ARMED & DANGEROUS: MILITIAS TAKE AIM AT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
AN ADL FACT FINDING REPORT
Anti-Defamation League, 1994
_________________________________________________________________
ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE
David H. Strassler, National Chairman
Abraham H. Foxman, National Director
Howard P. Berkowitz, Chairman, National Executive Committee
Peter T. Willner, Chief Operating Officer
Kenneth Jacobson, Assistant National Director
Robert G. Sugarman, Chairman, Civil Rights Committee
Jeffrey P. Sinensky, Director, Civil Rights Division
Gary Zaslav, Chairman, Fact Finding and Research Committee
October 1994
This publication was prepared by Irwin Suall, Director of Special
Projects; Thomas Halpern, Associate Director, Fact Finding
Department;
David Rosenberg, Assistant Director, Fact Finding Department; and
James Q. Purcell, Assistant to the Civil Rights Director.
(C) 1994 Anti-Defamation League, Printed in the United States of
America, All rights reserved
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Arizona
Colorado
Florida
Idaho
Indiana
Michigan
Missouri
Montana
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North Carolina
Ohio
Virginia
Conclusion
Appendix
Introduction
Bands of armed right-wing militants. most calling themselves
“militias,” are cropping up across America. They have no centralized
structure, but there are linkages among some of them, consisting
largely of the sharing of propaganda material and speakers. A survey
conducted by the Anti-Defamation League has found evidence of their
activity in no fewer than 13 states.
The aims of these militias, often bellicosely stated, involve laying
the groundwork for massive resistance to the federal government and
its law enforcement agencies as well as opposition to gun control
laws. In the view of many such extremists. numbering in the
thousands. America’s government is the enemy, now widening its
authoritarian control and planning warfare against the citizenry.
To the militia ideologues, gun control legislation — the Brady
Law,(1) restrictions on assault weapons.(2) etc. — are major
stratagems in a secret government conspiracy to disarm and control
the American people and abolish their Constitutional “right to bear
arms.”(3) They are also obsessed with the role of government in two
recent events — the Branch Davidian confrontation in Waco(4) and the
Randy Weaver siege in Idaho(5) — which they interpret as signs of
impending tyranny. The answer, say these extremists, is ultimately,
necessarily, paramilitary resistance. An armed and aroused citizenry
must be mobilized and ready for a call to war.
For most, if not all, of the militias, the fear of government
confiscation of their weapons is a paramount concern. Samuel
Sherwood, head of the “U.S. Militia Association” in Idaho, states:
“When they come around to collect weapons, we’ll have the legal and
lawful structure to say ‘no’ to that.” Randy Trochmann of the
“Militia of Montana” gets tougher: “If and when the federal
government decides to confiscate weapons, people will band together
to stop them. They are not going to give up their guns.” And the
“enemy” easily becomes nightmarish: Robert Pummer, a leader of the
“Florida State Militia,” says that his group is “capable of defending
ourselves against chemical and biological agents.”
Although thwarting gun control is the chief aim of the militias, they
seek to turn the clock back on federal involvement in a host of other
issues as well, e.g., education, abortion, the environment.
Case in point: Norman Olson, a regional militia commander in northern
Michigan, has envisioned violence erupting if present government
policies continue. Olson, a Baptist minister who owns a gun shop,
declared: “We’re talking about a situation where armed conflict may
be inevitable if the country doesn’t turn around.” (Emphasis added.)
Most often the central issue of the militants has been the legality
of guns themselves. Clearly, their deeper suspicions and terrors
should be of concern: Is their militant cause merely the alleged
gun-toting “right” of citizens? — or is it the “turning around” of
the U.S. itself from what the militants see as the “treasonous”
direction of the federal government’s present policies? The question
which no one can answer just yet is what, exactly, the “militias”
intend to do with their guns.
Might they still, as many observers hope, limit themselves to the
time-honored means provided by the Constitution — freedom of
expression, the ballot, the courts, the right of petition –or do
they intend to resort to lawlessness?
A recent episode in Virginia offers some partial but troubling
evidence. Members of a militia group calling itself the Blue Ridge
Hunt Club were arrested for possession of illegal weapons. The leader
of the group, James Roy Mullins, and three others who were taken into
custody, were found to be stockpiling weapons in their homes and
storage facilities. Found on a computer disk in Mullins’ home was a
draft of the group’s newsletter stating that it planned a series of
terrorist actions in furtherance of its aims. According to an ATF
official. the group intended to further arm itself by raiding the
National Guard Armory in Pulaski. Virginia.
A further and vexing problem uncovered by investigation of the
growing militias is the presence in some of them — even in
leadership roles — of persons with histories of racial and religious
bigotry and of political extremism. In the Northwest. for example, we
find militia leaders with backgrounds in the Aryan Nations movement.
and elsewhere other erstwhile neo Nazis and Ku Kluxers.
The militias are of concern and doubtless will remain so in the
coming months: they are driven by a combustible issue in American
life which remains unresolved — that of gun control, an issue of
urgency and passion in a society beset by violent crime. Coming head
to head: a cry for weapons restrictions and a perceived
Constitutional right. Most of those siding with the latter are
law-abiding citizens who feel that guns are desirable for personal
defense or for sport. Many of them feel that the National Rifle
Association (NRA) adequately represents their concerns: others who
see the NRA as too moderate have sought out more extreme advocates
such as the American Pistol and Rifle Association (APRA). Of late,
however, still others are resorting to the mustering of a far more
desperate and dangerous “resistance” — the militia movement that is
the focus of this report.
There follows a state-by-state synopsis of militia activity.
Arizona
Efforts have recently begun in Arizona to create a militia movement.
David Espy, who portrays himself a latter-day American Revolutionary
captain, has attempted to organize militia meetings over the last
several weeks. An advertisement he placed in the September 11 and 25.
1994 issues of the Prescott Courier announced a meeting in Paulden,
Arizona of the “Association of the Sons of Liberty and the Volunteer
Militia.” The purpose of the meeting was to discuss plans for action
against the federal government which, he asserts, “continue[s] to
pass legislation that weaken our unalienable, private property and
Bill of Rights (sic).” The formation of a militia is an integral part
of Espy’s plan:
So. everyone out there, who thinks that taking pride in owning
firearms, is being fanatical or nuts, should remember where you are
living and how we all got here to begin with. It wasn’t by just
sitting back and letting the government run our lives and usurping
our fundamental rights as free people. So forgive me, if I see a
clear and present danger with what is happening in our country today,
and that I feel a genuine and rational need to form a volunteer
militia force. if for no other reason than to [let] Washington know
that there is still a large group of us out here that have inherited
revolutionary DNA and are willing to fight for it until our dying
breath.
Another aspect of his plan is a demand for “the legal cessation (sic)
of Arizona from these federal United States.”
Also active in Arizona is Gary D. Hunt. a man obsessed with the Waco
Branch Davidian incident. Hunt himself was present during the siege
in Waco and wrote about the event at the time, comparing the Branch
Davidians to the original revolutionary Minutemen: “I understand why
[the Minutemen] were willing to stand and face portions of the
greatest military force in the world. And I understand why David
Koresh and the other brave defenders of Mount Carmel stand fearlessly
defending their home and mine.”
More recently, Hunt has distributed a flier dated July 2, 1994 and
labeled “Sons of Liberty No. 3.” The flier describes the
effectiveness of militias in the Revolutionary War and suggests that
militias are again needed now. At the bottom of the flier, written in
by hand, Hunt announced: “March on Phx FBI 8-25-94 5-6 p.m. to
release the Branch Davidians. Bring legal signs + guns. Tell a
friend.” The FBI and Phoenix Police paid close attention. but the
planned march never materialized.
Colorado
Militias in Colorado have benefitted from the support of a number of
right-wing groups. Most active in the movement are so-called Patriot
groups that proliferate throughout the state. Others showing support
for militias in Colorado are the Constitutionists. the Guardians of
American Liberties (GOAL). and state representative Charles Duke.
Militias, calling themselves Patriots, are being formed across the
state and are currently operating in Lakewood, Longmont, Boulder,
Greeley and Fort Collins. The Fort Collins group is led by Duncan
Philp, who has been a member of Pete Peters’ LaPorte Church of
Christ. a racist and anti-Semitic church that embraces the ideology
of the Christian Identity movement.
The Patriots propaganda promotes the view that the federal government
has betrayed the people and the Constitution through laws regarding
home-schooling, abortion, taxation, freedom of speech and religion,
and, most importantly, gun control. While calling on citizens to take
political action (e.g., write their Congressmen, attend meetings,
etc.), they also urge that people prepare to resist the government by
forming militias and stockpiling weapons, groceries and other
necessities for survival.
The Patriots publish a newsletter and sell tapes and videos through
“The Patriot Library.” Among the titles for sale are “The New World
Order, Communist groups supported by Hillary Clinton.” as well as
tapes describing black helicopters said to be scrutinizing the
actions of citizens in the western states. A June 22, 1994 “Patriot
Factsheet” encouraged members to read, by computer access, The
Spotlight, the organ of the anti-Semitic Liberty Lobby.
Guardians of American Liberties. a multi-slate organization centered
in Boulder. is attempting to take a leadership role in the militia
movement. It describes itself as a national grassroots network of
American Citizens formed to insure our government is free of
corruption, that it is actively aligned with the will of the people
and to safeguard the Constitution of the United States of America
>from all forms of corruption.” GOAL has some 40 to 50 members in
Colorado as well as claimed chapters in Texas, Arizona, California
and Nevada. It has established a militia committee, although it is
not clear what degree of success it has achieved in organizing
militias in Colorado or elsewhere. GOAL literature lists these
additional committees: a “Federal Reserve & IRS Committee.” a
“Political Prisoner Committee,” and a “Sovereignty & Freedom
Committee,” beneath which is printed the slogan. “Kick the Feds out
of the Counties.”
GOAL’s leader. Stewart Webb. has appeared frequently on right-wing
radio shows to discuss his various conspiracy theories regarding,
among other issues, the S&L and BCCI scandals. Webb has a history of
anti-Semitism. From the mid-1980’s and into the 90’s. he made a
series of threatening anti-Semitic phone calls and continued to do so
even after receiving a cease and desist order.
The Constitutionists. a Kansas-based extremist group whose leadership
includes Evan Mecham, the impeached former governor of Arizona, has
received support in its promotion of militias from Colorado State
representative Charles Duke. Duke spoke at the group’s June
conference in Indianapolis and promoted the formation of militias as
an effective way for citizens to protect themselves from the
government. At a Patriots meeting last July, Duke said: “We need some
ability to get some firepower to protect the citizens. I would like
to see a militia…[the type] that functions as a sheriff’s posse and
has sufficient training.”
Radio station KHNC in Johnstown has offered its facilities to the
Patriots and other groups active in the militia movement. KHNC
broadcasts continuous Patriot programs and talk on “conservative
issues.” Among regulars on the station are Bo Gritz (see Idaho
section of this report) and Dr. Norm Resnick, an outspoken opponent
of gun control. In addition to using the radio to air their views.
Colorado militias also disseminate information on computer bulletin
boards that reach readers across the country. The Colorado Free
Militia and Boulder Patriots, for example, are promoted on the New
Age Electronic Information Service, a Colorado bulletin board.
Florida
Several groups using the name “militia” have appeared in Florida.(6)
Among them are groups whose handbooks and leaflets variously engage
in anti-Semitic innuendo. serve up alarmist warnings of a government
conspiracy to abolish individual rights (especially gun ownership
rights), and specify the amount of ammunition and other material each
militia member is expected to carry.
One such outfit is the Florida State Militia, whose prime mover is
Robert Pummer of Stuart, in Martin County. Pummer, a Kansas native
who was a drug dealer in Michigan in the early 1970’s and served time
for second-degree murder, has been agitating on some of the same
issues exploited by militia-style groups around the country: gun
control, the Branch Davidian conflagration in Waco, the Randy Weaver
siege at Ruby Ridge in Idaho, allegations of Russian and other
foreign troops operating on U.S. soil, and other conspiracy-minded
themes. He claims members in every Florida county.
The Florida State Militia’s handbook, published by Pummer, declares:
“We have had enough — enough drugs and crime, enough violence and
bloodshed, enough Waco- and Ruby Ridge-style government attacks on
Christian Americans.” The handbook explains how to organize militia
regiments. It prescribes the recommended survival gear and weaponry:
“BUY AMMO NOW! YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BUY IT LATER! while expressing
worry over the possibility of infiltration, the handbook offers the
following reassurance: “[Y]ou still have your inner circle, and this
the FBI, ATF, or any other federal scumbags cannot penetrate, if you
keep up your guard.”
Publications contained in a “Patriot List” in the Florida State
Militia’s handbook include several anti-Semitic periodicals: The
Spotlight, organ of the Washington. D.C.-based Liberty Lobby, the
wealthiest and most active anti-Semitic propaganda organization in
the country: The Truth At Last, an obsessively anti-Black and
anti-Jewish hate sheet produced by longtime extremist Ed Fields of
Marietta. Georgia; Criminal Politics, a conspiracy-oriented
anti-Semitic, “anti-Zionist” and anti-establishment monthly; and The
National Educator, whose pages have honored the leaders of the
far-right terrorist gang called The Order and the neo-Nazi
paramilitary group, Aryan Nations. The handbook says a short-wave
radio is an essential piece of communications equipment. It
particularly endorses the Liberty Lobby-controlled program “Radio
Free America” as one source that transmits “what the mainstream media
will not tell you .”
Pummer’s militia sponsored an Information Fair and Campout in St.
Lucie County on the weekend of September 17, 1994. The event
attracted approximately 100 attendees, including some parents who
came with their children. Most attendees carried firearms, including
some semi-automatic weapons. Many wore knives. A workshop on radio
communications was conducted by a man who identified himself as a
retired police chief and Air Force officer. All attendees were
encouraged to attend the U.S. Constitution Restoration Rally in
Lakeland. Florida. on October 1 (see below).
A Key Largo-based group calls itself alternately the United States
Militia and the 1st Regiment Florida State Militia. Making a specious
claim to legitimacy from such documents as the U.S. Constitution, the
Federalist Papers, the Florida Constitution and Florida statutes,
this group has been attempting to recruit members at “patriotic” and
anti-gun control gatherings in Florida. Mimicking the style of the
Declaration of Independence, its literature speaks of a “Train of
Abuses” perpetrated on state and local governments and the citizenry
by the federal government. “Just as our Founding Fathers of this
country shook off their shackles of bondage,” the group declares, “so
must we.”
The militia’s regulations state that “County units will be organized
in each county of the state.” Militia members are told to expect to
spend one weekend a month engaging in unit activities including
rallies, shooting events and fund raisers. A list of suitable
equipment is provided, which includes one thousand rounds of
ammunition per weapon and six 30-round magazines for each militia
member. While the group’s regulations state that “The unit may not be
used against the police or governmental authority within the state of
Florida,” an exception may be made when such an “entity” commits
“crimes of violation of their oath of officer and “of “sections or
articles of the Constitution of the United States of America and of
this state.”
The United States Militia’s material was distributed at a U.S.
Constitution Restoration Rally in Lakeland, Florida, on October 1,
1994. Attended by 1,000 to 1,500 people, the event was sponsored by
Operation Freedom, an outfit created by Charles and Ruth Ann Spross
of Maitland Florida. The Sprosses describe their effort as a “for
profit partnership,” and, indeed, they offer for sale scores of video
and book titles, such as “The Planned Destruction of America” and
Linda Thompson’s “Waco, The Big Lie.” Featured on the schedule at the
October 1 gathering was a speech by M. J. “Red” Beckman, of Montana,
who has been influential in the militia movement in his home state.
Distributed along with the speakers program at the rally was a sheet
bearing the heading: “Paul Revere Rides Again.” It proclaimed: “A
strong and growing Underground Patriotic Movement with state-wide
militia groups exists against The Sinister Ones that is unreported by
the monopolistic and controlled establishment media.” (sic)
Identifying such enemies as the House of Rothschild, international
bankers, the Federal Reserve System and the Trilateral Commission,
the flier asked: “What is the range of British and Israeli influence
in the upper tiers?” It urged readers to “Stockpile food, water, guns
and ammo. Never surrender your weapons…. Subscribe to the weekly
populist newspaper The Spotlight…. Form or attend meetings with
other spirited patriots…. Consider yourself warned!”
Also distributed in large numbers at the rally was a flier urging
that “All Gun Owners Should Fire A WARNING SHOT As A Signal To The
New Congress” on November 11 at 11:00 pm. “Congress has failed to
safeguard the Bill of Rights,” it reads, “especially the 2nd
Amendment.” It further declares:
A warship will fire a warning shot across the bow, a rattlesnake will
sound off: these warnings are never ignored. It is time to warn
politicians that if they do not respect the Bill of Rights they
should at least fear the wrath of the People. Congress is forcing the
country into a civil war.
A group in Tampa that claims alignment with a national “patriot
movement” has ordered four judges and several Hillsborough County
officials, including the tax collector, to give themselves up for
arrest to the group’s so-called Constitutional Court. Founder of the
group, Emilio Ippolito, and his daughter, Susan Mokdad, reportedly
said they have an unarmed militia composed of volunteers to execute
the Constitutional Court’s orders. Subsequently, Ed Brown, an
activist with an armed militia group in New Hampshire, contacted
Florida law enforcement authorities, prosecutors’ offices and the
Florida Bar Association to express support for Ippolito’s court.
Idaho
As in other parts of the country, the recent rise of militias in
Idaho can be linked to four events: the Randy Weaver siege, the Waco
disaster, the passage of the Brady Law and the federal anti-crime
law. Idaho militias identify particularly closely with the Weaver
incident because it took place inside the state and because some key
militia figures in the region were allied with Weaver and indeed
participated in the events surrounding the siege.
Samuel Sherwood, an Idaho militia leader, has recruited hundreds of
Idahoans into his United States Militia Association. At a July
meeting in Blackfoot, Idaho, Sherwood reportedly told potential
recruits that President Clinton’s crime bill authorized the
government to hire 100,000 former Royal Hong Kong police to come to
America to enforce gun control laws. As of August 1991, Sherwood’s
association has organized militias in at least a dozen of Idaho’s
counties.
Sherwood’s recruitment campaign has met with opposition from law
enforcement officials. The Tri-County Sheriff’s Association,
representing 16 eastern Idaho counties, has passed a resolution
against the formation of militias. Greg Moffat, Madison County
Sheriff and the leader of the association, has asserted that they
would “give absolutely no support to the idea of a militia.”
BO GRITZ
Although his current project is not strictly speaking the formation
of militias, Bo Gritz’s activity closely parallels the militia
movement. Gritz, the 1992 Populist Party candidate for president, is
a former Green Beret, well-known for conducting SPIKE (Specially
Prepared Individuals for Key Events) training throughout the region,
preparing participants in weapons and survival techniques.
Gritz is currently creating an armed community on a 200-acre piece of
land in Central Idaho known as “Almost Heaven.” He purchased the land
and is now selling it in lots. A second community called “Shenandoah”
is also planned nearby. Gritz plans to live at Almost Heaven with 30
other families in a self-sufficient community which he has said will
obey all laws “unless they go against the laws of God and common
sense.” Through rigorous military training, Gritz plans to prepare
his followers to prevent the government from making any attempts to
intrude: “I want a community where if the F.B.I. looks at us, they’ll
end up saying it’s more trouble than it’s worth.”
Gritz derives much of his support from his opposition to the federal
government s actions in the Weaver and Waco cases. He himself was
present at the Weaver standoff and assisted Weaver in surrendering to
the authorities. Gritz recently wrote in his newsletter, “The tyrants
who ordered the assault on the Weavers and Waco should be tried and
executed as traitors.” But Gritz’s extremist views go beyond
opposition to certain government policies. For example, in his book,
Called To Serve, he peddles the anti-Semitic myth that Jewish
families control the Federal Reserve System.
Indiana
Indianapolis is the home base of Linda Thompson, an influential
figure in the militia movement nationally. Thompson is a lawyer and
chairman of the American Justice Federation, which describes itself
as “a group dedicated to stopping the New World Order and getting the
truth out to the American public.” Thompson claims to have contact
with militias in all 50 states. She appears frequently at militia
gatherings and gun shows, to lecture and sell her videos “Waco, The
Big Lie,” and “Waco II – The Big Lie Continues.” The latter, she
claims, “proves conclusively the government murdered 100 men, women
and children at Mt. Carmel in April, 1993.” She also sells other
propaganda material such as “The Traitor Files,” which purport to
link “Bill and Hillary Clinton to a Marxist-Terrorist network.”
On July 13, 1991, Thompson was arrested in Indianapolis for using her
vehicle to block a bus carrying supporters of President Clinton’s
health care plan. She was charged with obstructing traffic. At the
time of her arrest police officers seized from her person a
.45-caliber pistol and a .22-caliber Derringer pistol. They also
found in her vehicle an assault rifle with 295 rounds of ammunition.
Her case is pending.
Thompson’s most ambitious undertaking to date was a planned militia
march on Washington. D.C., on September 19, 1994, where an ultimatum
was to be delivered to the government. The ultimatum commanded
members of Congress to initiate legislation that would, among other
things, repeal the 14th, 16th and 17th Amendments to the
Constitution. and the Brady Law and NAFTA. Designating herself
“Acting Adjutant General.” of the “Unorganized Militia of the United
States.” Thompson ordered all participants to come “armed and in
uniform.” She announced that, besides delivering the ultimatum, “The
militia will arrest Congressmen who have failed to uphold their oaths
of office, who will then be tried for Treason by citizens courts.”
Realizing after several months that support for her march was
lacking, Thompson called it off, yet her standing in the militia
movement apparently remains undiminished.
The John Birch Society, troubled about Thompson’s influence on its
members and staff, found it necessary to warn them against her. On
May 12, 1994. the Society, issued an official “admonition to all
members and a directive to all employees” to “stay clear of her
schemes.” They said: “Linda Thompson’s call for the arrest in
September of members of Congress and the President of the United
States by an armed militia is not just insane, it is contrary to all
understanding of the nature and identity of the enemy.” It appears
that even by the standards of the John Birch Society, Thompson is too
radical.
Meanwhile, Thompson continues to appear at rallies and conferences
around the country, and on radio, promoting the militia cause and
calling down thunder upon the American government and its law
enforcement agencies.
A rally to form a militia in Indianapolis took place in September
1994, at a union hall in the south central part of the city. In
attendance were some 200 persons, filling the hall to capacity, while
an overflow crowd was turned away.
A smaller militia is believed to be functioning in Switzerland
County, in eastern Indiana. The county, long plagued by extremist
activity, has been the home base of the Northwest Territory Knights
of the KKK. a Klan splinter group.
Michigan
The militia movement has gained a following in Michigan. The most
visible such group in the state has sprung up in northern Michigan.
Spokesmen there make the (probably exaggerated) claim that militias
have 10,000 members and that brigades are operating or are currently
forming in 66 of the state’s 83 counties. Meetings reportedly draw 50
to 100 attendees.
The issues animating Michigan’s militias are the same as those
fueling the movement nationally. Chief among them is a belief that
gun control legislation is but a prelude to a complete ban on
firearms ownership in this country. An essential additional
ingredient, though, is their conviction that the government intends
to wage war on citizens who refuse to give up their weapons. They
cite as evidence for this view the tragic assault on the Branch
Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. and the 1992 raid on the cabin of
Randy Weaver in Idaho, in which Weaver’s wife and son and a federal
marshal were killed. They also contend that this same federal
government is acquiescing in the surrender of U.S. sovereignty to the
United Nations and other international bodies. The militia’s aims are
to “stand against tyranny, globalism, moral relativism, humanism and
the New World Order threatening to undermine these United States of
America.”
