Page 309 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

P-Kushner.qxd 28-10-02 11:25 AM Page 289

Patriot Movement———289

Wisconsin, but by the early 1980s much Posse activity
PATRIOT MOVEMENT occurred in the Great Plains.
The Posse Comitatus (Latin for “Power of the

The “patriot movement” refers to a loose collection County”) claimed that the county level of govern-
of extreme right-wing movements, groups, and indi- ment—because it was closest to the people—was pre-
viduals in the United States that broadly share a eminent and that counties could essentially ignore
number of antigovernment and conspiratorial views. federal and state laws, taxes, regulations, and court
Arising in the 1970s, the movement reached a peak of orders with which they did not agree. The county
activity in the 1990s following the controversial stand- sheriff was the key authority within the county, but the
offs at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas, generat- sheriff’s role was not so much to enforce the law as to
ing a number of criminal and terrorist acts, including obstruct it, ensuring that “unconstitutional” state and
the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building federal laws were not enforced in the county. Any
in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. The patriot move- sheriff who enforced those laws could be hanged by
ment is still quite active in the United States and crim- the Posse.
inal activity remains common.

THE FARM CRISIS AND THE 1980S
ORIGINS
Throughout the 1970s, the Posse exhibited low levels
Right-wing extremists in the United States have had of activity, just an occasional standoff (to oppose a
a long history of domestic terrorism, as well as other repossession, for instance) or assault on a public offi-
ideologically based criminal activity. Much of this cial. In the 1980s, however, the Posse swelled in pop-
activity originated from white supremacist convictions, ularity because of the serious farm crisis that gripped
ranging from Ku Klux Klan violence during the civil the country. Right-wing extremists targeted desperate
rights era to neo-Nazi and skinhead violence in later farmers for recruitment at the same time that the
decades. The rise of the patriot movement in the United government was largely indifferent to their plight.
States is significant in that, though the movement The Posse received national attention in 1983, when
cannot be divorced from white supremacy, its ideology Posse activist Gordon Kahl killed two U.S. marshals
is primarily antigovernment rather than racist in nature. attempting to arrest him. A nationwide manhunt
Its adherents believe that the U.S. government (federal, ensued, which ended several months later in Arkansas
state, and local) is illegitimate. Adherents rationalize with another gun battle that killed Kahl and a local
taking action, including violent action. sheriff. The Kahl shootouts, however, were only two
The patriot movement began in the 1950s and of a number of violent incidents that occurred around
1960s, stemming from right-wing opposition to the the country, especially in the farm belt.
federal income tax. Tax protesters did not merely want In addition to violence, Posse adherents also
income tax laws reformed or repealed, but believed adopted what has come to be called “paper terrorism.”
the government was taxing individuals selectively and Paper terrorism is the use of bogus legal filings, doc-
unfairly and that they could rightfully avoid paying uments, or financial instruments or the misuse of such
taxes. Tax protesters generated a number of justifi- legitimate items in order to harass or intimidate pub-
cations for their claims of immunity, believing that the lic officials, law enforcement officers, or private citi-
judicial system was also corrupt for not upholding zens and businesses. Common paper terrorism tactics
their arguments in court. included bogus liens, false IRS 1099 forms, and ficti-
The first group to popularize the notion of the tious financial instruments billed as sight drafts or
government illegitimacy due to its income tax policy, “public office money certificates.”
and which was in large part responsible for the birth of The Posse was the most active antigovernment
the patriot movement, was the Posse Comitatus. The group in the 1980s, but it spawned a host of offshoots
Posse was created in 1969 by Henry “Mike” Beach in and imitators, including “schools of common law” as
Oregon and William Potter Gale in California (each well as fictitious “townships.” These groups, which
claimed to have originated the idea) and spread across shared the Posse’s view of an illegitimate government
the country during the following decade. Initially, established by conspiracy, became the backbone of
it was most popular in the Pacific Northwest and in what would eventually be called the patriot movement.