, vocal and impassioned enablers: Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Mark Steyn, Dick Morris, Ann Coulter, Bernie Goldberg, Dennis Miller, G. Gordon Liddy, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity, Michele Malkin, Joe Scarborough, etc
...is resisting hate crime legislation so strenuously - they fear that they will be held responsible for the crimes of the crazies they incite to violence. Gun laws are a good example. This administration has called further gun control "a non-starter," but gun sales all over America have seen a steep increase because the Dark Agers and their minions in Congress and on Hate Radio and Faux News have convinced them that Obama is coming to take their guns, lack of evidence to back it up notwithstanding (but when did that ever stop the wingnuts...).
Not to worry though - Gleen Beck and Rush Limbaugh have assured us the intelligence report warning of increased activity by the radical right was just a politically motivated smear job against the decent folk who listen to their insane ramblings and take them as gospel.
dressed in military gear and marching with AK-47's?
Haa Haaa Haaaaaa
If these whack jobs ever actually rise up the extremely advanced and superior hardware the the US military has will turn them into Cheeto fed hamburger in short order. For once our tax dollars spent on the war machine will be well spent.
It seems more a matter of "when" to me. This country is headed for another civil war. Who knows what side the military will be on by then?
And didn't do jack shit, other than maybe detonating a bomb and killing 150 innocent people while the person who did it ran away like the coward he was.
I'd be highly surprised if any of these cowards ever sacked up and actually took any collective action against people who could defend themselves.
And if they did, it wouldn't be pretty at all. Can you say 'outgunned'?
I wouldn't worry about them rising up; I don't think they have enough jumper-cables to become militarily mobile.
I highly doubt he, or any of his fellow dumb-ass militiamen, sees the irony.
The shit they are putting out and calling AK-47's are nothing compared to the ones North Vietnamese and Viet Cong were carrying. Commercialism ruins any product . Quality goes as production increases. I still dream of owning an M-14 like I had in the Corp.
bet it wasnt a polytech.
cared while Bush spied on them, illegally.
none of them cared while the U.S. tortured.
none of them cared about the loss of Habeaus Corpus...
they didn't blink when the U.S. started a war of aggression based on obvious lies.
useless idiots, every one of them.
... I think you'll find that "these freaks" do care about all those issues?
At the same time, they admired Bush for other reason(s). Though, that's just my opinion upon reconciliation of the relative facts.
I believe you'll find most, having a spiritual motivating factor... see "Constitution Party (United States)" √
...if these guys cared or not while Bush was on the rampage? maybe they did? ...but because you didnt see Anderson Cooper do a story on it you remain ignorant. (the fact is they were always there.) ...(and probly cared!)
you only respond to what you see on the news right?
...and if the news didnt cover it then you didnt see it.
I will add that the only reason you are "finding out now" about these "gun people" ...is because gun control legislation is on the table, and the fact that Niewert is selling a book.
All I do is sit around and watch Anderson Cooper.
How incredibly insightful of you!
I never did hear about them before!
Never!
You must be the bestest little troll in all of the blogosphere!
Here's a cookie.
I agree with you.
These clowns thought Bush was just doing what he had to do to protect us.
...can I have a cookie anyway?
"Niewert is selling a book"
And, not only is it timely, but quite accurate as well. I gotta buy another, for my local library. ♥
did know and care. They had the "24" mentality..torture them all and to hell with their rights. Lets go kick some rag-head sand N****r butt. I had my best friend of over 35 yrs look me in the eye and say ...I want to kill all the Muslims and he meant all! I asked him .. if you say that and some Muslim over there is saying kill all Americans then what is the difference between you two as far as your thinking goes, all I got was a smile. Something happened to a lot of these people after 9/11, its as if something snapped and filled them with hate and they justified it by calling it Patriotism. I love my friend like a brother but I no longer feel comfortable around him. I'm not afraid of him or anything , its like I'm talking to someone I barely know.
sounds like a good portion of my family, sadly.
...some of the "other" soldiers know the these wars in the middle east we are in, are bogus.
actually all the good soldiers are getting out of this bogus war and the military is having to resort to enlisting street gang members, convicted felons and even skinhead nazi's.
Hope you get a chance to meet some "good soldiers" one day...
...Nazi skinheads for decades.
Oh, wait, that's just Dave Neiwert's publicist speaking, right?
I'm aware that skinheads form militia type groups...
but so do all gangs...some do it in south central L.A. some do it in Newark N.J. ...some in Northern Idaho.
Some people would say cops are a gang too....
...FBI agents charged Hal Turner, 47, of North Bergen, N.J.,
Snip - An Internet radio host and blogger charged earlier this month with encouraging people to "take up arms" against three public officials in Connecticut was arrested again Wednesday on charges that he threatened to assault and murder three federal judges in retaliation for a ruling upholding handgun bans in the Chicago area.
[ http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-hal_t... ]
...take it from there. → → → → →
right back atcha!
...I caught it! ;)
I find it harder and harder to read the news everyday. I see and hear the hate spewing out of cable news and radio and watch these people making millions by inciting the stupid , intellectualy weak morons who listen to them and swallow their shit talk hook line and sinker.
My one consulation is I will go out fighting. I have weapons and the Marine Corp taught me how to use them effectivly. Even at the age of 60 I can still put 3 rounds in someones nose hole at 100 yds In about 10 sec. The first one would make the hole, the other two would just be showing off. I fear too many right wingers think of us on the left as wimpy , ******ty Dweebs who would run and hide at the first sign of trouble. That is where we have an advantage so let them do the best they can, I'm not worried. Hell my biggest fear is dying of increpid old age in some nursing home, going out in battle would be like candy to a kid for me. I escaped death more than once in the late 60's. If its my time to pay the piper so be it. I have more than a few friends on The Wall who did it way too soon. So all I got to say is goosestep your ass my way Nazi boy.
Your not alone when it comes to being armed and no shrinking violet liberal.
please excuse my faux pas on political correctness. I cuss like a Marine and am too old to change now . So a little monitoring when I get on a run is a good thing. I meant nothing by it. Thank You very much
[No harm, No foul. Whatever it was, we didn't have to lift a pinky. The filter did it-Sitemonitor]
BTW - it was cheney who pulled the plug on Congress - clearly against the letter and intent of the law of the land.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=8...
a very, very important law of the land, because there are fascists like cheney everywhere... just waiting to take the reins of power if we let them.
what are they doing, patrolling the Canadian border? Protecting America from Godless single-payer health insurance?
F*cking idiots . . .
You'd think that it would only take a handful of militiamen to deal with you guys.
Is there a Tim Horton's near that border you guys have your eyes on?
I don't think so...but I'm sure java is helping them. :)
If they still call it ( Idaho ) " blue heaven " or not , because of all the retired cops , cops and the A nation , hmm ? .
pummel them with Tim Bits!
For the past decade or more this uneasy alliance has been gaining ground, as ideological and political traffic between movement conservatives and right-wing extremists becomes increasingly common.
Sometimes the exchange happens almost accidentally, often at the intersection between personal ambition and lurking agendas, as when David Horowitz published the views of white supremacist Jared Taylor at his Frontpage Webzine. Sometimes, as with Coulter, it is done with apparently full intent.
--David Neiwert (chap. 3 p. 71)
The Eliminationists Recreated using PaperPort version 11.1 (11.1.0.300)
Western Montana is teaming with these whackjobs (especially up in the Yaak in northwest Montana). There are even a couple of towns, Noxon in northwest Montana is one, that they pretty much run. They have been pretty quiet for the past several years, but they are starting to stir again now that there is a black Democrat in the White House.
( and the YAK , (sp) the stunt plane ) lived in Kallispell a few yrs ( 84 2 91 ) never saw any gang activy , not my kinda crowd anyway . But on fri&sat night , you could bank on a ass-whooping somewhere , " the Blue Moon " was famous for it , take it outside boys .
The Blue Moon at Half Moon (is the Midway drive in still there?) and other bars in Columbia Falls. My dads family owned the Paul Bunyon until it was torn down. We lived just across from the Bunyon and usually one good fight per weekend.
Geez, what a crappy song.
are to big , eyesight inst that good either , meant to say 84 2 01
July 08
Snip - In the Charles Dickens classic, "The Tale of Two Cities" which took place at the onset of the French Revolution [not comparable to the First American War for Independence], people within the city addressed each other with "Citizen". It was a not only a way of letting people know that they lived within the city limits, it was also a subtle way of distinguishing themselves from the ruling class.
We need to separate ourselves from the compliant elitist crowd immediately with greetings and salutations of "Hello Patriot".
[ http://www.pyrabang.com/view.php?ref=THX1138&... ]
My pro-list of reasons to buy another gun just got longer.
and can walk to Idaho from my house. We went out to eat in Northern Idaho a few weeks ago and were out in the country. We went past McCain-Palin signs, Ron Paul signs, and a Confederate flag flying on a pole. They cleared out the Aryan Nation headquarters a few years ago, but there are still plenty of extremists still around.
Sorry guys, but I've seen elephants with road flares strapped to their heads that are stealthier than these bozos. They clearly have no concept of how camouflage works, and their maneuvers seem to be taken right out of a 10 year old video game. I'm far more frightened of your average paintball or airsoft leagues (without even giving them live firearms.)
These are a bunch of little boys playing dress-up with their pop-pop toys. If they had shown even the tiniest bit of professionalism (like, say, using hunting camouflage or digital BDU's instead of whatever earth tones they had lying around in the closet with BLACK tac-gear) then maybe I'd be concerned. As it is, I doubt these guys could even hit a living, breathing target... much less "take back 'Merica!"
I was thinking that too, if you can hit zoom on the camcorder and see these clowns a half mile a way plain as day then they really need to work on their stealth. That's what you call easy pickens targets.
I commented earlier on the tendency for these groups to be very non-military. Obviously the first thing they would want to work on is not being seen, and running around in clearings in large groups making noise is the best way to get wiped out before you even have to clean your AK.
None that I have encountered seem to realize that they are going to be hiding in burned out buildings, taking pot-shots and pushing homemade pipe bombs under HMMWVs, not making infantry assaults.
Wolverines!!!!
David, I am an extremely docile, even pacifistic "liberal", (For lack of a more appropriate description.) However, increasingly, I am considering accepting a similar action (ref: your post) for my side of the demographic. I visualize a time when I, and people of my persuasion, are caught with our pants down and being completely unprepared for what may be coming. It would be ugly, for us.
Of course they are being trained for the 'good' team...
2009 H***** Y****
"Cathy Noriega, also 16, said she was attracted by the guns." :-o
Always good to see the semi retarted, detatched from reality, kneejerk reactionary nutjobs armed to the teeth and preparing to do the lords work.
and their music sucks too.
Where da white WOMEN at?
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