Armed militiasMilitias’ Warning of Excessive Federal Power Comes True – but Where Are They?
Militias and many other Second Amendment advocates have long argued that their primary desire to own firearms – often, many of them – is rooted in a need to protect themselves and their families from a tyrannical federal government, or to discourage the government from becoming tyrannical in the first place. It appears that the militias’ fears have materialized on the streets of Portland, where heavily armed and camouflaged federal officers, wearing no name tags or other insignia, have teargassed and arrested seemingly peaceful protesters with little or no provocation, throwing them into unmarked cars. President Donald Trump has said that he plans to send similar forces to cities run by Democratic mayors. In recent months a new divide has emerged in these militia groups over whether, and how, to respond to this assertion of federal power.
Militias and many other Second Amendment advocates have long argued that their primary desire to own firearms – often, many of them – is rooted in a need to protect themselves and their families from a tyrannical federal government, or to discourage the government from becoming tyrannical in the first place.
But with the mayor of a major U.S. city warning that “tyranny and dictatorship” have already arrived on the streets – in the shape of unidentified federal troops using questionable tactics – militia groups appear reluctant to throw their lot in with protesters. In fact, many have been supporting government action to suppress peaceful demonstrators.
Certainly the scenes in Portland have alarmed civil liberties groups: Heavily armed and camouflaged federal officers, wearing no name tags or other insignia, are on the streets of Portland, Oregon, and have teargassed and arrested seemingly peaceful protesters with little or no provocation. President Donald Trump has said similar forces are coming to other cities – many run by Democrats.
To some, it may look exactly like what the militias have been warning of.
As a scholar of the U.S. domestic militia movement, I have seen in recent months a new divide emerging in these groups.
Some, often calling themselves the “boogaloo movement,” see the current political unrest as an opportunity to wrest power from an overbearing federal government. Others support police and their enforcement of strict law and order, even if that means authorities using powerful weapons and overwhelming force.
Shifting online dynamics
Assessing what these groups are doing, and how they are discussing recent events, has become more difficult for observers like me in recent weeks. On June 30, Facebook announced it had removed hundreds of accounts and groups allegedly related to the “boogaloo movement.”
The move came in the wake of several arrests of alleged boogaloo adherents across the country, including three in Nevada accused of plotting to “firebomb” federal land and one in Texas accused of killing one police officer and critically injuring another.
Boogaloo groups still have a social media presence and, until recently when the portion of the site they used was closed, a large presence on the Reddit discussion site, where comments are loosely regulated and people can post anonymously.
