ADL Report 1995 Beyond the boming the militia menace …

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FactFindingReport

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The Militia MenaceGrows

An UpdateofArmed &Dangerous

Anti-Defamation League 1995

David H. Strassler,NationalChairman Abraham H. Foxman,NationalDirector Howard P.Berkowitz, Chair,NationalExecutiveCommittee PeterT.Willner, ChiefOperatingOfficer KennethJacobson,Assistant NationalDirector RobertG. Sugarman, Chair,CivilRightsCommittee Jeffrey P.Sinensky,Director,Civil RightsDivision

Thisreport has been madepossiblethroughagenerous grant from the WilliamandNaomi GorowitzInstituteonTerrorismand Extremism

Copiesofthisreport are inthe Ritaand LeoGreenland HumanRelationsLibraryandResourceCenter

Thispublicationwasprepared by: ThomasHalpern,ActingDirector,FactFinding Department; DavidRosenberg,AssistantDirector,FactFinding Department;

Irwin Suall,DirectorofSpecial Projects; David Cantor,SeniorResearchAnalyst, Research &EvaluationDepartment;

Lori Linzer,ResearchAnalyst,Research &Evaluation Department; Rebecca Kaufman,ResearchAnalyst, Research &EvaluationDepartment.

? 1995Anti-Defamation League Printed inthe United Stateso fAmerica

A l l rights reserved

Table of Contents

Introduction

1

Alabama

6

Alaska

6

Arizona

6

Arkansas

7

California

8

Colorado

9

Delaware

10

Florida

10

Georgia

12

Idaho

13

Illinois

14

Indiana

15

Iowa

16

Kansas

17

Kentucky

18

Louisiana

18

Michigan

18

Minnesota

20

Mississippi

20

Missouri

20

Montana

21

Nebraska

24

New Hampshire

25

New Mexico

25

New York

26

North Carolina

27

Ohio

27

Oklahoma

28

Oregon

28

Pennsylvania

28

South Carolina

29

South Dakota

29

Tennessee

29

Texas

30

Utah

32

Virginia

32

Washington

33

West Virginia

33

Wisconsin

3^

Wyoming

* 3 <

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INTRODUCTION

A new national survey by the Anti-DefamationLeagueoffers disturbingevidencethat the militia movement has continued to grow since the OklahomaCity bombing. The pattern isnotuniform,but militiagainsplainlyappeartooutweighlosses --contrary tothe widespread expectation that public shock and revulsion at the bombing might prompt the militias to disband. The A D L survey also found that many hard-core militiamenbelievethat the United States Government itself conducted the bombing to create an excuse for further depriving citizens oftheir constitutional rights.

In October 1994 the A D L issued a Fact-FindingReport titled Armed & Dangerous: Militias TakeAim attheFederalGovernment,detailingmilitiaactivityin 13states.The report sought to alert the American publicand the lawenforcement community to the danger posed bytheseextremists, many ofwhomwere engaging inparamilitarytrainingwhilespreading an incendiaryanti-federal government messagelacedwithconspiracytheories and, insomeplaces, anti-Semitism.

Six months later, the militia movement came under intense national scrutiny after the deadly April 19, 1995, bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, when it was reported thattwosuspectsinthebombing,TimothyMcVeigh andTerryNichols, had attended some militia meetings inMichigan. In addition,prosecutors have charged that McVeigh was motivated to commit the bombingout of anger at the federal government for its handlingof the BranchDavidian confrontation inWaco,Texas - an issue that has been one of the chief rallying cries ofthe militia movement.

A Growing Movement Continued monitoring by A D Lin the months after publicationof the October 1994

report reveals that the militia movement has grown -- with some of the growth taking place after the Oklahoma City bombing. In this new survey, conducted through A D L ' s regional offices and completed sixweeks after the bombing, militiashave been found to be operating inat least40states,with membership reachingsome 15,000. Acontinued flow ofinformation indicates that these numbers could rise still higher. While these findings are not a definitive indicationofthe militias' future prospects, theydopointtothe needforongoingcloseattention to this movement.

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In California, more than 30 militias are presently operating, apparently having benefitted from the large amount of publicity the movement has received in recent weeks. Other states in which militia activity has increased are Michigan, Georgia, Alabama, New Hampshire, MissouriandArizona. Inafewstates- Ohio, IndianaandColorado, forexample --activity has declinedsincethe bombing.For some groups, such as the NorthwestOregon Regional Militia, a factor in their decline has been the belief that the government, having engineered theblast, isnowpoisedtotakeextreme measures todestroythe militia movement.

Since the militias are mainly locatedinruraland small towncommunities,theburden of monitoring them falls largelyonstateand local lawenforcement agencies. Inthe courseof thecurrent A D L survey, itbecame evidentthatmanyoftheseagencies -- inlargemeasure for lack ofadequateinvestigativeresources --have not yetmanaged to risetothistask. Thatjob will be made even more difficult if, as some militias strategists are counseling,the groups adopt a strategy of organizinginto small units designed to be less susceptible to detection, monitoring and infiltration by law enforcement. This approach echoes a strategic concept known as "leaderless resistance" thathas been promoted inrecent years by several far-right figures, including Tom Metzger of Fallbrook, California, who leads the White Aryan Resistance,andLouisBeam, aformerTexasK K KGrandDragonwhohasbeen "AmbassadorAt-Large" ofthe Idaho-based AryanNations.

Weaponsand Conspiracy Fantasies The most ominousaspect ofthe militias' program isthe conviction, openlyexpressed

by manyofthem, thatan impendingarmed conflict with the federal government necessitates paramilitary trainingandthe stockpiling ofweapons inpreparation forthatdayofreckoning. According to the militias' conspiracyview, the federal authorities are enacting guncontrol legislation inorderto makeitimpossibleforthepeopletoresistthe imposition ofatyrannical regime or a "one-world"dictatorship. Many militia supporters believe that the conspiracy involves not only federal authorities, but also the United Nations, foreign troops and other sinister forces.

Sometimes mentioned among these sinister forces are Jews. A D L ' s first report on militias noted that a number of militia figures have histories of bigotry. The current survey confirmsthatsomemilitiapropagandacontinuestoexhibitananti-Semiticstrainthatcould well become more pervasive among militia groups as a result of the movement's obsessive conspiracy-mongering.

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In this connection, the role of America's leading anti-Semiticorganization, Liberty Lobby,anditsweeklypublication, TheSpotlight,meritattention. InApril 1995,A D Lrevealed thatoneoftheOklahoma Citybombingsuspects, TimothyMcVeigh, advertised forsaleinThe Spotlightamilitary-stylerocketlauncher.OnMay 28, The New YorkTimesreportedthatTerry Nichols, the other bombing suspect, and his brother James were readers of The Spotlight. Many of the conspiracy fantasies fueling the militias were promoted heavilyina September 1994 eight-page supplement of The Spotlight. The supplement, widely distributed among militiamen, intoned: "Is America on the verge ofwar? Is a 'nationalemergency' about to be declared and America placed under martial law? Is America on the brink of occupationby military troops under United Nationscontrol?" Inaddition,the Militia of Montanahas been promoting for sale in its catalog a comprehensive bomb-making manual entitled TheRoad Back, which was produced by Liberty Lobby'spublishingarm, NoontidePress. Thecatalog describes the bookas "aplanfor the restoration offreedom whenour country has been taken over by its enemies."

Spreading TheirMessage The militia movement's continued growth is due - at least partly - to an effective

communications network. Militia organizers have promoted their ideologynot only at militia meetings, but alsoat gun shows, "patriot" ralliesand gatherings ofvarious groups with antigovernment "grievances." Some militia firebrands reach their audience through mail-order videotapes and through computer bulletin boards and the Internet. Exploiting yet another medium,thepro-militiaAmericanPatriotFaxNetworkdisseminates materialfrom well-known hategroup figuresandconspiracytheorists, including somewhoproclaim thatthe government orchestrated the OklahomaCitybombing.

Of course, the fact that the men charged with the OklahomaCity bombing have had someassociationwith one militiagroupdoes notmaketheentiremovementresponsiblefor the crime. Buteven ifnofurther connectionisestablished between the bombingand the militias, it should be clear by now that these extremists, particularlythose engaged inparamilitary training, present a serious danger. The formula they have concocted --belief in menacing conspiracies, hatred ofthegovernment, andtheconvictionthatanarmedshowdowniscoming - isaprescriptionfor disaster.

For thesereasons, the Anti-Defamation Leagueurges thevigorousenforcement by the states of existing statutes outlawing specific types of paramilitary training. Many of these

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