Last week we reported that in a concerning development that may be a harbinger of the splintering within the US after a presidential election in which Trump loses, various armed militia groups were preparing for violence in case of what they dubbed a “stolen election.”
As Reuters reported, “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.”
Trump’s 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.
According to Reuters, the reason for recent pick up in militia activity is that many group members fear Clinton would push the county further to the left. “This is the last chance to save America from ruin,” said Chris Hill, a paralegal who goes by the code name Bloodagent. “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.”
And yet, not all militias are preparing for the worst case outcome. In an interview with Reuters, Walt Sims of the Last Ohio Militia, says his group is not a typical group of “right-wing government hating radicals”, and unlike some of the other militias encountered by Reuters in its week-long reporting on armed militia groups, is “urging calm rather than predicting catastrophe.”
According to Sims, he did not feel at home with the other groups: “most of them we just didn’t like; they were either too militant or too secret squirrel; we use the term tinfoil hat.”
Sims’ ambition is simple: to take back the militia name from “the fringe element”, and to make it a good term again. “Some bad people have abused the name and twisted it to their own ends” he says,accusing them of being “really loud on the internet, but in real life not so much.”
Think of them as your kinder, gentler, “pacifists down the street” version of the stereotypical armed militia. When asked who they support, one of the members said Trump, his co-worker however had reservations, because he “worked for him.” He did not say if he was voting for Hillary, however.
The group’s philosophy: “for guys like us, we’re never going to fire the first shot. Tomorrow the sun’s going to rise and we’re going to survive.” Looking back at the election of Obama, the militiamen say that “it was bad but America keeps going.”
Reuters notes that while the Ohio Militia is prepared for the worst, they don’t see unrest occurring on November 9.
We hope their optimism is justified.
Ohio militia group urges calm over conflict. Via @ReutersTV http://pic.twitter.com/Bbh1urfqKJ
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) November 7, 2016
via http://ift.tt/2fx0ai1 Tyler Durden