Extremism in America Right Wing Extremists: Beliefs and Tactics

Extremism

Extremists Undereducated –High school or less Unsophisticated –Need scapegoats Local Perspective –Narrow world view Lone Warriors

Warrior Dreams Culture of guns, violence, and victory. Lone warrior against the status quo. Justified by the doctrine of necessity. (James William Gibson, 1994)

Ideology Anti-Tax Xenophobia Identity Church Movement Conspiracy Paranoia Patriotism

Anti-tax Citizenship is a right that is surrendered with application for a social security card. Only legitimate government is county government. Federal and state taxes are illegal. Federal and state courts are illegal.

Xenophobia Fear of those who are different. This fear is often converted to hate. Primary targets of fear/hate are: –Jews –Blacks –Other non-whites –Catholics (occasionally)

Identity Church Movement Racial Identity –Enosh - nonwhites –Man - Children of Adam and Eve (whites) –Jews - Offspring of Satan –Mongrels - Mixed races Based on misinterpretation of Book of Revelation

Identity Church Movement National Identity –Variation of British Israelism –Lost Tribes of Israel –Rebirth of lost tribes as Western civilization –Tribe of Ephraim - England –Tribe of Mannasseh - United States –United States is Holy Land

Conspiracy Paranoia Everyone but them involved in conspiracy. Favorite conspiracy myths –New World Order –Bildebergers –Trilateral Commission –Council on Foreign Relations –Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion –Freemasons

Patriotism Extreme nationalism America for Americans –Americans are white Anglo-Saxon protestants The enemy is anyone who disagrees.

Tactics Organizations Propaganda Common Law Courts Youth Movement

Organizations Survivalist –Militias Race-based –Ku Klux Klan Neo Nazis –Aryan Nations

Propaganda Newsletters Web sites Demonstrations Political campaigns Leaflets Street corner preaching

Common Law Courts The Common Law Court movement is primarily an anti-tax movement. The founding father was William Potter Gale, an early minister and chief spokesman for the theology known as Christian Identity. In the 1970s Gale, who also founded the violent tax protest group, Posse Comitatus.

Posse Comitatus Proposed that the only legitimate government under old English common law is the county. Likewise, the county sheriff is the only recognized legitimate police official.

Posse Comitatus Gale’s ideology includes the belief that the United States Government is really a private corporation rather than a legitimate government. Such ideas come from a manipulation of various sources including the Magna Carta, English Common Law, U.S. Constitution, the Bible, Black’s Law Dictionary, and the 1828 version of Webster’s Dictionary

Common Law Courts With this philosophy, Common Law Court adherents argue that the American judicial system has failed and that the U.S. Constitution has been subverted. They claim the right to retry cases from these illegal courts in their own courts where they would receive a more sympathetic hearing.

Common Law Courts Primary tactics are: –Filing bogus liens –Filing bogus involuntary bankruptcy notifications Such legal documents are submitted by the Common Law Court to a county court clerk.

Common Law Courts Unaware or untrained clerks accept these as real. The victim spends years and large sums of money clearing these notices from their credit histories and/or mortgage records.

Common Law Courts The targets are typically government officials. In Texas, $1.7 billion dollars in false liens have been filed against the Attorney General and various state judges.

Youth Movement Skinheads –Disenchanted youth –More violent –Susceptible to manipulation