Patriot movement

File:Charlottesville "Unite the Right" Rally (35806115363).jpg patrol Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia during the 2017 Unite the Right rally.]]

In the United States, the patriot movement is a term which is used to describe a conglomeration of non-unified right wing populist and nationalist political movements, most notably right-wing armed militias, sovereign citizens, and tax protesters.{{Cite web|title="Patriot" Movement|url=https://www.adl.org/resources/glossary-terms/patriot-movement|access-date=11 October 2020|website=Anti-Defamation League}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oceewj5YQkQC&q=patriot%20movement&pg=PA63|title=The Age of Anxiety: Conspiracy Theory and the Human Sciences|first1=Jane|last1=Parish|first2=Martin|last2=Parker|date=December 3, 2001|publisher=Wiley|isbn=9780631231684|via=Google Books}}{{Cite web|date=16 April 2015|title=Key Events and Crimes of the Patriot Movement|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/04/15/key-events-and-crimes-patriot-movement|access-date=11 October 2020|website=Southern Poverty Law Center}} Ideologies held by patriot movement groups often focus on anti-government conspiracy theories, with the SPLC describing a common belief that "despise the federal government and/or question its legitimacy." The movement first emerged in 1994 in response to what members saw as "violent government repression" of dissenting groups, along with increased gun control and the Clinton administration.{{Cite web|last=Potok|first=Mark|date=1 March 2012|title=The 'Patriot' Movement Explodes|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2012/patriot-movement-explodes|access-date=11 October 2020|website=Southern Poverty Law Center}}

Several groups within the patriot movement have committed or endorsed violence, with U.S. law enforcement agencies labeling some groups "dangerous, delusional and sometimes violent."[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=S9UpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=T88EAAAAIBAJ&pg=3212,1858703 Right-wing Counterculture Uses Waco as Rallying Cry]| Herald-Journal April 24, 1995{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/23/us/ohio-case-typifies-the-tensions-between-militia-groups-and-law.html | work=The New York Times | title=Ohio Case Typifies the Tensions Between Militia Groups and Law | first=Michael | last=Winerip | date=June 23, 1996}}{{cite news|last1=Sullivan|first1=Kevin|title=Primed to Fight The Government|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2016/05/21/armed-with-guns-and-constitutions-the-patriot-movement-sees-america-under-threat/|newspaper=Washington Post}} The ADL and The American Scientific Affiliation has noted that groups often have connections to white supremacy, however, their connections to it have shrunk over time due to their recent inclusion of non-white members.[http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1997/PSCF6-97Feucht.html AMERICAN MILITIAS: Rebellion, Racism & Religion] by Richard Abanes, review by Dennis L. Feucht in American Scientific Affiliation. Major events in America which alarm or inspire the patriot movement include the 1992 Ruby Ridge siege, the 1993 Waco siege and the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing.[https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/03/08/148217754/report-explosive-growth-of-patriot-movement-and-militias-continues Report: 'Explosive' Growth Of 'Patriot Movement' And Militias Continues] by Mark Memmott npr.org March 13, 2012 The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) found that the economic decline and nomination of Barack Obama in 2008 caused the movement to "come roaring back", after declining from 800 groups in 1996 to less than 150 groups in 2000.

History

Historians of the patriot movement identify its origins in the 1980s American farm crisis.{{cite book|last=Gallaher|first=Carolyn|year=2003|title=On the Fault Line: Race, Class, and the American Patriot Movement}}{{cite book|last=Wright|first=Stuart T.|title=Patriots, politics, and the Oklahoma City bombing|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, UK|year=2007|isbn=978-0-521-87264-5}}{{cite book|last=Levitas|first=Daniel|year=2004|title=The Terrorist Next Door}} As various policies combined to drive farmers deeply into debt, groups on the margins of American politics engaged rural communities with a range of conspiracy theory literature that drew on existing traditions of antisemitism, nativism and paleoconservatism.{{cite book|author=Matthew Lyons|author2=Chip Berlet|title=Right-wing populism in America: too close for comfort|url=https://archive.org/details/rightwingpopulis00berlrich|url-access=registration|publisher=Guilford Press|location=New York|year=2000|isbn=1-57230-562-2}} The Posse Comitatus, the Liberty Lobby and Lyndon LaRouche were prominent in these campaigns{{cite news|title=Shedding Light on Liberty Lobby|date=June 3, 1995|work=News & Record (Greensboro)|url=https://greensboro.com/shedding-light-on-liberty-lobby/article_507969e8-4314-5b40-8cc5-40065af52ffb.html|access-date=2020-10-10}} which informed and shaped the ideology of the movement that emerged. In the early 1990s, the patriot movement saw a surge of growth spurred by the confrontations at Ruby Ridge and Waco. The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing was carried out by two patriot movement members, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.Michel, Lou. "American Terrorist", 2001. During the 1990s the movement organized using "gun shows and the Internet". The movement was highly active in the mid-1990s and at a peak in 1996, contained around 800 separate groups. It saw decline in the late 1990s.{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1325330.stm | work = BBC News | title = Militias 'in retreat' | date = May 11, 2001}}{{cite news | url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/patriots-no-more/ | work = CBS News | title = Patriots No More | date = April 19, 2001 | access-date = February 28, 2010 | archive-date = November 3, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121103201522/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/04/19/politics/main286583.shtml | url-status = live }}

In 2009, the SPLC expressed concern about a resurgent patriot movement,[http://www.miamiherald.com/2009/08/22/v-print/1197380/militia-movement-on-the-rise.html Militia movement on the rise - 22 August 2009 - MiamiHerald.com]{{cite web|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2009/0814/p99s01-duts.html|title=Report: militia activity on the rise in US|first=Arthur|last=Bright|date=August 14, 2009|work=Christian Science Monitor}} and the Department of Homeland Security issued a report warning of heightened "Rightwing Extremism".{{cite news | url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/homeland-security-chief-defends-report-on-right-wing-extremists/ | work = CBS News | title = Homeland Security Chief Defends Report On Right Wing Extremists | first = Daniel | last = Carty | date = April 16, 2009 | access-date = March 17, 2010 | archive-date = March 10, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100310084136/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-4949431-503544.html | url-status = live }} The SPLC attributed this growth to "an angry backlash against non-white immigration and ... the economic meltdown and the Presidency of Barack Obama."{{cite news | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6234JT20100304 | work = Reuters | title = U.S. right-wing groups, militias surge: study | first = Tim | last = Gaynor | date = March 4, 2010}} It reported the growth of patriot groups with an increase from 149 in 2008, to 824 in 2010, to 1,274 in 2011[http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/0308/Right-wing-patriot-groups-girding-for-actual-class-warfare-report-says Right-wing 'patriot' groups girding for actual class warfare, report says] By Patrik Jonsson | csmonitor.com | 8 March 2012 and 1,360 in 2012.{{cite web | url = http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2013/11/02/hatewatch-exclusive-alleged-lax-shooter-referenced-patriot-conspiracy-theories/ | publisher = Southern Poverty Law Center | title = Hatewatch Exclusive: Alleged LAX Shooter Referenced 'Patriot' Conspiracy Theories | first = Mark | last = Potok | date = November 2, 2013}} According to the SPLC, the "explosive growth seems to have been driven by the election of our first black president and the approaching loss of a white majority in the U.S. that he represents. Another driver is the crash of the economy, which coincided neatly with the rise to national power of President Obama."

The SPLC found that while "there are many people" in the patriot movement "that aren't engaged in illegal activity," the "normalizing of conspiracy theories"—such as the belief that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is building concentration camps; rumors of covert plans by Mexico to reconquer the American Southwest; and the anxiety Sharia law might become part of the U.S. court system—has played into the growth of the groups. An extremist member of the patriot movement carried out the 2009 anti-abortion murder of George Tiller,{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chip-berlet/anti-abortion-violence-th_b_210368.html | work=Huffington Post | first=Chip | last=Berlet | title=Anti-Abortion Violence and the Right-Wing Patriot Movement | date=June 3, 2009}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/us/02tiller.html|title=Seeking Clues on Suspect in Shooting of Doctor|first1=Susan|last1=Saulny|first2=Monica|last2=Davey|date=June 2, 2009|work=The New York Times}} and some extremists within the movement also have expressed support for Joseph Stack's 2010 plane crash into an Internal Revenue Service office.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/patriot-movement-calling-joe-stack-hero/story?id=9889443|title=Extremists in 'Patriot' Movement Calling Joe Stack a Hero|date=September 7, 2010|work=ABC News}} The movement was connected to and received a boost in profile from the 2014 Bundy standoff and 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Two members of the movement, Jerad Miller and Amanda Miller, killed two police officers and a civilian during a violent shooting rampage in Las Vegas after leaving the Bundy standoff; they pinned a note to one of their victims saying "This is the beginning of the revolution."

Views

Various patriot movement aligned groups have frequently been described as racist, xenophobic, extremist, antisemitic, anti-Islam, anti-immigrant, and violent by groups such as the SPLC,{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/04/16/key-events-and-crimes-patriot-movement|title=Key Events and Crimes of the Patriot Movement|website=SPLCenter.org|date=April 15, 2015|access-date= February 23, 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2015/patriot-movement-timeline|title=THE 'PATRIOT' MOVEMENT TIMELINE|website=SPLCenter.org|access-date= February 23, 2017}} ADL,{{cite web|url=http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/domestic-extremism-terrorism/c/the-oath-keepers.html#.WK-36vkrJhE|title=The Oath Keepers: Anti-Government Extremists Recruiting Military and Police|website=ADL.org|date=September 16, 2015|access-date= February 23, 2017}} and the FBI.{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/stats-services-publications-terror_96.pdf/view|title=Terrorism in the United States 1996|website=FBi.gov|access-date= February 23, 2017}}

Descriptions of the patriot movement include:

A diverse movement which has as its common thread its growing dissatisfaction with and alienation from government, the willingness to use military force in defense of its rights, and, in some groups, a conspiratorial eschatology;
A brand of politics historically associated with paleoconservatives, paleolibertarians, militiagroups, Duignan, Brian; John Philip Jenkins. [https://www.britannica.com/event/militia-movement Militia movement]. Britannica. anti-immigration advocates, and those who argue for the abolition of the Federal Reserve;[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/us/politics/16teaparty.html?pagewanted=all Tea Party Lights Fuse for Rebellion on Right] By DAVID BARSTOW| nyt.com February 15, 2010
A movement outspoken regarding the U.S. Constitution, particularly the Second and Fourteenth Amendments;[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7KgsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BxUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2272,4215878 Patriot Movement is Alive and Well in the US] Los Angeles Daily News December 26, 1994 |Wilmington NC, Star-News Google News Archive Search as a result, some members refuse to pay their income taxes, and some groups operate their own common-law legal system.{{Cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/april97/militia_4-3.html |title=Online NewsHour:Militia Movement - April 3, 1997 |website=PBS |access-date=September 7, 2017 |archive-date=March 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326092831/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/april97/militia_4-3.html |url-status=dead }}

Additionally, the patriot movement has been associated with the following views:

Support of the paramilitary militia movement, such as the Michigan Militia{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/11/us/closer-watch-of-paramilitary-groups-is-urged.html | work=The New York Times | title=Closer Watch of Paramilitary Groups Is Urged | first=Michael | last=Janofsky | date=April 11, 1996}}
Eschatology; religious views which are focused on finding "signs of the end of times"
Suspicion regarding surveillance

Elements of the patriot movement have expressed support for various conspiracy theories:

QAnon conspiracy theories{{cite news |title=QAnon, false flags and baby-eating liberals: How Arizona Patriots build community around conspiracy theories |url=https://eu.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/arizona-investigations/2020/10/01/how-arizona-patriots-have-built-community-around-conspiracy-theories/3486382001/ |access-date=10 October 2020 |work=www.azcentral.com |publisher=The Arizona Republic |date=9 Oct 2020 |language=en}}
9/11 conspiracy theories{{cite journal |last=Zaitchik |first=Alexander |year=2010 |title='Patriot' Paranoia: A Look at the Top Ten Conspiracy Theories |url=http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/fall/patriot-paranoia |journal=Intelligence Report |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |volume=Fall 2010 |issue=139 |access-date=May 27, 2014}}
Federal government involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ToQNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=L28DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6599,3166288|title='Patriot' spokesmen call McVeigh a pawn at most|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |via= Google News Archive }} (Convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh was "heavily involved in the patriot movement" and the bombing was modeled after one of the missions in William Pierce's white supremacist novel The Turner Diaries, "one of McVeigh's favorite books".)
Federal government involvement in the John F. Kennedy assassination
A New World Order, possibly in the form of a United Nations takeover.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/31/us/demons-and-conspiracies-haunt-a-patriot-world.html?pagewanted=all | work=The New York Times | title=Demons and Conspiracies Haunt a 'Patriot' World | first=Michael | last=Janofsky | date=May 31, 1995}}

In addition to the militia movement, which is said to have come out of the patriot movement, the patriot movement is often associated with the sovereign citizen movement, whose adherents believe that most US laws are illegitimate and do not apply to them.

Groups

Groups identifying with the movement include:

References

External links

[https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/antigovernment-groups-2014_splc.pdf Active groups listed by Southern Poverty Law Center]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20140528132245/http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/ideology/patriot-movememnt Patriot Movement page] on the Southern Poverty Law Center website.

Category:1994 establishments in the United States

Category:Libertarianism in the United States

Category:Sovereign citizen movement

Category:Paleolibertarianism

Category:Paleoconservatism

Category:Right-wing militia organizations in the United States

Category:Right-wing populism in the United States