Groups of Armed U.S. Citizens have appeared across the continent under the loose (very loose) label of "Militias". Some grab headlines, make veiled threats, and wave loaded weapons. Some meet in public places while others barricade themselves behind locked gates, high fences and armed guards. Who are these groups and what do they want?

To answer that question, I had to do a great amount of research since calling a group a militia serves little more purpose than labeling something edible under the general name of food. Militias in this country come in all sizes, shapes and offer a wide variety of purposes and cross purposes. Some are more interested in selling goods, trinkets and merchandise than anything else. They love media exposure and will appear on television programs or talk to reporters at every chance. Others are very closed to the outside world and will give little information about themselves. Still a third type are secret and underground and shy away from even admitting they exist.

The merchandise sellers are not much threat to anyone except maybe the other legitimate merchants with whom they compete. The other two types of militias, however, pose a real threat to this country and to the safety of its citizens. Parinoia is the key descriptive word when it comes to militias as they see conspiracies against them behind every tree. Many of them are preparing for major, armed resistance against the U.S. Government who they believe is trying to do away with the constitution and confiscate all firearms in the United States. They resist all forms of gun control including the Brady Bill even though this bill has kept firearms out of the hands of hundreds of thousands of convicted felons since it's passage. These extremists organizations engage in paramilitary training for their members in preparation for some type of future civil war. They're misguided to be sure, but extremely dangerous, never the less.

Most militias are first of all, concerned with guns. They're quite convinced that the United States Government is going to seize their arsenals of weapons. After guns, the militias turn their paranoia to issues such as education, abortion and the environment. Even though some militia members are poorly educated, they believe in home schooling. They are against abortion for any reason and most believe that any environmental controls are wrong as man has a right to treat animal and plant life anyway they choose. Militias love to refer to themselves as patriots when, in fact, they are just the opposite.

Robert Pummer, a leader of the "Florida State Militia," says that his group is "capable of defending ourselves against chemical and biological agents." Norman Olson, a regional militia commander in northern Michigan, declared: "We're talking about a situation where armed conflict may be inevitable if the country doesn't turn around."

Finally, but perhaps of most importance, racism and the influence of more traditional hate groups has made serious inroads into some militia groups. Some militia group leaders have backgrounds with the Aryan Nations, Ku Klux Klan, neo-nazi groups and other racial, religious and ethnic hate groups. The Skinhead organizations have began to form strategic alliances with some militia groups. Obviously, the Skinheads and their off the wall hatred of minorities and others, would only form an alliance with like minded organizations.

The most dangerous of all are the underground groups. One such group, The Montana Unorganized Militias (I kid you not, that is actually their name) has their own web site which is rare for an underground group. In their own words, here is the way they define their organization:

"The Montana Unorganized Militias are a loose collection of concerned Montana citizens prepared to defend Americans from all possible forms of tyranny. We also network with the Stevens County unorganized Militias and other patriot groups. MUM was founded July 23, 1995, as a underground rapid-response citizen militia force. Many of our Assault units are available 24 hours a day to respond to crimes against the people. We believe in praying for the best but training and preparing for the worst."

Hmmmm, on call assault units. I know I'll certainly sleep more soundly knowing they're available. And, just like a 7-11 convenience store, they're available 24 hours a day. How blessed can we be. And I have to ask myself how two militia groups that call themselves unorganized (Montana and Stevens County) can get it together well enough to network. If it wasn't for the seriousness of their intent, I'd swear a name like Montana Unorganized Militias could only come from a Monty Python or Saturday Night Live sketch.

Their web site then goes on with a rather thinly disguised tribute to Timothy McVeigh, the cowardly Oklahoma City Bomber as they say:

"The truth is that Timothy McVeigh blew up the Oklahoma City Federal Building to get even for Waco killings by FBI & ATF terrorists. His misguided criminal actions murdered many innocents and taught the corrupt US Government An important lesson: You cannot execute civilians in bogus raids without the people getting even. These sad facts forced the US Government to institute sweeping changes to avoid more revenge bombings. Timothy McVeigh literally scared the hell out of the tyrannical government thugs. Why? Thousands of American patriots are most willing to follow Tim's lethal lead; if the Federal tyranny starts the mass killing of civilians again."

These chilling words are, of course, the very epitome of the word stupid by saying for ever American citizen you kill, we'll kill one, too.

To illustrate the skewed thinking of this particular group, here are other excerpts from their web site.

"DO YOU WANT TO INTERVIEW OUR MILITIA? "

"Forget it! The Montana Unorganized Militias doesn't give interviews and rarely holds public meetings, although some other area Militias do. Why such a policy? To protect our security. We have previously campaigned at Montana Gun Shows but have discontinued activities because of Federal attempts at entrapment. We seek no media exposure and new membership into our core tactical units is closed. However, feel free to start your own Militia group and network with us. Many anti-militia, pro-tyranny groups (like Southern Poverty Law Center) use data gathered from newsmedia stories to create patriot profiles which are later supplied to law enforcement. We simply refuse to provide information that will be used against us by the slaves of the New World Order. We are at war and the battle cannot be won by giving away sensitive information to the enemy."

"Invest in firearms and ammunition if your state still lets you. If you live in a state like California who is hell bent of consificating (their spelling error) your semi-automatic rifles, then we suggest you bury your guns deep in the woods. Be sure all future firearm purchases are cash and by private sale! Gun shops require forms & government identification cards which can give the federal tyranny a way to trace weapons back to you."

"Cache (bury) military supplies and survival gear at isolated locations for future use. Be sure to have at least one years food supply cached. The forces of the New World Order have used food as a people control method. In many countries invaded by United Nations tyranny, they have sent their storm troopers door to door, exchanging food for weapons. Give us your guns and we will give you a can of Spam! Be warned militiamen: become self-sufficient in all things or you will soon be forced to bow to the NWO!"

Rational, sane people do not bury guns and food in the woods, nor do they ever find anything good to say about a despicable mass murderer like Timothy McViegh.

I don't mean to pick on the beautiful state of Montana and the many fine people who live there, I was fortunate to spend quite a bit of time in Montana on various business trips and I thoroughly enjoyed each trip.

Nor do I mean to imply that the militia problem is confined to Montana. It is not. These paramilitary groups are situated all over the country. Some are weak and totally ineffectual while others are well financed, heavily armed and deadly.

It's not an accident that the Montana Unorganized Militia mentioned the Southern Poverty Law Center as one of its enemies. In that contention, they are absolutely correct. The Southern Poverty Law Center, led by Morris Dees has, for years, been at the forefront of the fight against racism and intolerance. Through legal action they have literally put many Klan and other hate groups out of business by winning huge judgments (in the many millions of dollars) against them. Now, the Southern Poverty Law Center has turned their attention towards some of the militias and their racial hatred rhetoric and actions. These militias have every right to fear the Southern Poverty Law Center as they have had outstanding success in combating militant hate groups over the past thirty years.

The militias are here and that's a sad fact we cannot change. They say they want to protect our freedoms. Don't you believe them! What they really want, pure and simple, is to bring anarchy to our country.

©2000 by Ken Kreps. This article may not be re-published in electronic or print media without the express written permission of the author. All rights reserved.

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If you enjoyed this article, you might also be interested in reading Ken's latest 2007 article by clicking on Ignorance and Bigotry, An American Tragedy

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