Welcome to the Militia Watchdog

This is the annotated Table of Contents, with capsule descriptions of each item. See below link for shorter Table of Contents.

Welcome. A welcoming message and brief overview of the purpose and contents of the site.
Table of Contents.(short) Essentially this Table of Contents, without the annotations.
Table of Contents.(long) An annotated Table of Contents.

Administration.

Announcements and Messages. A page for administrative messages and announcements.

Organizations that Monitor the Extreme Right. A list of mailing addresses and telephone numbers for organizations that monitor right-wing extremists.
Militia Watchdog Mailing List. A private mailing list for people who have a professional interest in the subject of right-wing extremism and related topics. The list includes over 500 law enforcement officers, public officials, academics, journalists, civil rights advocates, and other experts. It is a valuable resource for information, news, and contacts.
Site Origins. A brief history of this website.

Militia: History and Law FAQ. A lengthy summary of the legal and historical issues surrounding a) the statutory militia and b) private paramilitary groups. Written in 1995.

Part 3. History of the Militia in America.

Part 4. The Militia Today.

Part 5. Legal Issues for the New Militia.

Part 6. Afterword by Mark Pitcavage.

Explorations. A section for first-person observations of events or gatherings.

Welcome to a New World (Disorder): A Visit to a Gun Show. This piece was written in 1995 and is one of the earliest pieces on the website. It describes a gun show in Ohio, and the purpose of the piece was to illustrate the extent to which extremists were using gun shows to get their message across. Over the years, this essay generated a great deal of angry e-mail from gun owners who felt that the essay was an attack on people who liked guns and/or supported gun rights.
The Martyrdom of Michael Hill: A Visit to a Militia Memorial Service. This essay describes a day-long memorial service in remote rural Ohio for a militia/sovereign citizen leader slain during a traffic stop confrontation in 1995. The memorial service, which occurred one year later in the summer of 1996, was attended by a variety of militia members, sovereign citizens and white supremacists. Among the speakers was Nord Davis, the North Carolina Christian Identity figure with whom Eric Rudolph may have been associated.

News Items.

The Neo-Militia News. (1996-97) The "Old News" sections below are summaries and capsules of extremist related news items that occurred during the period 1996-1997. Many of them are abstracted from various news sources, while scattered within are several more in-depth reports on issues or events. The items are written for a general readership.
Old News, January 1996 -- June 1996.

Old News, July 1996 -- September 1996.

Old News, October 1996 -- November 1996.
Old News, December 1996 -- March 1997.
The Militia Follies. This collection of militia-related news tidbits from 1994-1995 is one of the earliest items on the website, place there before the site's focus became more explicitly the publication of in-depth research.

Calendar of Conspiracy. The "Calendar of Conspiracy" is a quarterly chronology of extremist related criminal activity arranged by date and state. It is an excellent way to examine the activity levels of extremists, or of particular movements or groups, as well as to get a sense of the breadth and scope of criminal activity that is perpetrated by extremists. The vast majority of entries in these documents consist of arrests, convictions, or sentencings.

Special Reports. The special reports are a variety of in-depth case studies and research projects. Descriptions of each report follow.

Special Report #1: The Mountaineer Militia's Long, Slippery Slope. This case study of the arrest of seven members of the West Virginia Mountaineer Militia in 1996 was written soon after the arrests in an attempt to provide a quick and accurate overview of the incident. Because the incident was not yet "over," in the sense that the trials had not yet been held, this case study was labeled a "Special Report" rather than a "Patriot" Profile (see below). In the subsequent trials, most members pled guilty or were convicted, while two peripheral figures were acquitted. The information in this report has held up rather well over time.

Special Report #2: Extremism and the Electorate: Campaign '96 and the "Patriot" Movement. This special report examined candidates in office in 1996 who spoke before extremist groups or gatherings. Interestingly, most of them won office. Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that in the 2000 elections there were hardly any instances of this phenomenon at all, which adds credence to the notion that the post-Waco resurgence of the extreme right crested in 1995-1996.

Special Report #3: Shootout in Ohio: A Case Study of the "Patriot" Movement and Traffic Stops. This special report was written soon after a highly-publicized 1997 shootout in Wilmington, Ohio, following a traffic stop involving extremists. It is a useful reminder to law enforcement officers (although see below for a better one), but the information contained within regarding the specific extremists involved in this incident is quite dated, as much more is known about them now than in 1997 (information that makes them seem even more dangerous).
Special Report #4: Common Law and Uncommon Courts: An Overview of the Common Law Court Movement. This special report is a scholarly study of the common law court movement, which was the primary way the resurgence of the sovereign citizen movement in the mid-1990s manifested itself. Although common law courts are rare now, this report is still quite useful, because it describes at length the origins, ideology, and many tactics of the sovereign citizens who composed the common law court movement.
Special Report #5: Calendar of Conspiracy: A Chronology of Anti-Government Extremist Criminal Activity, January to June 1997. See Separate Calendar Section for Updates. The Calendar of Conspiracy was originally written as a one-time special report; it was later decided to make it a regular feature.
Special Report #6: Paper Terrorism's Forgotten Victims: The Use of Bogus Liens against Private Individuals and Businesses. Bogus liens have been one of the most common and most irritating ways that sovereign citizens have attempted to harass their enemies. Most of the attention directed at the bogus lien problem, however, was directed at the use of these instruments against public officials and law enforcement officers. These individuals were in fact the primary targets, but many private citizens and businesses also suffered. This special report was written to shed light on the particular problems that they faced.
Special Report #7: Trusts and the Untrustworthy: "Pure Trusts" and "Patriots for Profit" This 1998 report is highly relevant today. It is a complete overview of the use of abusive trusts in order to hide income or avoid paying income taxes. While non-extremists also sometimes use this tactic, it has become one of the major techniques used by extremists, who also specialize in marketing and promoting these useless schemes.
Special Report #8: The Shadows of Waco: The Tactics and Dynamics of Militia Confrontations This 1999 report examines the tactic of confrontations involving extremists and law enforcement at standoffs. Although it specifically concentrates on militia-related events, the dynamics involved are applicable towards most types of right-wing extremists (and some other sorts of extremists as well). This report is of particular use to law enforcement officers.
Special Report #9: Strange Territory: Ideology and Competency in the Courtroom. This report, written in 2000, is of particular use to attorneys, judges, and mental health professionals. It describes the issues involved in distinguishing unusual or fringe ideologies from mental illness or incompetency.

Miscellaneous This section contains a variety of reports and items that cannot be easily categorized.

Other Things the Neo-Militiaperson Believes In? This 1995 item is one of the earliest things placed on the website. It is not very substantial and was largely used as "filler" at a time when the site did not have very much content. Still, its basic point--that extremists are often quite credulous on many issues--is still valid.
Revolution and Reality: A Transcript and Analysis of Mark Koernke's "Time is Running Out." This is an extremely interesting piece. It is an annotated transcript of a 1994 video produced by militia leader Mark Koernke. It not only allows you to see the rhetoric used by militia figures to promote their ideas, but the annotation provides the information necessary to distinguish militia "spin" from objective truth.
Flashpoint America: Surviving a Traffic Stop Confrontation with an Anti-Government Extremist. This is a short article written for law enforcement from an officer safety viewpoint. It was originally written at the request of Calibre Press. It is extremely useful and many law enforcement agencies have distributed it to their officers.

The Militia Watchdog 1998 Right Wing Extremist of the Year At one point, there was talk of making this an annual feature, but it never materialized. Essentially this is a detailed study of tax protester Gary Beacom, who also happens to be a male professional figure skater. The real purpose of the article was to illustrate how extremist ideology can entice people into a movement.
The Council of Conservative Citizens: Chronology of a Scandal In 1999 a scandal erupted concerned alleged connections between Senator Trent Lott and Congressman Bob Barr and an extremist group known as the Council of Conservative Citizens. This piece was written to summarize the issues involved and to lay out the path that the scandal took. It was written slightly before the end of the scandal, so the denouement is left out, but because conservatives were able to block action, little happened after the events described here.
Old Wine, New Bottles: Paper Terrorism, Paper Scams, and Paper 'Redemption' Though this bulletin was written in 1999, it is still extremely relevant in 2001, because it describes in detail what is currently the hottest sovereign citizen tactic across the country.

The Famous "Militia Watchdog Links Page." This is a lengthy list of extremist-related links, annotated and divided by category.
"Patriot" Profiles. The "Patriot" Profiles were designed to be case studies of extremists that would illustrate their antics in depth. They were written for a general audience in mind and are narrative in tone.

Joe Holland, Calvin Greenup, and the Anti-Tax Militia. This 1995 piece is one of the earliest items placed on the website. If it had been written today, Joe Holland and Calvin Greenup might have been described more accurately as "sovereign citizens" than militia leaders, even though they were involved in both movements. This piece is somewhat dated. Since it was written, Greenup served his time in prison and was released, while Joe Holland died in prison.

Patriot Purgatory: Bo Gritz and Almost Heaven. This 1995 piece is another very early essay. It was written to describe the strange and often contradictory "patriot" leader, Bo Gritz. The point of the essay was to illustrate how Bo Gritz twisted and turned in an effort to be all things to all people on the extreme right wing, yet still escape criticism from associations with radical groups or white supremacism. The information contained herein is accurate, but the article is somewhat dated because there have been so many additional chapters to Gritz's rollercoaster life, including his self-insertion into the Montana Freeman standoff, his arrest and later acquittal for attempted kidnapping, his suicide attempt, his foray into the Eric Rudolph manhunt, and his conversion to Christian Identity.
Every Man A King: The Rise and Fall of the Montana Freemen. This lengthy case study of the Montana Freemen was actually released during the standoff in the spring of 1996. A "Patriot" Profile of the Freemen were in the works in March 1996 when suddenly the FBI finally moved against the Freemen. The intense coverage and interest generated by this event resulted in the decision to do a "rush" job to complete the profile of the Freemen, as well as to chronicle the standoff itself. This was done so quickly that law enforcement agents were actually able to use this report as background material at the standoff itself. This report is still very useful in terms of explaining the origins of the Freemen as well as their early activities. Obviously, it does not detail the end of the standoff or the subsequent trials and convictions.

A Fledgling Militia: The Blue Ridge Hunt Club Versus the BATF. This case study examined a nascent militia group called the Blue Ridge Hunt Club, which was really the first such group to run afoul of the law, with several members arrested in 1994. Interestingly, several militia figures praised this report because it called into question the prosecution of one of the members of the group. Not long after this report was released, the Washington Post published a lengthy article which made much the same point.

The Private War of Bradley Glover. This study profiles the attempt of a group of extreme militia figures to attack U.S. military bases that were suspected of training United Nations troops. The members were arrested shortly before they were to attack Fort Hood, Texas, on July 4, 1997, during a major Fourth of July celebration involving tens of thousands of men, women, and children.

Contributors Section. See Section for Contents. This is a limited collection of various items donated by contributors. It was thought at one point that this would be a very substantial collection, but little ended up materializing (although see below).
Special Contributor Section: Idiot Legal Arguments Cite Collection (a must for attorneys!) This particular section represents an amazing collection of legal citations involving the strange arguments used by extremists in court, compiled by law librarian Bernard Sussman. Any attorney or prosecutor facing such people in court will be grateful for this collection.
Militia Watchdog Image Gallery. See Section for Contents. A collection of extremist-related graphic images. It is not very spectacular; there was never enough time to make this section what it deserved to be.
Patriots for Profit Rogues' Gallery. This was originally going to be an ongoing collection of extremists suspected of being involved in frauds or scams. Unfortunately, the time commitments involved in keeping it up to date proved too much.
Militia Watchdog Friendly Link Image Gallery. See Section for Contents. Some graphic images that can be used by people who wish to link to the website.
Editorials. The website's creator had little interest in explicit opinion pieces; even the one item below is much more of a research analysis than a traditional editorial.

Afraid of Bugs: Assessing our Attitudes Towards Chemical and Biological Terrorism. This lengthy piece examines current alarmist attitudes towards the threat of chemical and biological terrorism and attempts to introduce a measure of sanity and common sense into the situation.