The Growth of Militia-Type Hate Groups and the Threat of Terrorism

By Brigitte L. Nacos

I can only hope that it was a ploy when the FBI—as reported by the Associated Press-- claimed the other day that the recent arrest of nine members of a self-proclaimed “Hutaree” Christian militia does not indicate a threat of violence by other extremists in the right-wing milieu. If you take a look at the Hutaree web site, you know that nothing is “Christian” about this group and those who leave their gross messages on the discussion board. But more disturbing is the notion that the Hutaree gang is unique in planning violence—in this particular case a plot to kill police officers to commence a war against the hated government and its agents.

One reason for the alarming increase in militant groups of this kind was and is the high and persistent unemployment, especially in the Midwest. But the election of the first African-American president in U.S. history was even more instrumental in the revival of these types of groups that had dwindled away during the presidency of George W. Bush after a high during the Clinton years. With Barack Obama in the White House, the right-extreme conspiracy theorists found an opportunity to add another twist to their long-standing anti-Semitic prejudices.  

As absurd as it is, the fanatic appeal to construe the U.S. Constitution along the lines of its original intent transcends these usual hate group settings and found its way into part of the conservative and Republican mainstream. This shift in particular, whether expressed by obscure tea party figures, populists like Sarah Palin, or members of Congress, provides the extremist fringe with a dangerous mantle of legitimacy.    

In the 1990s, the Internet was not as widely used as it is today. At that time, militia types met personally in their particular circles or at gun shows. That was the milieu that nourished Timothy McVeigh’s hate to a point where he planned and executed the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995.

Today, social networks and group sites are the virtual meeting and recruitment places of lone wolves; they are likely to incite visitors who are already blaming other groups and the federal government for their various grievances. Terrorist contagion is now spread in cyberspace. The antiabortion terrorist who killed Dr. George Tiller because the latter performed abortions, was a frequent visitor and contributor to sites that promote violence against abortion providers. The Neo-Nazi terrorist who killed security guard Stephen Johns in the Washington Holocaust Museum had his own hate site. The Jihadi terrorist who killed twelve fellow soldiers at Fort Hood took his cue from hateful sermons available on Muslim cleric Abu Bakr al-Awlaki’s web site.

This, then, is not the climate in which threats from the extreme right-wing fringe should be ignored or minimized--certainly not by the law enforcement community that was after all the target of the foiled Hutaree plot.