Thread: SPLC: New Report on Anti-Govt. Miliitia Groups

The SPLC never seems to give up, and the MSM continues to give them absolute credence - this was yesterday's lead story on AOL News.

Anti-Government Groups Show Surge, Watchdog Warns
Updated: 4 minutes ago

Scott Martelle

AOL News

LOS ANGELES (March 2) -- The number of American anti-government militia and "patriot" groups, largely dormant since their heyday in the mid-1990s, mushroomed at an "astonishing" rate last year, raising "grave concern" about the potential for future domestic terrorism, according to a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The nonprofit civil rights organization, which tracks the hate movement and anti-government groups, counted 512 militias and related groups in 2009, up from 149 groups the year before. And, it said, the movement has added a layer of racism largely absent a decade ago.

At the same time, the organization has observed a spike in what it calls "nativist extremist groups," defined as those that "confront or harass suspected immigrants," to 309 groups last year, up from 173 the year before.

Hate groups also grew slightly, from 926 to 932, continuing what the SPLC said was a trend that began around 2000, and rising 54 percent in the decade. The growth was "driven largely by an angry backlash against nonwhite immigration and, starting in the last year of that period, the economic meltdown and the climb to power of an African-American president."

Fear and frustration were the fuel, the report said.

"The anger seething across the American political landscape ... goes beyond the radical right," the report said, adding that the rage was fed by "racial changes in the population, soaring public debt and the terrible economy, the bailouts of bankers and other elites, and an array of initiatives by the relatively liberal Obama administration that are seen as 'socialist' or even 'fascist.'"

"The 'tea parties' and similar groups that have sprung up in recent months cannot fairly be considered extremist groups," the report said, "but they are shot through with rich veins of radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism."

And some of the underlying beliefs of the militia movement have found their way into the mainstream, according to the report, "Rage on the Right: The Year in Hate and Extremism," which was written by Mark Potok, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Report.

"While in the 1990s, the movement got good reviews from a few lawmakers and talk-radio hosts, some of its central ideas today are being plugged by people with far larger audiences, like Fox News' Glenn Beck and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann," Potok wrote. "Beck, for instance, re-popularized a key Patriot conspiracy theory -- the charge that FEMA is secretly running concentration camps -- before finally 'debunking' it."

The report adds to a similar finding by the federal Department of Homeland Security nearly a year ago, which warned that the crumbling economy "and the election of the first African-American president present unique drivers for right-wing radicalization and recruitment." That report was criticized by conservatives and veterans' groups, drawing an apology from DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The SPLC last year reported on the resurging militia movement, which it said was propelled by conspiracy theories about pending martial law and a move by Mexico to reclaim portions of the American Southwest. With the election of Barack Obama as president, that report said, the new wave of militia activity had taken on a much more racist cast than the movement that gave rise to Timothy McVeigh's bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995.

The SPLC's new assessment comes less than two weeks after Joseph Stack became a hero to some anti-government crusaders when he crashed a small airplane into an Internal Revenue Service office in Austin, Texas, killing himself and an IRS employee. Stack had posted an online "manifesto" detailing his financial problems and frustration with the federal government, and said he intended to give the IRS "my pound of flesh."

Experts are already concerned that Stack's suicidal plane crash could make him a martyr to anti-government zealots, and, like the deadly federal raid on David Koresh's Branch Davidian Ranch in Waco, Texas, and the violent siege of Randy Weaver's cabin in remote Ruby Ridge, Idaho, could spawn a fresh wave of right-wing violence.

The SPLC said it already has noticed "signs of similar violence," including the killings of six law enforcement officers, arrests of extremists in alleged assassination plots against Obama, a shooting rampage by a white supremacist in Brockton, Mass., and the arrests of "individuals with anti-government, survivalist or racist views ... in a series of bomb cases."'

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/a ... s/19379350

(Original report printed below.)

Intelligence Report, Spring 2010, Issue Number: 137

Rage on the Right
The Year in Hate and Extremism
By Mark Potok

The radical right caught fire last year, as broad-based populist anger at political, demographic and economic changes in America ignited an explosion of new extremist groups and activism across the nation.

Hate groups stayed at record levels — almost 1,000 — despite the total collapse of the second largest neo-Nazi group in America. Furious anti-immigrant vigilante groups soared by nearly 80%, adding some 136 new groups during 2009. And, most remarkably of all, so-called "Patriot" groups — militias and other organizations that see the federal government as part of a plot to impose “one-world governmentâ€

Scathing report: Tea partiers just like Timothy McVeigh

Claims they believe government has secret plans for martial law

Posted: March 02, 2010
9:23 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

A new attack by the Southern Poverty Law Center charges the tea-party movement is "shot through" with radical ideas and tied with "hate groups," "furious anti-immigrant vigilante groups" and "so-called 'Patriot' groups."

The SPLC report, "Rage on the Right, The Year in Hate and Extremism," assails Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R-Minn., for "plugging" anti-government ideas and Gun Owners of America Executive Director Larry Pratt for daring to promote Second Amendment gun rights.

The SPLC's Mark Potok warns "so-called 'Patriot' groups – militias and other organizations that see the federal government as part of a plot to impose 'one-world government' on liberty-loving Americans – came roaring back after years out of the limelight."

The report echoes themes in a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report last year that characterized "right-wing extremists" as opponents of abortion and illegal immigration and supporters of gun rights and third-party political candidates.

The SPLC said the "radical right" "caught fire last year."

"The 'tea parties' and similar groups that have sprung up in recent months cannot fairly be considered extremist groups," Potok wrote, "but they are shot through with rich veins of radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism."

The report cited an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll that affirmed only one-quarter of the nation thinks government can be trusted and the "anti-tax tea party movement is viewed in much more positive terms than either the Democratic or Republican parties."

"The signs of growing radicalization are everywhere. Armed men have come to Obama speeches bearing signs suggesting that the 'tree of liberty' needs to be 'watered' with 'the blood of tyrants,'" the SPLC report said.

The quote, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants," is from Thomas Jefferson.

The report noted the Conservative Political Action Conference last month was co-sponsored by groups such as the John Birch Society, "which believes President Eisenhower was a Communist agent," and Oath Keepers, "a Patriot outfit formed last year that suggests, in thinly veiled language, that the government has secret plans to declare martial law and intern patriotic Americans in concentration camps."

Stewart Rhodes, founder of Oath Keepers, told WND such accusers try to link activists with terrorists such as Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, because their arguments have no substance.

The SPLC did just that, stating in its report that there are "an astonishing 363 new Patriot groups" that appeared last year.

"That is cause for grave concern. Individuals associated with the Patriot movement during its 1990s heyday produced an enormous amount of violence, most dramatically the Oklahoma City bombing that left 168 people dead," the report said.

Oath Keepers, Rhodes said, "has nothing whatsoever to do with terrorists like Timothy McVeigh."

He said his group doesn't advocate the overthrow of the government, "whether local, state or national."

"We want our government to return to the constitutional republic which the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution defined and instituted," he said.

Oath Keepers are members of law enforcement or the military who have sworn – again – to uphold the U.S. Constitution against any illegal orders that might be given.

"We hope for a return to a constitutional republic free from fear and hatred. We hate only tyranny. We are Oath Sworn Americans who want the Constitution returned to its legal and rightful place, intact, as the ultimate Law of the Land," his website said.

Rhodes said officers naturally presume orders to be lawful and follow them, but they also must be aware that there have been instances of unlawful orders.

After Hurricane Katrina, for example, he said law enforcement officers in New Orleans illegally disarmed members of the public en masse. Also, some residents were not allowed to leave some areas as they wished, he said.

World War II history also reflects the detention by the U.S. government of thousands of innocent Japanese-Americans.

"All we're talking about is history," he said. "How is that a conspiracy?"

He continued, "If I'm paranoid, then so were those who advocated for the Bill of Rights."

The SPLC also warned about "politicians pandering to the antigovernment right" who have introduced "Tenth Amendment Resolutions" already in 37 states. The resolutions essentially warn the federal government not to adopt unconstitutional measures.

The report said "hate" groups have been rising for years – up 54 percent from 2000 to 2008 – and blames part of the growth on "the climb to power of an African American president."

"Nativist extremist" groups also have jumped from 173 in 2008 to 309 in 2009.

"But the most dramatic story by far has been with the antigovernment Patriots," the report said. Those groups, called "Patriot," "paramilitary wing," and "militia," have gone up from 149 to 512 – a jump of 244 percent.

The report said "right-wing extremists" have murdered six law enforcement officers since Obama was inaugurated, and another defendant was accused of murdering two blacks.

"As the movement has exploded, so has the reach of its ideas, aided and abetted by commentators and politicians in the ostensible mainstream. While in the 1990s, the movement got good reviews from a few lawmakers and talk-radio hosts, some of its central ideas today are being plugged by people with far larger audiences like FOX News' Glenn Beck and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.," the report said.

Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America was cited as an example of a promoter of "conspiracy theories" at "all kinds of right-wing venues."

"A good example is the upcoming Second Amendment March in Washington, D.C. The website promoting the march is topped by a picture of a colonial militiaman, and key supporters include Larry Pratt, a long-time militia enthusiast with connections to white supremacists, and Richard Mack, a conspiracy-mongering former sheriff associated with the Patriot group Oath Keepers," the report said.

Pratt told WND the SPLC report was little more than "fundraising, trying to scare a bunch of little old ladies to cough up money."

"It's a typical argument that the left resorts to," he said, "since they really have trouble with the fact that, until Obama was elected, they had been pretty successful at concealing that liberalism really is socialism."

He said he was honored to be criticized alongside Bachmann.

Last year, the state of Missouri issued a report linking conservative groups to domestic terrorism and warned law enforcement to watch for vehicles with bumper stickers promoting Ron Paul and Chuck Baldwin. It also warned police to watch out for individuals with "radical" ideologies based on Christian views, such as opposing illegal immigration, abortion and federal taxes.

Ultimately, Chief James Keathley of the Missouri State Patrol said the report caused him to review the procedures through it was released and withdrawn.

The Missouri situation was just the tip of the iceberg, however. WND reported only weeks later when a Department of Homeland Security report warned against the possibility of violence by unnamed "right-wing extremists" concerned about illegal immigration, increasing federal power, restrictions on firearms, abortion and the loss of U.S. sovereignty and singled out returning war veterans as particular threats.

The report, "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," dated April 7, stated "threats from white supremacist and violent anti-government groups during 2009 have been largely rhetorical and have not indicated plans to carry out violent acts."

However, the document, first reported by talk-radio host and WND columnist Roger Hedgecock, went on to suggest worsening economic woes, potential new legislative restrictions on firearms and "the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks."

The report from DHS' Office of Intelligence and Analysis defined right-wing extremism in the U.S. as "divided into those groups, movements and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups) and those that are mainly anti-government, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration."

Most notable was the report's focus on the impact of returning war veterans.

"Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to right-wing extremists," it said. "DHS/I&A is concerned that right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize veterans in order to boost their violent capacities."

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=126761

Gee, I am now a nativist extremist because I practice my freedom of speech about what I see going wrong in this country.

Using the media to try to tear the grassroots movements apart. Exactly what Lenin and Trotsky, Mao, and every other despot did. Even Hitler and Mussolini.

The playbook never changes. They are banking on the idea that the grassroots people will scurry in fear from them.

Many of these groups have been around for years. In the past many of them were underground but since have come up on the radar. I took a course about terrorists and terrorism when I was in University and we discussed those groups in class in 2005.

VIDEO AT SOURCE

MSNBC CONTINUES PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN AGAINST PATRIOT GROUPS

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
March 2, 2010

Anti-patriot propaganda has reached a fevered pitch in the corporate media. In the MSNBC segment below, Contessa Brewer interviews Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Brewer prefaces her interview with Potok — who is now a fixture of the ongoing propaganda campaign — by stating that opposition to the government is “fueled in part by anger over the troubled economy,â€

This latest round of crud from the SPLC is so full of lies it is difficult to address them all at once.

I hope that when we win this political revolution and Congress has been restored to the people that Americans will never forget the lies and treachery of the ADL and SPLC.

W

In 1776 the SPLC would have been Royalists on the King's side and labeled George Washington an anti-government Domestic Terrorist.

Originally Posted by Hylander_1314

Using the media to try to tear the grassroots movements apart. Exactly what Lenin and Trotsky, Mao, and every other despot did. Even Hitler and Mussolini.

The playbook never changes. They are banking on the idea that the grassroots people will scurry in fear from them.

And Obama.

His foil to the tea party the coffee party is run by his operative.
http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1024009.html#1024009