Reuters - Down a Georgia
country road, camouflaged members of the Three Percent Security Force have
mobilized for rifle practice, hand-to-hand combat training -- and an
impromptu
campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
"How many
people are voting for Trump? Ooh-rah!" asks Chris Hill, a paralegal who
goes by the code name "Bloodagent."
"Ooh-rah!"
shout a dozen militia members in response, as morning sunlight sifted through
the trees last weekend.
As the most
divisive presidential election in recent memory nears its conclusion, some
armed militia groups are preparing for the possibility of a stolen election on
Nov. 8 and civil unrest in the days following a victory by Democrat Hillary
Clinton.
They say they
won't fire the first shot, but they're not planning to leave their guns at
home, either.
Trump's
populist campaign has energized militia members like Hill, who admire the
Republican mogul's promise to deport illegal immigrants, stop Muslims from
entering the country and build a wall along the Mexico border. Trump has
repeatedly warned that the election may be "rigged," and has said he
may not respect the results if he does not win. At least one paramilitary
group, the Oath Keepers, has called on members to monitor voting sites for
signs of fraud.
Armed
paramilitary groups first gained prominence in the early 1990s, fueled by
confrontations in Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas, culminating in a militia
sympathizer's 1995 bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City that
killed 168 people.
Their numbers
dwindled following that attack but have spiked in recent years, driven by fears
that President Barack Obama will threaten gun ownership and erode the power of
local government. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist
groups, estimates there were 276 active militias last year, up from 42 in 2008.
In recent
years, armed groups have confronted federal authorities in a series of land-use
disputes in the western United States. Federal officials fear more clashes
could come after seven militants were acquitted on conspiracy charges for
occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon.
Many fear
Clinton would push the county further to the left.
"This is
the last chance to save America from ruin," Hill said. "I'm surprised
I was able to survive or suffer through eight years of Obama without literally
going insane, but Hillary is going to be more of the same."
EXTREMIST
GROUPS EMBOLDENED
The Oath
Keepers, a prominent anti-government force that sent gun-toting members to the
2014 race riots in Ferguson, Missouri, called on members last week to monitor
voting sites on election day for any signs of fraud.
An hour south
of Atlanta, the Three Percent Security Force started the day around the
campfire, taking turns shooting automatic pistols and rifles at a makeshift
target range. They whooped with approval when blasts from one member's
high-powered rifle knocked down a tree.
The group
operates independently, but is affiliated with a national armed movement that
calls for members to defend individual rights in the face of what they see as
an overreaching federal government. The movement draws its name from the notion
that no more than 3 percent of the American population fought in the
Revolutionary War against Britain.
Amid the war
games, Hill weighed plans for a possible armed march on Washington if Clinton
wins.
He said he
doesn't want his members leading the way, but they will defend the protesters
if need be. His group will not hesitate to act if a President Clinton tries to
disarm gun owners, he said.
"I will
be there to render assistance to my fellow countrymen, and prevent them from
being disarmed, and I will fight and I will kill and I may die in the
process," said Hill, who founded the militia several years ago.
Trump's
candidacy has emboldened extremist groups to speak more openly about
challenging the rule of law, said Ryan Lenz, a researcher at the Southern
Poverty Law Center.
"Prior to
this campaign season, these ideas were relegated to sort of the political
fringe of the American political landscape," he said. "Now these
ideas are legitimized."
Over the past
week, some prominent Trump supporters have hinted at violence.
"If Trump loses, I'm grabbing my
musket," former Illinois Representative Joe Walsh wrote on Twitter last
week. Conservative commentator Wayne Root fantasized about Clinton's death
while speaking at a Trump rally in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Back in
Georgia, the Three Percent Security Force wrapped up rifle practice in the
midday sun. They then headed further into the trees to tackle an obstacle
course with loaded pistols at their sides, ready for whatever may come.
"We've
building up for this, just like the Marines," he said. "We are going
to really train harder and try to increase our operational capabilities in the
event that this is the day that we hoped would never come."
Reuters
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