tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/oath-keepers-94285/articlesOath Keepers – The Conversation2024-01-05T14:02:16Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2205012024-01-05T14:02:16Z2024-01-05T14:02:16ZJan. 6 was an example of networked incitement − a media and disinformation expert explains the danger of political violence orchestrated over social media<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567937/original/file-20240104-19-6rl415.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4960%2C3281&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Social media and cellphones connected President Trump to the Jan. 6 insurrectionists.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supporters-of-us-president-donald-trump-gather-across-from-news-photo/1230454617">Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The shocking events of Jan. 6, 2021, signaled a major break from the nonviolent rallies that categorized most major protests over the past few decades.</p>
<p>What set Jan. 6 apart was the president of the United States <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-capitol-riot-probe-turns-focus-trump-allies-extremist-groups-2022-07-12/">using his cellphone to direct an attack on the Capitol</a>, and those who stormed the Capitol being <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/07/12/1111132464/jan-6-hearing-recap-oath-keepers-proud-boys">wired and ready for insurrection</a>. </p>
<p>My co-authors and I, a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=yu4Ew7gAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">media and disinformation scholar</a>, call this <a href="https://mediamanipulation.org/sites/default/files/media-files/j6_motivations_working_paper.pdf">networked incitement</a>: influential figures inciting large-scale political violence via social media. Networked incitement involves insurgents communicating across multiple platforms to command and coordinate mobilized social movements in the moment of action. </p>
<p>The reason there was not more bloodshed on Jan. 6 emerged through investigation into the Oath Keepers, a vigilante organization <a href="https://theconversation.com/behind-the-11-oath-keepers-charged-with-sedition-are-many-more-who-have-been-trained-by-the-us-military-175322">composed mostly of former military and police</a>. During their trials for seditious conspiracy, members of the Oath Keepers testified about weapons caches in hotels and vans, stashed near Washington, D.C. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-florida-virginia-conspiracy-government-and-politics-6ac80882e8cf61af36be6c46252ac24c">As one member described it</a>, “I had not seen that many weapons in one location since I was in the military.”</p>
<p>The Oath Keepers were following Washington law by not carrying the weapons in the district, while waiting for Trump to invoke the <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/insurrection-act-explained">Insurrection Act</a>, which gives the president the authority to deploy the military domestically for law enforcement.</p>
<p>The militia was waiting for orders from Trump. That was all that kept U.S. democracy safe from armed warfare that day.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567942/original/file-20240104-17-63e181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A projection of text on a large screen above a row of seated people" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567942/original/file-20240104-17-63e181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567942/original/file-20240104-17-63e181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567942/original/file-20240104-17-63e181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567942/original/file-20240104-17-63e181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567942/original/file-20240104-17-63e181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567942/original/file-20240104-17-63e181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567942/original/file-20240104-17-63e181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The House Select Committee hearings on the Jan. 6 attack highlighted the role of President Trump’s tweets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tweet-by-former-us-president-donald-trump-appears-on-screen-news-photo/1241210660">Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Social media as command and control</h2>
<p>What happened in D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, does not easily fit into typical social movement frameworks for describing mobilization. The insurrectionists behaved akin to a networked social movement, with online platforms forming the infrastructure to organize action, but its leaders were politicians and political operatives as opposed to charismatic community leaders. On that day in particular, the insurrectionists, who are <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/02/the-capitol-rioters-arent-like-other-extremists/617895/">closely aligned with</a> <a href="https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/sep/21/what-maga-republican/">MAGA Republicans</a> more broadly, functioned like Trump’s volunteer army rather than a populist movement.</p>
<p>Even with the availability of social media, networked social movements still need mainstream media coverage to legitimize their cause. Typically, community organizers push a particular issue – for example <a href="https://doi.org/10.1609/icwsm.v16i1.19373">Black Lives Matter</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3446981">#MeToo</a> – into the media spotlight to get the public to care about their issue. Social movements tend to struggle for exposure and to frame favorable narratives.</p>
<p>The insurrectionists had the advantage of betting on mainstream media coverage for Jan. 6, so they focused on gathering resources and coordinating attendance. As a result, Trump’s supporters did not need to expend much effort to bring attention to the event and, instead, concentrated on organizing ride-shares and splitting hotel costs. As in prior social movements, the networking capacity of social media proved to be an important conduit to bring strangers together for the occasion. What the insurrectionists failed to do was convince key stakeholders, such as mainstream media, Vice President Mike Pence and the U.S. Capitol Police, to join their fight.</p>
<p>Networked incitement is different from the legalistic understanding of incitement, where an inflammatory statement <a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2020/12/Fact-Sheet-on-Threats-Related-to-the-Election.pdf">immediately precedes unlawful acts or creates a dangerous situation</a>. The call to action for Jan. 6 came from the president himself in a series of social media posts enticing supporters to come to D.C. for a “wild” time.</p>
<p>Tweets like these from a prominent figure became social media’s equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theater. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vmTL3trNd6g?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A participant in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol explained to the House Select Committee investigating the attack how President Trump’s words conveyed over social media compelled him to go to Washington.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Mobilizing for violence</h2>
<p>My colleagues and I sought data to better understand what motivated everyday folks to storm the Capitol that day under great personal risk. Using the method of <a href="https://open.oregonstate.education/qualresearchmethods/chapter/chapter-17-content-analysis/">qualitative content analysis</a>, we assembled 469 charging and sentencing documents for 417 defendants and coded them for the stated reasons for attending the event. We chose these court documents because they represented the fullest narrative accounts available. The purpose of these documents was to explain the rationales and mental states of the accused, while also offering a defense or explanation for their actions.</p>
<p>We analyzed the documents, looking at the multiple motivations for the insurrectionist mobilization. Overwhelmingly, insurrectionists said they were <a href="https://mediamanipulation.org/sites/default/files/media-files/j6_motivations_working_paper.pdf">motivated by a desire to support Trump</a>, which was equally split with a rationale to stop a rigged election. In sum, we concluded that disinformation mobilizes and incites political violence under specific conditions, such as a popular public figure calling for help.</p>
<p>For example, the court documents also directly reference social media posts of the accused. On Dec. 22, 2020, Kelly Meggs, an Oath Keeper who was later convicted of seditious conspiracy and <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/court-sentences-two-oath-keepers-leaders-18-years-prison-seditious-conspiracy-and-other">sentenced to 12 years in prison</a>, wrote on Facebook:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Trump said It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!! It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!! He wants us to make it WILD that’s what he’s saying. He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Sir Yes Sir!!! Gentlemen we are heading to DC pack your shit!!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The reference to “it’s gonna be wild” was a rejoinder to the now infamous tweet Trump sent after a reportedly difficult <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62140410">six-hour meeting</a> the president had with staff about how to proceed with the fraud inquiry and undo the election results. Oath Keeper Meggs’ tweet illustrates that even before Jan. 6, militia groups were looking for signs from Trump about how to proceed. An <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/07/13/1111341161/how-trumps-will-be-wild-tweet-drew-rioters-to-the-capitol-on-jan-6">investigation by NPR</a> also illustrated how Trump’s messages emboldened participants and ignited the events of that day.</p>
<h2>A dark future</h2>
<p>No sitting president before Trump had exploited the capacity of social media to directly reach citizens to command specific actions.</p>
<p>The use of social media for networked incitement foreshadows a dark future for democracies. Rulers could well come to power by manipulating mass social movements via social media, directing a movement’s members to serve as the leaders’ shock troops, online and off. </p>
<p>Clear regulations preventing the malicious weaponization of social media by politicians who use disinformation to incite violence is one way to keep that future at bay.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220501/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joan Donovan is on the board of Free Press and the founder of the Critical Internet Studies Institute.</span></em></p>Social media allows a political leader to direct the behavior of political movements, including engaging in violence and insurrection.Joan Donovan, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media Studies, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2072722023-06-22T12:32:16Z2023-06-22T12:32:16ZHow pardoning extremists undermines the rule of law<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533239/original/file-20230621-26-d8q0qa.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C25%2C5534%2C3642&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former President Donald Trump has said he may pardon recently convicted leaders of the Proud Boys. Here, Proud Boys members protest in Salem, Ore., on Jan. 8, 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-the-proud-boys-make-the-ok-sign-with-their-hands-news-photo/1237612250?adppopup=true">Mathieu Lewis-Rolland / AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the past 10 years, <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2023/04/25/quantifying-the-rise-of-americas-far-right">there has been</a> an increase in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/13/nyregion/right-wing-rhetoric-threats-violence.html">far-right political violence in the United States</a>. While scholars have pointed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895820914385">to</a> several <a href="http://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2021.0059">possible</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2013.755912">reasons</a> – and often, combinations of explanations – the trend is clear. </p>
<p>This violence has coincided with the growing influence of far-right <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/right-wing-extremism-2022-primaries">state and federal political candidates</a>, who collectively have excited and mobilized extremist communities both <a href="https://pt.icct.nl/article/not-so-silent-majority-automated-content-analysis-anti-government-online-communities">online</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2018.1494120">in person</a>. </p>
<p>In response, federal and state law enforcement officials have focused <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/ntas/advisory/national-terrorism-advisory-system-bulletin-may-24-2023">increasing attention on these movements</a> with the hope of deterring political violence and lowering the <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/topics/preventing-terrorism">risk of domestic extremism</a>. Many who participated in political violence – including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/nyregion/cesar-sayoc-sentencing-pipe-bombing.html">Cesar Sayoc, who sent pipe bombs to Democratic officials</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/05/25/1178116193/stewart-rhodes-oath-keepers-verdict">Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/08/1085201623/enrique-tarrio-proud-boys-arrested-indicted-jan-6">Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio</a> – have faced arrest, prosecution and, in some cases, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/10/28/1132405440/domestic-terrorism-investigations-and-arrests-shot-up-in-2021">jail or prison sentences</a>. </p>
<p>At the same time, a number of conservative elected officials and politicians have publicly expressed interest in pardoning some of these same people. I am a scholar who studies the individuals, groups and movements that <a href="https://www.michaelhbecker.com/">use political violence</a>. Research shows that this use of the pardon power can damage the <a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/overview-rule-law">rule of law</a> in the United States. It undermines one of the tools against violence that law enforcement can bring to bear - deterrence.</p>
<p>The American Bar Association describes the rule of law as a <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resources/rule-of-law/">foundational principle for the U.S. justice system</a>: “No one is above the law, everyone is treated equally under the law, everyone is held accountable to the same laws, there are clear and fair processes for enforcing laws, there is an independent judiciary, and human rights are guaranteed for all.” </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533241/original/file-20230621-17-maiylr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A gray-haired man in a blue suit and white shirt, talking while gesturing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533241/original/file-20230621-17-maiylr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533241/original/file-20230621-17-maiylr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533241/original/file-20230621-17-maiylr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533241/original/file-20230621-17-maiylr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533241/original/file-20230621-17-maiylr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533241/original/file-20230621-17-maiylr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533241/original/file-20230621-17-maiylr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has said he intends to pardon the Army veteran who was recently convicted of killing a Black Lives Matter protester.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/texas-gov-greg-abbott-speaks-during-a-news-conference-at-news-photo/1497020155?adppopup=true">Brandon Bell/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Diminishing deterrence</h2>
<p>In a recent CNN town hall, former President Donald Trump said that if reelected, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/11/politics/transcript-cnn-town-hall-trump/index.html">he is interested in pardoning</a> the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/jury-convicts-four-leaders-proud-boys-seditious-conspiracy-related-us-capitol-breach">recently convicted leadership of the Proud Boys</a> and others who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. </p>
<p>This is not the first time that Trump has suggested he is considering <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/05/politics/trump-pardon-us-capitol/index.html">such an offer</a>. When he was president, he did pardon <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/hammond-pardon-bundy">anti-government extremists</a>. </p>
<p>The pardon power is not limited to a sitting president, however; state governors can issue pardons for state crimes. And some have expressed similar interest in pardoning those convicted of politically motivated criminal acts in recent years. </p>
<p>Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said he intends to pardon the Army veteran who was recently convicted of killing a Black Lives Matter protester and was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/10/daniel-perry-sentenced-murder-blm-protester-texas">sentenced to 25 years in prison</a>. </p>
<p>In August 2021, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson pardoned the couple <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/06/missouri-couple-who-pointed-guns-at-blm-protesters-seek-return-of-firearms">convicted of gun charges associated</a> with brandishing firearms at protesters during the racial justice marches over the summer of 2020. </p>
<p>Together, these public statements about, and the use of, pardons for politically motivated crime undercut the ability of <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3053565">law enforcement and the intelligence community to deter</a> domestic political extremism.</p>
<p>At its simplest, <a href="https://hackettpublishing.com/history/17-18-history/on-crimes-and-punishments">deterrence means that</a> when people consider whether to do something wrong or illegal, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427893030002001">they think about the consequences that they, and others, face or have faced</a>. </p>
<p>When punishment is certain, closer in time to the criminal behavior and proportionally severe, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/670398">people will be less likely to commit crimes</a>. Research in criminology has shown that of these three aspects, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12248">increasing</a> the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/670398">certainty of punishment can lower the incidence of crime</a>. This is important, because when a pardon is offered, the certainty of punishment is dramatically diminished – lowering the potential deterrent.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Missouri Gov. Mike Parson pardoned this couple, convicted of gun charges associated with brandishing firearms at protesters during the racial justice marches over the summer of 2020.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Criminal sanctuary</h2>
<p>Since Jan. 6, 2021, over 1,000 of the people who participated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/25/1165022885/1000-defendants-january-6-capitol-riot">have been criminally charged</a>. </p>
<p>Of these, more than 500 <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/04/06/jan6-riots-doj-charged">have pleaded guilty</a>, and the Department of Justice has secured convictions <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/25/1165022885/1000-defendants-january-6-capitol-riot">in all but one trial</a>. </p>
<p>In other circumstances, the legal consequences could be expected to deter others from political violence in the U.S. However, when politicians signal that those responsible for or guilty of violence aligned with their interests could be shielded from punishment – as shown by the use of pardons – punishment seems less likely. This message of criminal sanctuary – relief from punishment – is what former President Trump, Gov. Abbott and Gov. Parson are communicating.</p>
<p>Recent research draws a direct connection between criminal sanctuary and political violence. “When people perceive that they will be provided sanctuary for their criminal actions … this too <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-030521-102553">leads to crime</a>,” write scholars Laura Dugan and Daren Fisher. </p>
<p>In my research, I look at how these signals of criminal sanctuary by politicians and elected officials are interpreted and acted upon by far-right online communities in the United States. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://pt.icct.nl/article/not-so-silent-majority-automated-content-analysis-anti-government-online-communities">series of recent studies</a>, my co-authors and I looked at what members of far-right online communities talked about and how it changed from before the November 2020 U.S. presidential election through the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.</p>
<p>Over the three-month period, when compared with mainstream online communities, far-right communities, most of them accepting of political violence, shifted their focus from discussions of disinformation around the election to specifically advocating for anti-government violence and civil war. </p>
<p>We looked at how far-right online communities responded when then-President Trump called on his supporters in a tweet to come to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, saying it “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/07/13/1111341161/how-trumps-will-be-wild-tweet-drew-rioters-to-the-capitol-on-jan-6">will be wild</a>!” These users listened to the then president and responded with a sentiment of self-righteousness and a greater focus on the idea that they were acting as soldiers on behalf of Trump. </p>
<p>Consequently, members of those online communities played an important role in the Jan. 6 <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-REPORT/pdf/GPO-J6-REPORT.pdf">attack on the Capitol</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, the bipartisan House committee investigating the attack highlighted former President Trump’s “will be wild” tweet as a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/man-charged-capitol-riot-tells-jan-6-committee-wishes-didnt-buy-trumps-rcna37895">call to action for his supporters</a> and a signal that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/17/nyregion/protesters-blaming-trump-pardon.html">their actions on his behalf wouldn’t result in legal consequences</a>. </p>
<p>Despite the <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/law-justice/">“tough on crime” stances taken by many</a> <a href="https://www.fox26houston.com/news/governor-abbott-pushes-for-tougher-laws-on-criminals-securing-border-and-school-choice-in-state-address">conservative</a> <a href="https://governor.mo.gov/press-releases/archive/governor-parson-continues-efforts-combat-violent-crime-protect-missouri">politicians</a>, the use of pardons to offer criminal sanctuary likely undermines the rule of law and increases the risks of political violence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207272/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael H. Becker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The promise of pardons to offer criminal sanctuary likely undermines the rule of law and increases the risks of political violence.Michael H. Becker, Doctoral Student, Department of Justice, Law, and Criminology, American UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2064822023-05-25T19:49:48Z2023-05-25T19:49:48ZOath Keepers founder sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy in lead-up to Jan. 6 insurrection – 4 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528401/original/file-20230525-27-h41cy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=100%2C50%2C6609%2C4416&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Stewart Rhodes, leader of the Oath Keepers, is just one member of a group that seeks to engage in violence against the U.S. government.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-oath-keeper-brought-on-to-provide-security-stands-guard-news-photo/674249800">Philip Pacheco/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/25/politics/oath-keepers-sentencing-stewart-rhodes-kelly-meggs/index.html">sentenced to 18 years in prison</a> on May 25, 2023, in the wake of his November 2022 conviction for seditious conspiracy. Rhodes led an effort to keep former President Donald Trump in office after Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, including planning violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</p>
<p>Several scholars of right-wing movements, white nationalism and extremism have written articles explaining what the Oath Keepers and groups like them want, and how they work – as well as the limits on their free-speech rights to talk about violent overthrow of the U.S. government. Here we spotlight four examples of those scholars’ work.</p>
<h2>1. Oath Keepers are violently anti-government</h2>
<p>“<a href="https://theconversation.com/regardless-of-seditious-conspiracy-charges-outcome-right-wing-groups-like-proud-boys-seek-to-build-a-white-nation-184592">Oath Keepers have participated</a> in several armed standoffs against the government,” wrote criminologists <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fjys1XAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Matthew Valasik</a> of the University of Alabama and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=cLpO6QwAAAAJ">Shannon Reid</a> of the University of North Carolina – Charlotte.</p>
<p>For instance, “In 2014, the Oath Keepers joined an armed standoff between far-right patriot groups in Nevada on behalf of Cliven Bundy. In 2015, Oath Keepers showed up heavily armed in Ferguson, Missouri, during protests over the killing of Michael Brown. And in 2016, Oath Keepers were present at the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/regardless-of-seditious-conspiracy-charges-outcome-right-wing-groups-like-proud-boys-seek-to-build-a-white-nation-184592">Regardless of seditious conspiracy charges' outcome, right-wing groups like Proud Boys seek to build a white nation</a>
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<h2>2. Oath Keepers are looking for a fight</h2>
<p>At the Jan. 6 insurrection, the Oath Keepers contingent was looking to overthrow the government, wrote <a href="https://www.sarakamali.com/">Sara Kamali</a>, a scholar of systemic racism at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of “<a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520389687/homegrown-hate">Homegrown Hate: Why White Nationalists and Militant Islamists Are Waging War against the United States</a>.”</p>
<p>Testifying before the congressional committee investigating the insurrection, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/former-oath-keeper-reveals-racist-antisemitic-beliefs-of-white-nationalist-group-and-their-plans-to-start-a-civil-war-185006">former Oath Keepers spokesman Jason Van Tatenhove</a> left little doubt about the intentions of the white nationalist militia group when its members stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,” Kamali wrote. </p>
<p>“Tatenhove explained that Jan. 6 ‘could have been a spark that started a new civil war,’” she continued.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/former-oath-keeper-reveals-racist-antisemitic-beliefs-of-white-nationalist-group-and-their-plans-to-start-a-civil-war-185006">Former Oath Keeper reveals racist, antisemitic beliefs of white nationalist group – and their plans to start a civil war</a>
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<img alt="People in hats, masks and protective gear stand in front of a portico" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C0%2C5083%2C3378&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Members of the Oath Keepers stand at the east front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolBreachJan6Lawsuit/dc35ae1cd6ba47e0a48ac92ba8017205/photo">AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>3. Many Oath Keepers are former military personnel</h2>
<p>The Oath Keepers – who “<a href="https://theconversation.com/behind-the-11-oath-keepers-charged-with-sedition-are-many-more-who-have-been-trained-by-the-us-military-175322">may number in the thousands</a>” – are a threat in part “because the Oath Keepers actively recruit current and retired members of the armed forces,” wrote <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=pdQoqX4AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">Mia Bloom</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UlDYlEoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Sophia Moskalenko</a>, Georgia State University scholars of violent extremism.</p>
<p>They reported that “[a]bout 10% of the Oath Keepers are active-duty military, and around two-thirds are retired military or law enforcement,” and that “[s]everal Oath Keepers present at the Jan. 6 attack were veterans,” some of whom used a military formation to breach the Capitol.</p>
<p>In addition, a growing number of military personnel are involved in domestic terrorism, and an increasing number of extremists have military ties, Bloom and Moskalenko reported.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/behind-the-11-oath-keepers-charged-with-sedition-are-many-more-who-have-been-trained-by-the-us-military-175322">Behind the 11 Oath Keepers charged with sedition are many more who have been trained by the US military</a>
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<h2>4. The First Amendment does not protect sedition</h2>
<p>Those former military members may have taken an oath to protect the U.S. and its Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic, but they are finding that constitutional protections go only so far.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://theconversation.com/oath-keepers-convictions-shed-light-on-the-limits-of-free-speech-and-the-threat-posed-by-militias-195616">Far-right extremists or other hate groups</a> can claim they are just venting or even fantasizing – both of which would be protected under the First Amendment,” wrote <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5nxIh9YAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Amy Cooter</a>, a scholar of extremism and militias at <a href="https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/people/amy-cooter">Middlebury’s Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism</a>. “For this reason, seditious conspiracy charges have historically been hard to prosecute.”</p>
<p>Cooter noted that Rhodes did not enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but his conviction “suggests that the jury believed that Rhodes’ texts and other communications incited others to violent, undemocratic action in a way that requires accountability.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/oath-keepers-convictions-shed-light-on-the-limits-of-free-speech-and-the-threat-posed-by-militias-195616">Oath Keepers convictions shed light on the limits of free speech – and the threat posed by militias</a>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206482/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The founder of a violent anti-government group has been sent to prison for seditious conspiracy. Experts explain what that means.Jeff Inglis, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2011452023-05-18T12:41:25Z2023-05-18T12:41:25ZIRS granted tax-exempt status to extremists, including an Oath Keepers foundation – here’s why that’s not as surprising as it sounds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526636/original/file-20230516-31010-wo5rkx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C87%2C4471%2C2447&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jason Van Tatenhove, a former national spokesman for the Oath Keepers, has testified about the group's extremism.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jason-van-tatenhove-who-served-as-national-spokesman-for-news-photo/1408291704?adppopup=true">Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When someone mentions nonprofits, chances are you picture homeless shelters, free medical clinics, museums and other groups that you believe are doing good one way or another.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/most-nonprofits-are-highly-effective-check-the-data">Most of these organizations are legitimate</a>. But not all nonprofits are principled or embrace missions everyone considers worthy of the tax-exempt status that the government grants some <a href="https://thenonprofittimes.com/regulation/number-of-nonprofits-nearing-2-million/">2 million organizations</a>.</p>
<p>You might presume that the government would automatically refuse to grant tax-exempt status to <a href="https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/combating-hate/The-Oath-Keepers-ADL-Report.pdf">white nationalist and anti-government groups</a>. Yet as a <a href="https://www.umass.edu/spp/people/faculty/elizabeth-schmidt">scholar who has researched nonprofit accountability</a>, I’ve seen the authorities struggle to draw the line between which organizations deserve to operate as nonprofits and those that don’t.</p>
<h2>8 purposes allowed</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://donorbox.org/nonprofit-blog/types-of-nonprofits">wide array of U.S. nonprofits</a> includes many media outlets, chambers of commerce and political parties. But the term usually refers to the organizations that meet the requirements of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/501">Section 501(c)(3)</a> of the tax code. Officially designated as charities, these groups don’t pay income taxes and can accept <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-charitable-deduction-an-economist-explains-162647">tax-deductible donations</a>. </p>
<p>All <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1023">501(c)(3)s must apply to the Internal Revenue Service</a> for tax exemption unless their revenues are less than US$5,000 or they are a church, synagogue, mosque or other house of worship.</p>
<p>The IRS usually grants this status to any applicant with <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-purposes">at least one of eight purposes</a>, including being charitable or educational.</p>
<p>Figuring out if food banks deserve exemption is generally straightforward, as they engage in an obviously charitable activity.</p>
<p>Determining whether organizations are truly religious or educational is harder.</p>
<h2>Oath Keepers Educational Foundation</h2>
<p>Some groups with ties to the Oath Keepers – <a href="https://www.csis.org/blogs/examining-extremism/examining-extremism-oath-keepers">an extremist group</a> with leaders who were found guilty of <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/four-oath-keepers-found-guilty-seditious-conspiracy-related-us-capitol-breach">seditious conspiracy</a> connected to the <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/report/extremist-and-hate-groups-may-be-abusing-non-profit-status">Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol</a> – were granted this status.</p>
<p>Until recently, the Oath Keepers had chapters scattered across the country, and the main group never became a 501(c)(3) organization. But the <a href="https://www.facingsouth.org/2022/07/oath-keepers-militia-nonprofits-IRS-taxes-subsidies">Oath Keepers Educational Foundation</a> and several <a href="https://www.guidestar.org/profile/47-5334459">smaller affiliated groups</a> did obtain that status.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.facingsouth.org/2022/07/oath-keepers-militia-nonprofits-IRS-taxes-subsidies">foundation told the IRS when it sought</a> charitable status that its primary purpose was “to give veterans an opportunity for continued involvement in community service.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/13/proud-boys-oath-keepers-future-arrest-of-leaders">The Oath Keepers network has largely collapsed</a> amid the prosecution of its members who engaged in the Jan. 6 attack. Most notably, <a href="https://theconversation.com/oath-keepers-convictions-shed-light-on-the-limits-of-free-speech-and-the-threat-posed-by-militias-195616">founder Stewart Rhodes</a> was found guilty in 2022 of seditious conspiracy for helping plot the insurrection. He <a href="https://apnews.com/article/stewart-rhodes-oath-keepers-seditious-conspiracy-sentencing-b3ed4556a3dec577539c4181639f666c">was sentenced in 2023</a> to 18 years in prison. Rhodes was <a href="https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_nv/E0313612019-6">also listed as the foundation’s president</a> when it was established.</p>
<p>When the Oath Keepers’ former spokesman <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2023/04/07/oath-keepers-jason-van-tatenhove-book/">Jason Van Tatenhove</a> testified before Congress in 2022, he revealed that the group was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/12/jason-van-tatenhove-oath-keepers-jan-6/">radicalizing its followers and spreading violent messaging</a>.</p>
<p>The Three Percenters, another extremist group with ties to people who were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/01/guy-reffitt-capitol-attack-sentence-three-percenters">convicted for their role in the Jan. 6 attacks</a>, <a href="https://www.engadget.com/amazon-removes-milita-groups-smile-program-230923872.html">was a charity at that time</a>. Its leadership <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210310130503/https:/thethreepercenters.org/2021/02/ttpos-final-statement/21/">subsequently dissolved the organization</a>.</p>
<h2>Unite the Right ties</h2>
<p>Other white nationalist groups, such as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alleged-hate-groups-tax-breaks-registered-charities/">Identity Evropa</a> and the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/richard-spencer-national-policy-institute-alt-right-regains-tax-exempt-status/">National Policy Institute</a>, have received 501(c)(3) status over the years.</p>
<p>Both of those groups were among the organizers of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, where <a href="https://dailyprogress.com/news/judge-trims-sines-v-kessler-punitive-award-from-24-million-to-350k/article_d842bd64-8af8-11ed-b0f6-6747dd92d022.html">participants attacked progressive counterprotesters</a>, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/james-alex-fields-found-guilty-killing-heather-heyer-during-violent-n945186">killing one of them</a> and injuring many others.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526644/original/file-20230516-30763-udcrko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A ragtag group of white men, some in helmets, some carrying confederate flags" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526644/original/file-20230516-30763-udcrko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526644/original/file-20230516-30763-udcrko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526644/original/file-20230516-30763-udcrko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526644/original/file-20230516-30763-udcrko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526644/original/file-20230516-30763-udcrko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526644/original/file-20230516-30763-udcrko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526644/original/file-20230516-30763-udcrko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some of the white supremacist groups that organized the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017 were charities at the time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Confederate%20Monument%20Protest/827eb2c641084ec8ab7afd5b9bffbac1?Query=rally%20charlottesville&mediaType=photo,video,graphic,audio&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=832&currentItemNo=282">AP Photo/Steve Helber</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Policing tax exemption</h2>
<p>Although <a href="https://theconversation.com/allegations-that-the-charity-george-santos-claims-to-have-run-was-fake-highlight-how-scams-divert-money-from-worthy-causes-192983">it’s a crime to lie on the application</a>, some groups seeking to become charities do. The IRS doesn’t verify those statements, however, presumably because <a href="https://www.thetaxlawyer.com/tax-fraud-tax-crimes/information-advice/prosecution-for-false-statements-on-tax-return">the threat of prosecution</a> generally prevents misrepresentations, and the cost of verifying what every group says is very high.</p>
<p>Small groups can use a simplified version of the required form, but it is <a href="https://www.gwlr.org/states-as-laboratories-for-charitable-compliance-an-empirical-study/">so poorly designed</a> that the <a href="https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/news/ntablog-form-1023-ez-now-elicits-additional-information-but-its-not-clear-that-irs-reviewers-are-considering-it/">IRS has granted exemption to many ineligible organizations</a>. In one extreme case, a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/03/us/politics/irs-fake-charities.html">scam artist set up 76 fake charities</a> using this form, as The New York Times discovered in 2022.</p>
<p>Another obstacle is that applicants are usually forming new organizations, so the IRS examines their intentions rather than their actions.</p>
<h2>Respecting free speech</h2>
<p>Because Americans prize the right to free speech, the IRS treads carefully when determining which nonprofits don’t deserve tax-exempt status.</p>
<p>Big Mama Rag, a radical feminist nonprofit magazine, <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/494/473/2150407/">lost its tax exemption</a> in the late 1970s. The IRS revoked its charitable status upon seeing that the magazine refused to publish views contrary to its own. When the magazine fought back, <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/494/473/2150407/">an appeals court</a> determined that the criteria the IRS and a district court had used to deny exemption were unconstitutional because they were based on the organization’s constitutionally protected views.</p>
<p>This case set an important precedent: The government considers charities advancing unpopular views to be educational enough to keep their tax-exempt status.</p>
<p>The IRS now evaluates educational methods, not content. Educational charities must support their assertions with facts and without inflammatory language.</p>
<p>The only reported court case of a group failing this test was a <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/37/216/508850/">blatantly racist organization</a>, the Nationalist Movement.</p>
<p>That organization sought to “favor Caucasian, Christian, and English-speaking Americans of Northern European descent.” <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-nationalists-raise-millions-tax-exempt-charities-083939429.html">The IRS revoked its 501(c)(3) status</a> in 1994 after determining that the Nationalist Movement was a propaganda organ. </p>
<h2>Revoking charitable status is complicated</h2>
<p>And it is not always easy to revoke tax exemption, either.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/PHackney%20Testimony%20Senate%20Finance%20Political%20Activities%20Tax%20Exempts%20Enforcment%20Laws.pdf">IRS has historically been underfunded</a>. In 2013, when the Republican-led Congress decided that the IRS was biased against conservative nonprofits, lawmakers penalized the agency by cutting its budget and explicitly <a href="https://nonprofitquarterly.org/nonprofit-groups-continue-resistance-johnson-amendment-repeal/">forbidding it from creating rules </a> that would draw sharper lines between political and charitable purposes.</p>
<p>It turned out that the IRS was also subjecting progressive groups to an extra layer of scrutiny – and <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/201310053fr-revised-redacted-1.pdf">official government reports</a> found inappropriate criteria but no anti-conservative bias. In any case, because it hampered IRS enforcement, this dust-up made it harder for the IRS to root out <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/could-a-more-robust-irs-have-nipped-the-varsity-blues-scandal-in-the-bud/">charities that didn’t deserve the designation</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/06/irs-releases-plan-with-critical-details-missing-00090811">$80 billion added to the IRS budget</a> from 2022 to 2031 is <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxes/irs-unveils-plan-to-crack-down-on-tax-cheats-improve-service/ar-AA19yWNK">unlikely to</a> increase the scrutiny of charities, because there are too many other priorities, like updating software and making tax scofflaws pay up.</p>
<h2>Maintaining diversity</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/842251543">Oath Keepers Educational Foundation</a> appears to have lost its 501(c)(3) status. The government, which makes it hard to tell why a former charity has lost its tax-exempt status, has not clearly indicated whether this was a voluntary decision on its part or the result of a negotiated settlement with the IRS.</p>
<p>It’s also possible that the organization simply failed to file <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-a-990-form-a-charity-accounting-expert-explains-175019">required annual paperwork</a> with the IRS for three years in a row. That omission <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/automatic-revocation-of-exemption-for-non-filing-frequently-asked-questions-the-basics">automatically causes charities to lose their tax-exempt status</a>, although <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/richard-spencer-national-policy-institute-alt-right-regains-tax-exempt-status/">it can be restored</a>.</p>
<p>While the fact that the white nationalist groups mentioned above ever got charitable status is disturbing, a search of the <a href="https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/">IRS database</a> of tax-exempt organizations shows that none of them have it today.</p>
<p>In my opinion, a large part of the strength of the nonprofit sector lies in its diversity of causes and viewpoints. For this reason, I think it’s better for the government to err on the side of authorizing too many tax-exempt organizations than to quash free speech or meddle with trying to determine which faith traditions are deserving.</p>
<p>But it should be clear that charities that encourage violence and cheer on extremism are not contributing to society with any of the purposes the IRS allows.</p>
<p><em>This article was updated on May 25, 2023, with Stewart Rhodes’ prison sentence.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201145/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Schmidt is affiliated with the Proteus Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization.</span></em></p>The First Amendment, along with a lack of clarity on what counts as an educational mission for charities, can lead authorities to approve applications from extremist groups.Elizabeth Schmidt, Professor of Practice, Nonprofit Organizations; Social & Environmental Enterprises, UMass AmherstLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1967542022-12-20T13:36:33Z2022-12-20T13:36:33ZThe Jan. 6 committee makes its case against Trump, his allies and their conspiracy to commit an insurrection: Five essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501907/original/file-20221219-18-2cgf3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=588%2C162%2C3414%2C2502&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, is chairman of the House select committee investigating the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/rep-bennie-thompson-chairman-of-the-house-select-committee-news-photo/1244858902?phrase=bennie%20thompson&adppopup=true">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From its first public hearing on June 9, 2022, the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capital has offered hours of riveting testimony detailing America’s first nonpeaceful transfer of presidential power.</p>
<p>The committee, which is <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/13/politics/january-6-committee-final-public-meeting/index.html">expected to be dissolved</a> when the GOP-led House convenes in January 2023, may not be remembered for its production of voluminous evidence and slick television video clips. Instead, the committee may be remembered more for what it could not do – criminally indict former President Donald Trump for his leadership role in the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden. </p>
<p>That task is left to the U.S. Department of Justice, which is also conducting an investigation of Trump. But the committee’s work had a broader goal. The hearings are expected to have a historic impact that may take years to be seen and felt, writes <a href="https://www.smith.edu/academics/faculty/claire-leavitt">Claire Leavitt</a>, a Smith College assistant professor of government.</p>
<p>“What viewers saw is perhaps even more significant – it was history being written in real time,” <a href="https://theconversation.com/jan-6-hearing-gives-primetime-exposure-to-violent-footage-and-dramatic-evidence-the-question-is-to-what-end-184416">wrote Leavitt, a scholar of government oversight</a>.</p>
<p>As the hearings unfolded, The Conversation published several articles looking at the details that emerged about organizers of, and participants in, the assault, the history of congressional oversight and whether a U.S. president can be held criminally accountable for his or her actions – and inactions.</p>
<h2>1. Behind-the-scenes committee stars</h2>
<p>As a scholar of government and the separation of powers, <a href="https://publish.illinois.edu/jselin/">Jennifer Selin</a> observes that among the real stars of the committee’s work are the talented – and largely unrecognized – teams of staffers who worked to obtain the evidence presented in the hearings. </p>
<p>“While the rioters on Jan. 6 shouted through the halls of Congress about taking back the power of the people, their insurrection failed,” Selin wrote. “Instead, the men and women helping the Jan. 6 committee understand what went on that day are quietly, insistently, reminding Americans of the bedrock values of their republic.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jan-6-committee-hearings-show-what-went-right-not-just-what-went-wrong-185246">Jan. 6 committee hearings show what went right, not just what went wrong</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>2. What prosecuting a leader means</h2>
<p>As scholars of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=W54pBFgAAAAJ&hl=en">liberal democracy</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FlYT3TEAAAAJ&hl=en">elections</a>, Victor Menaldo and James D. Long examine <a href="https://theconversation.com/prosecuting-ex-presidents-for-corruption-is-trending-worldwide-but-its-not-always-great-for-democracy-156931">the ranks of leaders</a> from other countries who were once thought to be untouchable but who ultimately faced justice.</p>
<p>Based on the hearings, there is now far more evidence than what was presented during Trump’s second impeachment trial of potential crimes during the waning days of his tenure. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A middle-aged man wearing a navy blue suit, white shirt and red tie is seen on a large screen talking on a telephone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A visual of President Donald Trump is shown during the July 12, 2022, congressional hearings investigating the attack on the Capitol.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/july-12-2022-a-visual-of-president-donald-trump-is-shown-as-news-photo/1241888427?adppopup=true">Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The evidence not only points to Trump’s failure to perform his constitutional duties on Jan. 6, 2021, but also includes some potential meat-and-potatoes offenses like intimidation of government officials with the threat of force and obstruction of Congress. </p>
<p>What would happen if Trump were indicted? Menaldo and Long write that their examination of other countries that prosecuted leaders leads to the conclusion that “Strong democracies are usually competent enough – and the judicial system independent enough – to go after politicians who misbehave, including top leaders.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/with-trumps-role-on-jan-6-becoming-clearer-and-potentially-criminal-gop-voters-are-starting-to-look-at-different-options-186108">With Trump's role on Jan. 6 becoming clearer, and potentially criminal, GOP voters are starting to look at different options</a>
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<h2>3. Trump’s complex connection to Capitol rioters</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amy-Cooter">Amy Cooter</a> is a senior lecturer in sociology at Vanderbilt University. From 2008 through 2012, she embedded with militia groups, mostly in Michigan. Her research on these groups makes it easier to understand the Jan. 6 riot and the relationship it had to Trump. </p>
<p>“Militias always see themselves as prepared for action,” Cooter writes. “Usually, this means they’re prepared to defend themselves and their communities in the event of a natural disaster, or some kind of invasion.”</p>
<p>But as the hearings revealed, some of these groups <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/court-document-proud-boys-case-laid-plan-occupy-capitol-buildings-jan-rcna33755">appeared to have been planning</a> more than just a defensive stance on Jan. 6. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jan-6-committee-set-to-examine-trumps-connection-to-capitol-rioters-a-militia-expert-explains-this-complex-relationship-186814">Jan. 6 committee set to examine Trump's connection to Capitol rioters – a militia expert explains this complex relationship</a>
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<h2>4.Why Trump can’t be prosecuted for ‘dereliction of duty’</h2>
<p>During the prime-time hearing on July 21, 2022, of the House committee, the two panel members leading the hearing used the phrase “dereliction of duty” to describe the conduct of then-President Trump.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.westpoint.edu/law/profile/tim_bakken">a former prosecutor in New York City</a> and a professor of law at West Point, Tim Bakken believes that most people find solace in casting the most disparaging label possible upon an adversary.</p>
<p>But federal criminal law does not contain a dereliction of duty statute.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Crowds of people waving Trump banners and American flags gather outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460657/original/file-20220501-12-u7quvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460657/original/file-20220501-12-u7quvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460657/original/file-20220501-12-u7quvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460657/original/file-20220501-12-u7quvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460657/original/file-20220501-12-u7quvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460657/original/file-20220501-12-u7quvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460657/original/file-20220501-12-u7quvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Protesters gather near the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protesters-gather-storm-the-capitol-and-halt-a-joint-news-photo/1230458732?adppopup=true">Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>In Bakken’s view, a more precise way to consider the legality of Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6 is to determine whether he wanted the rioters to commit a criminal act and if he engaged in some speech or behavior that urged them to do so or assisted them in some way. </p>
<p>“In that sense,” Bakken wrote, “the House Committee might find that the President was derelict. But that finding would be a label of moral or social disapproval, not a description of a criminal offense.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-donald-trump-cant-be-prosecuted-for-dereliction-of-duty-for-his-inaction-on-jan-6-187407">Why Donald Trump can't be prosecuted for 'dereliction of duty' for his inaction on Jan. 6</a>
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<h2>5. Full impact of Jan. 6 committee’s findings might not be felt for years</h2>
<p>As a scholar of oversight, Leavitt spent a year in 2019 working on the Democratic majority staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. </p>
<p>In her view, the committee’s work will have a historic impact in part because it took an approach that emphasized facts in presenting its case to the American people. </p>
<p>Those facts included extensive testimony from officials whose Republican bona fides are unimpeachable, such as former <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpwCApZh6KQ">Attorney General William Barr</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/cassidy-hutchinson-jan-6-hearing-testimony-illustrated/">former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06QUOzmMyec">Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger</a>. </p>
<p>Leavitt’s final assessment is that understanding the full impact of the investigation and the committee’s exhaustive report requires patience – probably decades’ worth. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jan-6-committees-fact-finding-and-bipartisanship-will-lead-to-an-impact-in-coming-decades-if-not-tomorrow-192324">Jan. 6 Committee's fact-finding and bipartisanship will lead to an impact in coming decades, if not tomorrow</a>
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</p>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196754/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The US select congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol has wrapped up its nearly two-year probe of that day’s violent but unsuccessful insurrection.Howard Manly, Race + Equity Editor, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1956162022-11-30T13:46:03Z2022-11-30T13:46:03ZOath Keepers convictions shed light on the limits of free speech – and the threat posed by militias<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498108/original/file-20221129-14-xljhhz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5083%2C3348&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Oath Keepers stand in front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolRiotOathKeepers/eaefc1fd8ab34688bc66e77ba8b0454e/photo?Query=Stewart%20Rhodes&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=258&currentItemNo=221">AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The verdicts in a high-profile, monthslong trial of Oath Keepers militia members were, as one defense lawyer acknowledged, “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oath-keepers-founder-guilty-of-seditious-conspiracy-42affe1614425c6820f7cbe8fd18ba96">a mixed bag</a>.” Leader Stewart Rhodes was found guilty on Nov. 29, 2022, of the most serious charge – seditious conspiracy – for his <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/two-leaders-oath-keepers-found-guilty-seditious-conspiracy-and-other-charges-related-us">role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol</a>, and was acquitted on two other related charges.</p>
<p>One of Rhodes’ four co-defendants, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/29/politics/oath-keepers-convicted-verdict-charges-january-6-seditious-conspiracy">Kelly Meggs, was also convicted of seditious conspiracy</a>. All five on trial were <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/29/us/politics/oath-keepers-trial-verdict-jan-6.html">found guilty of obstructing an official proceeding</a>, namely Congress’ certification on Jan. 6, 2021, of the 2020 presidential election results.</p>
<p>The convictions for seditious conspiracy – a rarely used, Civil War-era charge <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/seditious-conspiracy-real-domestic-terrorism-statute">typically reserved in recent decades for terror plots</a> – are the most significant yet relating to the violent storming of the Capitol, and have meaning that extends beyond those who were on trial.</p>
<p>As someone who has <a href="https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/people/amy-cooter">studied the U.S. domestic militia movement</a> for nearly 15 years, I believe the Oath Keepers convictions illuminate two crucial issues facing the country: the limits of the American right to free speech and the future of the militia movement.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498110/original/file-20221129-26-42sk1x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A balding, bearded man wearing glasses and an eye patch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498110/original/file-20221129-26-42sk1x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498110/original/file-20221129-26-42sk1x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498110/original/file-20221129-26-42sk1x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498110/original/file-20221129-26-42sk1x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498110/original/file-20221129-26-42sk1x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=864&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498110/original/file-20221129-26-42sk1x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=864&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498110/original/file-20221129-26-42sk1x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=864&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Oath Keepers militia leader Stewart Rhodes, convicted by a jury on Nov. 29, 2022, of seditious conspiracy for orchestrating a plan to keep former President Donald Trump in power.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolRiotSedition/63c743cff23d4e7bb152bedf38a58849/photo?Query=Stewart%20Rhodes&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=258&currentItemNo=218">Collin County Sheriff's Office via AP</a></span>
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<h2>Greater accountability</h2>
<p>Rhodes’ seditious conspiracy conviction suggests the jury believed, as one prosecutor asserted, that he “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/us/politics/jan-6-oath-keepers-trial.html">concocted a plan for an armed rebellion to shatter a bedrock of American democracy</a>.” In other words, he was convicted over what he had said and written prior to the actual Jan. 6 attack – and this is where free speech comes into play. </p>
<p><a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-1/#:%7E:text=Congress%20shall%20make%20no%20law,for%20a%20redress%20of%20grievances.">The First Amendment</a> guarantees that “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” It’s considered a sacred American right, one that sets the U.S. apart from many peer nations, <a href="https://theworld.org/stories/2015-01-13/freedomofspeech-what-means-us-britain-and-france#:%7E:text=The%20First%20Amendment%20expressly%20prohibits,certain%20types%20of%20speech%20explicitly">some of which have stricter controls and consequences for speech that may be harmful</a>. </p>
<p>Efforts to arrest and convict groups in the U.S. that have discussed violence against racial groups, politicians or others have often been <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/189/brandenburg-v-ohio">stymied by appeals to the First Amendment</a>. </p>
<p>Far-right extremists or other hate groups can claim they are just venting or even fantasizing – both of which would be protected under the First Amendment. In the absence of any specific plan, threat <a href="https://mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/970/incitement-to-imminent-lawless-action">or incitement</a>, group members may never suffer legal consequences for oral or written expressions that nonetheless create fear in those who draw these groups’ ire. </p>
<p>For this reason, seditious conspiracy charges have historically been hard to prosecute.</p>
<p>The last time this charge was attempted was against members of <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/last-time-justice-department-prosecuted-seditious-conspiracy-case">the Christian militia group called Hutaree in Michigan in 2009</a>, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nine-members-militia-group-charged-seditious-conspiracy-and-related-charges">for allegedly planning to engage law enforcement “in armed conflict</a>.” But the judge <a href="https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-stone-73">dismissed the sedition charges</a>, citing First Amendment protections.</p>
<p>What is interesting about the Oath Keepers case is that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/29/oath-keepers-militia-founder-stewart-rhodes-seditious-conspiracy">Rhodes himself did not breach the Capitol</a> yet was convicted of seditious conspiracy. Meanwhile three of his co-defendants – Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell – did storm into the Capitol building, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/two-leaders-oath-keepers-found-guilty-seditious-conspiracy-and-other-charges-related-us">but were not convicted of that charge</a>. </p>
<p>This suggests that the jury believed that Rhodes’ texts and other communications incited others to violent, undemocratic action in a way that requires accountability. </p>
<h2>‘Slower-brewing social harms’</h2>
<p>Rhodes’ conviction follows three other prosecutions that reflect an evolving understanding of the limits of free speech. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/us/politics/alex-jones-sandy-hook-damages.html">Conspiracy-purveyor Alex Jones was ordered to pay almost US$1.5 billion</a> to families of children killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting in three defamation cases arising from Jones’ lies about the children’s deaths, the shooting itself, and the parents.</p>
<p>Jones claims the prosecutions <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/22/us/politics/alex-jones-free-speech.html">violated his rights to free speech</a>.</p>
<p>Neither <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12180">defaming someone</a> <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/970/incitement-to-imminent-lawless-action">nor inciting immediate lawless action</a> are protected under the First Amendment – but <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/1251/why-incitement-is-hard-to-prove-and-why-that-s-a-good-thing">these cases have often been</a> <a href="https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2220&context=wmlr">hard to prove</a>. The Oath Keepers and Alex Jones verdicts may herald a new and greater understanding of the slower-brewing social harms that can arise if people are allowed to spread misinformation without consequences. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498118/original/file-20221129-24-2d4cyv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man with an eyepatch shown on a large screen behind a group of people seated at a long desk in a public hall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498118/original/file-20221129-24-2d4cyv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498118/original/file-20221129-24-2d4cyv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498118/original/file-20221129-24-2d4cyv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498118/original/file-20221129-24-2d4cyv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498118/original/file-20221129-24-2d4cyv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498118/original/file-20221129-24-2d4cyv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498118/original/file-20221129-24-2d4cyv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A video showing Stewart Rhodes during an interview with the January 6 Committee is shown at that committee’s public hearing June 9, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolRiotOathKeepersFounder/eee7cea6a7ab48bcab876cbe3ef795c3/photo?Query=Stewart%20Rhodes&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=258&currentItemNo=206">AP Photo/Andrew Harnik</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Take them seriously</h2>
<p>The convictions of Rhodes and other Oath Keepers may also lead law enforcement agencies to similarly shift their understanding of militia groups. </p>
<p>In the past, such agencies, from the local to federal levels, have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/15/far-right-violence-fbi-terrorism-hate-crime">tended to disregard potential threats from militia groups</a>. Some <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/constitutional-sheriffs-white-supremacists-capitol-riot-insurrection.html">sheriffs in particular have even openly allied with militia groups</a> for <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/oath-keepers">search and rescue efforts or used them for event “security</a>.” </p>
<p>Both the seriousness of the charges against Rhodes and his defendants as well as the widely shared videos of physical assaults that took place on Capitol police officers during the insurrection may help change attitudes in at least some agencies. </p>
<p>The Oath Keepers convictions come just three months <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/michigan-jury-finds-three-men-guilty-plot-kidnap-governor-2022-10-26/">after convictions of several members of the Wolverine Watchmen</a>, <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/ag/news/press-releases/2022/10/26/members-of-wolverine-watchmen-convicted-on-all-charges">the militia whose members plotted to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and put her on trial for treason</a>. Together, the verdicts may, at the very least, solidify the impression that militia members have the potential for violent and organized actions against elected officials. </p>
<h2>Militias still relevant force</h2>
<p>An unknown in all this is how militias may respond to the implications of the Oath Keepers verdicts. </p>
<p>It is unlikely that there will be one single reaction within the militia movement. </p>
<p>Rhodes has long been a controversial figure within the movement, with some militia leaders I have interviewed supporting his efforts and others strongly disliking him. Some told me a decade ago that they distrusted both his general abilities, citing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/21/us/stewart-rhodes-oath-keepers-yale-law.html">his self-inflicted gunshot wound</a>, and his motives for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/oath-keepers-founder-jan-6-trial-4372b311695c401255c6881111ff4f41">pushing the Oath Keepers to be a national organization</a>. Militia members who have always disliked Rhodes had little sympathy for him as the trial developed. </p>
<p>Those in the militia movement who continue to believe the 2020 election was stolen, however, may well view Rhodes as a martyr for a bigger cause. For them, Rhodes’ conviction and whatever prison sentence he receives could very well become one of several reference points about the purported unfairness or illegitimacy of the system. It could even serve as a rallying point for militias and their sympathizers who believe the soul of their nation is at stake and will want to fight for their desired outcome in the next election. </p>
<p>The U.S. is unlikely to see another Capitol incursion. But the militia movement – in which Rhodes was a leader – and other groups who share many of its ideological principles will almost certainly continue to be a relevant political force as the country heads into the 2024 presidential election cycle.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195616/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Cooter is a past recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship</span></em></p>The historic conviction of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and one other co-defendant for seditious conspiracy has implications for free speech and the future of the militia movement in the US.Amy Cooter, Senior Research Fellow, MiddleburyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1843752022-09-23T12:33:51Z2022-09-23T12:33:51ZWhite nationalism is a political ideology that mainstreams racist conspiracy theories<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483362/original/file-20220907-4832-pafie8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a prime-time speech on Sept. 1, 2022, in Philadelphia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-joe-biden-delivers-a-primetime-speech-at-news-photo/1420019465?adppopup=true">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In September 2022, President Joe Biden convened a summit called <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/15/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-united-we-stand-summit/">United We Stand</a> to denounce the “venom and violence” of white nationalism ahead of the midterm elections. </p>
<p>His remarks repeated the theme of <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/01/remarks-by-president-bidenon-the-continued-battle-for-the-soul-of-the-nation/">his prime-time speech</a> in Philadelphia on Sept. 1, 2022, during which he warned that America’s democratic values are at stake.</p>
<p>“We must be honest with each other and with ourselves,” Biden said. “Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A white man dressed in navy blue suit with a white shirt and red tie hugs a smiling woman on stage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482834/original/file-20220905-18-mgnuue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482834/original/file-20220905-18-mgnuue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482834/original/file-20220905-18-mgnuue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482834/original/file-20220905-18-mgnuue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482834/original/file-20220905-18-mgnuue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482834/original/file-20220905-18-mgnuue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482834/original/file-20220905-18-mgnuue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former President Donald Trump embraces Kari Lake, the Arizona GOP candidate for governor, at a rally on July 22, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/former-president-donald-trump-embraces-republican-candidate-news-photo/1410394562?adppopup=true">Mario Tama/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>While that message may resonate among many Democratic voters, it’s unclear whether it will have any impact on any Republicans whom Biden described as “dominated and intimidated” by former President Donald Trump, or on independent voters who have played <a href="https://rollcall.com/2022/09/14/independents-will-make-or-break-biden-and-the-democrats-in-november/">decisive roles in elections</a>, and will continue to do so, particularly as their numbers increase. </p>
<p>It’s also unclear whether Trump-endorsed candidates can win in general elections, in which they will face opposition not only from members of their own party but also from a broad swath of Democrats and independent voters.</p>
<p>What is clear is that this midterm election cycle has revealed the potency of conspiracy theories that prop up narratives of victimhood and messages of hate across the complex American landscape of white nationalism. </p>
<h2>Campaigning on conspiracy theories</h2>
<p>In my book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Homegrown-Hate-Nationalists-Militant-Islamists/dp/0520360028">Homegrown Hate: Why White Nationalists and Militant Islamists Are Waging War on the United States</a>,” I detail how the white nationalist narrative of victimhood and particular grievances have gained traction to become ingrained in the present-day Republican Party. </p>
<p>I also examine four key strands of white nationalism that overlap in various configurations: religions, racism, conspiracy theories and anti-government views.</p>
<p>Conspiracy theories allow white nationalists to depict a world in which Black and brown people are endangering the livelihoods, social norms and morals of white people.</p>
<p>In general, conspiracy theories are based on the belief that individual circumstances are <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/narcissists-seem-drawn-to-conspiracy-theories-but-why">the result of powerful enemies</a> actively agitating against the interests of a believing individual or group.</p>
<p>Based on the interviews I conducted while researching my book, these particular conspiracy theories are convenient because they justify the shared white nationalist goal of establishing institutions and territory of white people, for white people and by white people. While conspiracy theories are not new, and certainly not new to politics, they spread with increasing frequency and speed because of social media. </p>
<p>The “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/05/16/1099034094/what-is-the-great-replacement-theory">great replacement theory</a>” is one such baseless belief that is playing a role in the anti-immigration rhetoric that is central to the 2022 strategies of many Republican candidates who are running for seats at all levels of government. </p>
<p>That theory erroneously warns believers of the threat that immigrants and people of color pose to white identity and institutions. </p>
<p>For months on the 2022 campaign trail, Republican <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/29/us/politics/immigration-latinos-hispanic-voters.html">Blake Masters</a>, a venture capitalist who is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, has portrayed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border as part of an elaborate plot by Democrats to dilute the political power of voters born in the United States.</p>
<p>“What the left really wants to do is change the demographics of this country,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/29/us/politics/immigration-latinos-hispanic-voters.html">Masters said in a video</a> posted to Twitter last fall.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/08/03/1115175247/talk-of-invasion-moves-from-the-fringe-to-the-mainstream-of-gop-immigration-mess">Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp</a> is another Republican leader who decries what he calls “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pm2JoxpqRk">the invasion of the southern border</a>.”</p>
<h2>The lie of the ‘Big Lie’</h2>
<p>Aside from the inflammatory anti-immigration rhetoric, the conspiracy theory currently having the biggest impact on local, state and federal political campaigns across the country is <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/big-lie-trump-stolen-election-inside-creation">Trump’s “Big Lie</a>” that he won the 2020 election. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two middle-aged white men shake hands on a stage in front of a large crowd." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483868/original/file-20220911-67988-urzf6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483868/original/file-20220911-67988-urzf6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483868/original/file-20220911-67988-urzf6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483868/original/file-20220911-67988-urzf6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483868/original/file-20220911-67988-urzf6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483868/original/file-20220911-67988-urzf6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483868/original/file-20220911-67988-urzf6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Donald Trump greets Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano on Sept. 3, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pennsylvania-republican-gubernatorial-candidate-doug-news-photo/1420631447?adppopup=true">Spencer Platt/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/22/us/trump-endorsements.html">159 endorsements</a> Trump has made for proponents of the Big Lie, 127 of them have won their primaries in 2022.</p>
<p>In addition, <a href="https://www.wvtf.org/2022-08-22/candidates-who-deny-the-2020-presidential-election-results-are-winning-races">Republican candidates</a> who align themselves with the Big Lie are also emerging victorious in races for state- and county-level offices whose responsibilities include direct oversight of elections.</p>
<h2>The continuation of QAnon</h2>
<p>On his social media site Truth Social, the former president <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/technology/trump-conspiracy-theories-truth-social.html">quotes and spreads conspiracy theories from the quasi-religious QAnon</a>. A major tenet of <a href="https://therevealer.org/qanon-the-kkk-and-the-exploitation-of-antisemitism-for-political-power/">QAnon</a> is the belief that the Democrats and people regarded as their liberal allies are a nefarious cabal of sexual predators and pedophiles. </p>
<p>Trump is not the only Republican politician who welcomes and spreads such disinformation. </p>
<p>Two of the <a href="https://rollcall.com/2020/11/05/qanon-goes-to-washington-two-supporters-win-seats-in-congress/">most prominent politicians</a> who have been linked to supporting QAnon are U.S. Reps. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/29/republicans-democrats-misinformation-falsehoods/">Lauren Boebert</a> of Colorado and <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/marjorie-taylor-greene-january-6-testimony">Marjorie Taylor Greene</a> of Georgia, both of whom have been resoundingly <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/3261167-trump-endorses-warrior-marjorie-taylor-greene-other-house-gop-2020-objectors/">endorsed</a> by Trump. </p>
<h2>Democracies under threat</h2>
<p>The blatant use of conspiracy theories for political gain reflects the open embrace of white nationalism in not only the United States but also throughout Sweden, France, Italy and other parts of the world.</p>
<p>In my view, the conspiracy theories that drive the 2022 midterm campaigns reflect the global threat of hate around the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184375/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Kamali does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>President Biden denounces white nationalism as once-democratic countries around the world are threatened by increasing political support for this ideology.Sara Kamali, Visiting Research Scholar at the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California, Santa BarbaraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1874072022-07-22T02:28:53Z2022-07-22T02:28:53ZWhy Donald Trump can’t be prosecuted for ‘dereliction of duty’ for his inaction on Jan. 6<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475514/original/file-20220721-12930-fyn1rp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=480%2C148%2C2514%2C1841&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pro-Trump protesters and police clash on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pro-trump-protesters-and-police-clash-on-top-of-the-capitol-news-photo/1230465345?adppopup=true"> Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the prime-time hearing on July 21, 2022 of the House January 6 committee, the two panel members leading the hearing used the phrase “dereliction of duty” to describe the conduct of then-President Donald Trump. </p>
<p>Trump “was told by everyone to halt the violence,” Rep. Elaine Luria, a Democrat from Virginia, said. “But he refused to do anything…It was a dereliction of duty.”</p>
<p>GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois also described Trump’s inaction as a “dereliction of duty.”</p>
<p>“President Trump did not fail to act,” Kinzinger said. “He chose not to act.”</p>
<p>They echoed the <a href="https://www.thebulwark.com/trumps-inexcusable-jan-6th-dereliction-of-duty/">media pundits</a>, politicians and others who are using the same term, “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-riot-committee-hearing-trump-dereliction-duty-fe9e92293492b667c195402e609aa888">dereliction of duty</a>” to describe Trump’s inaction on Jan. 6, 2021.</p>
<p>The justification for using that term is that Trump encouraged attendees at a rally to march on the Capitol and then <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/20/politics/what-we-learned-trump-187-minutes/index.html">failed to do anything</a> to stop the violence once they had invaded the U.S. Capitol building, despite the pleas of his staff, political leaders and his family to do so. </p>
<p>Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, didn’t use “dereliction of duty,” but he detailed Trump’s inaction for 187 minutes between the time the president ended his speech at the rally near the White House at 1:10 p.m. and when he asked the rioters to leave in a video taped message from the Rose Garden at 4:17 p.m.</p>
<p>“Even though he was the only person in the world that could call off the mob he sent to the U.S. Capitol,” Thompson said, “he could not be moved to rise from his dining room table, and walk the few steps down the White House hallway, into the press briefing room, where cameras were anxiously, and desperately, waiting to carry his message to the armed and violent mob.”</p>
<p>Given that most people believe dereliction of duty is a failure to take action that is legally required, the phrase can be used in this context to summarize a broader behavior and offer a way to cast blame. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.westpoint.edu/law/profile/tim_bakken">a former prosecutor in New York City</a> and a professor of law at West Point, I believe that most people find solace in casting the most disparaging label possible upon an adversary.</p>
<p>The House committee investigating President Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 may find that he did not fulfill his duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” a requirement of each president, detailed in <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-2/section-3/">Article 2, Section 3 of the Constitution</a>.</p>
<p>The committee might find – and it apparently has, based on testimony presented <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/us/politics/jan-6-committee-trump-187-minutes.html">throughout its hearings</a> – that Trump’s failure to ensure that rioters would not storm the Capitol, and his failure to stop them once they were there, amounted to a dereliction of duty in an informal or colloquial sense.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A middle-aged man wearing a navy blue suit, white shirt and red tie is seen on a large screen talking on a telephone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475451/original/file-20220721-14415-rf13tn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A visual of President Donald Trump is shown during the July 12, 2022, congressional hearings investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/july-12-2022-a-visual-of-president-donald-trump-is-shown-as-news-photo/1241888427?adppopup=true">Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>But this is not an actual crime that could be applied to a president. </p>
<h2>Moral judgment, not legal</h2>
<p>While some states, such as <a href="https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2921.44">Ohio</a>, <a href="https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._code_of_crim._proc._article_2.03">Texas</a> and <a href="https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title24.2/chapter10/section24.2-1001/#:%7E:text=Willful%20neglect%20or%20corrupt%20conduct.,of%20a%20Class%201%20misdemeanor.">Virginia</a>, have a crime titled dereliction or neglect of duty, the concept is better known in military law, where <a href="https://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/digest/IIIA16.htm#:%7E:text=dereliction%20of%20duty%20is%20a,and%20usefulness%20of%20the%20members">a federal criminal statute</a> prohibits a member of the military from being “derelict in the performance of his duties.”</p>
<p>Under this statute, a soldier, for example, can be found guilty of a crime if the soldier failed to take an action that he or she was legally required to take, such as charging a hill following the order of a commander.</p>
<p>The House committee may conclude that President Trump failed to act by not stopping the rioters, which might be considered a violation of his responsibility under the Constitution.</p>
<p>But in my view, this would not be a criminal dereliction of duty.</p>
<p>The reason is that though a president is commander in chief of the military, he is a civilian and not a member of the military.</p>
<p>As a result, he is not subject to military law.</p>
<p>Federal criminal law does not contain a dereliction of duty statute.</p>
<p>Any state dereliction of duty laws, regardless of their elements, cannot apply to President Trump because on Jan. 6 he was in Washington, D.C. – not in any state, and D.C. doesn’t have one of its own.</p>
<p>A more precise way to consider the legality of President Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6 is to determine whether he wanted the rioters to commit a criminal act and engaged in some speech or behavior that urged them to do so or assisted them in some way. </p>
<p>In that sense, the House Committee might find that the President was derelict.</p>
<p>But that finding would be a label of moral or social disapproval, not a description of a criminal offense.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187407/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Bakken does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With the exception of a few states, dereliction of a duty is mostly used in military law and does not apply to citizens, including US presidents.Tim Bakken, Professor of Law, United States Military Academy West PointLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1868142022-07-21T12:25:01Z2022-07-21T12:25:01ZJan. 6 committee set to examine Trump’s connection to Capitol rioters – a militia expert explains this complex relationship<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475215/original/file-20220720-21-p2n0iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=83%2C205%2C4991%2C3173&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Oath Keepers stand outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v1/items/fb58be12bf054cf6a15adc2c8a3327ef/preview/AP22124749551112.jpg?wm=api&tag=app_id=1,user_id=904438,org_id=101781">Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>It’s not quite clear what, exactly, former President Donald Trump was doing and privately saying inside the White House during the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/01/05/1069977469/a-timeline-of-how-the-jan-6-attack-unfolded-including-who-said-what-and-when">five long</a>, violent hours when more than 2,000 rioters invaded the U.S. Capitol building on <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">Jan. 6, 2021.</a></em></p>
<p><em>It’s a key timeline that the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol is set to explore on July 21, 2022 during its latest – and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/16/politics/january-6-committee-latest/index.html">possibly last</a> – <a href="https://january6th.house.gov">public hearing</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>At the heart of the issue is Trump’s precise engagement, if any, with the rioters and several fringe nationalist militia groups, including the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys">Proud Boys</a>, Three Percenters and <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/oath-keepers">Oath Keepers</a>, that stormed the Capitol.</em> </p>
<p><em><a href="https://as.vanderbilt.edu/sociology/bio/?who=amy-cooter">Amy Cooter</a>, a senior lecturer in sociology at Vanderbilt University, embedded with militia groups, mostly in Michigan, from 2008 through 2012. Knowing who these groups are – and how they have changed over time – makes it easier to understand the Jan. 6 attacks, Cooter said.</em></p>
<p><em>“Fifteen years ago, people thought of these groups as being niche, crazy people. That’s not really what I saw in my fieldwork – I saw people who were just more willing to be open about their political perspectives than maybe more mainstream Republicans were at the time. It seemed to me, both then and now, that their concerns resonate with a broad swath of the population,” Cooter said in a recent interview.</em></p>
<p><em>We asked Cooter to explain what drives these groups and their complicated relationship with Trump and the government.</em></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475193/original/file-20220720-9522-1pykmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of male rioters storm the U.S. Capitol appearing to storm security in dark uniforms" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475193/original/file-20220720-9522-1pykmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475193/original/file-20220720-9522-1pykmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475193/original/file-20220720-9522-1pykmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475193/original/file-20220720-9522-1pykmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475193/original/file-20220720-9522-1pykmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475193/original/file-20220720-9522-1pykmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475193/original/file-20220720-9522-1pykmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rioters storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, breaching security around the building.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/trump-supporters-clash-with-police-and-security-forces-as-people-try-picture-id1230734366?s=2048x2048">Brent Stirton/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>What is your understanding of how Trump is seen by these nationalist groups?</strong> </p>
<p>Traditionally, militia groups have been very opposed to the federal government, regardless of whether we’re talking about Democrats or Republicans. However, with Trump, they really found sort of a mouthpiece. Not all of them truly liked him, but they really want somebody who speaks out against immigration and has a nationalistic and isolationist perspective. Trump gave them a sense of legitimacy. But there didn’t seem to be too many formal connections, as far as we know.</p>
<p><strong>How does leadership and hierarchy work within these groups?</strong></p>
<p>Many of these groups present themselves as top-down organizations with centralized leadership and then different state-level structures. But the degree to which that is reality varies enormously, especially with the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/three-percenters">Three Percenters</a> but also with the Oath Keepers.</p>
<p>There are groups that kind of fit the stereotypical top-down model that make it easy to activate them for action. There are other groups who maybe were completely oblivious to this Jan. 6 plan.</p>
<p><strong>What do you mean by activate? That sounds similar to language Trump used during a presidential debate in September 2020, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIHhB1ZMV_o">telling the Proud Boys</a> to “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-donald-trump-chris-wallace-0b32339da25fbc9e8b7c7c7066a1db0f">stand back and stand by</a>.”</strong> </p>
<p>Militias always see themselves as prepared for action. Usually, this means they’re prepared to defend themselves and their communities in the event of a natural disaster, or some kind of invasion. But as we saw leading up to Jan. 6, some of these groups <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/court-document-proud-boys-case-laid-plan-occupy-capitol-buildings-jan-rcna33755">were clearly planning</a> more than just a defensive stance.</p>
<p><strong>What was Trump getting from these groups, and what were they getting from Trump?</strong></p>
<p>They get from Trump this idea that someone finally represents their interests, someone finally sees the state of the nation as they do, even though not all of them completely agree with him. They see it as an opportunity to push things in the direction that they would prefer. </p>
<p>I don’t think it’s much of an exaggeration to say that Trump sees an opportunity for a private army from them. In 2018, he pardoned the Bundy ranchers, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oregon-standoff-trump/trump-pardons-oregon-ranchers-who-inspired-refuge-standoff-idUSKBN1K021Q">who were arrested</a> for arson on federal land. Not a lot of people paid attention to this, but that was a signal to these groups that he had their back and would expect them to have his back in the future.</p>
<p>I think that Jan. 6 is really kind of proof of that, that he has activated people who in some cases do have military or police experience.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475191/original/file-20220720-18-t6r2r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of men wear baseball hats, beards and casual clothing, including an official-looking Proud Boys shirt, as they smile and gather around two people on a motorcycle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475191/original/file-20220720-18-t6r2r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475191/original/file-20220720-18-t6r2r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475191/original/file-20220720-18-t6r2r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475191/original/file-20220720-18-t6r2r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475191/original/file-20220720-18-t6r2r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475191/original/file-20220720-18-t6r2r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475191/original/file-20220720-18-t6r2r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of the Portland Proud Boys talk during a July 16, 2022, event in Gladstone, Ore.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/members-of-the-portland-proud-boys-talk-during-an-event-organized-by-picture-id1241949018?s=2048x2048">Nathan Howard/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>How have you seen these groups evolve over time, since you began researching them?</strong></p>
<p>Before Trump, there had been very clear-cut tensions between different groups. That boundary has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/new-evidence-reveals-coordination-oath-keepers-three-percenters-jan-6-rcna30355">broken down substantially</a>, and most groups have been pushed <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/citizen-militias-in-the-u-s-are-moving-toward-more-violent-extremism/">more toward an extreme</a> than used to be true – in no small part because of how Trump and others in his administration legitimized the core fears that different groups had about being invaded.</p>
<p>Since Jan. 6, the groups as a whole have <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/number-of-hate-groups-declined-in-2021-but-proud-boys-chapters-surging-says-splc">declined in size</a>. Many of these people were really surprised at how Jan. 6 played out and were <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/capitols-most-violent-rioters-now-claim-to-be-ashamed-pleading-for-mercy/">quite embarrassed</a> – or they were appalled that it didn’t go far enough.</p>
<p>Now, many people have taken a <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/citizen-militias-in-the-u-s-are-moving-toward-more-violent-extremism/">step back even</a> from these groups altogether. But the folks that have stuck around continue to be quite radical, and probably even more radical than they were before. Especially thinking about what is going to happen with the midterm elections, we are going to see a lot of invigoration.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186814/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Cooter is a prior recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship</span></em></p>Nationalist militia groups like the Oath Keepers have changed over the last several years – especially since the Capitol attack – in a few important ways, generally becoming more extreme.Amy Cooter, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1850062022-07-13T00:00:38Z2022-07-13T00:00:38ZFormer Oath Keeper reveals racist, antisemitic beliefs of white nationalist group – and their plans to start a civil war<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473716/original/file-20220712-23-ym9cjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1152%2C462%2C4669%2C3412&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In this photograph, former President Donald Trump appears on a video screen above members of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/former-u-s-president-donald-trump-appears-on-a-video-screen-news-photo/1408288440?adppopup=true">Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During his testimony before congressional investigators, former Oath Keepers spokesman Jason Van Tatenhove left little doubt about the intentions of the white nationalist militia group when its members stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</p>
<p>Tatenhove explained that Jan. 6 “could have been a spark that started a new civil war.” </p>
<p>“We need to quit mincing words and just talk about truths,” Tatenhove said, “and what it was going to be was an armed revolution.”</p>
<p>During its seventh hearing on July 12, 2022, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol connected the dots between white nationalists and key allies of former President Donald Trump and their concerted efforts to overturn the 2020 election by interrupting the counting of Electoral College votes and <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/21/jan-6-panel-trump-overturn-2020-election-00040816">inserting fake electors</a>. </p>
<p>The committee hearings focused on the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/jan-6-hearings-news-live/card/who-are-the-proud-boys-and-how-are-they-tied-to-jan-6--j3sz1xan8VFzcTDy8704">the Proud Boys</a>, <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/oath-keepers">the Oath Keepers</a> and their white nationalist allies within the Republican Party, including Trump. </p>
<p>In my book <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520389687/homegrown-hate">“Homegrown Hate: Why White Nationalists and Militant Islamists Are Waging War against the United States,”</a>, I detailed the history, beliefs, groups and manifestos of white nationalists in the United States and around the world, including the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, Three Percenters and many of the other individuals and groups that attempted a collective coup on Jan. 6, 2021. </p>
<p>As I explore in my book, white nationalists believe that white people and identity are under attack worldwide by immigrants, people of color and, increasingly, progressives and liberals who do not share their racist, religious, anti-government beliefs or conspiracy theories. </p>
<p>I also discuss the goal of white nationalists around the world to reclaim land as a white state governed and inhabited by white people only.</p>
<h2>Law enforcement warnings</h2>
<p>Several <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/01/proud-boys-white-supremacist-group-law-enforcement-agencies">U.S. law enforcement agencies</a> have characterized the Proud Boys as “white supremacists” and “extremists.” </p>
<p>The <a href="https://aninjusticemag.com/black-brown-proud-boys-provide-cover-for-group-s-true-nature-f2f40b18bf51">Proud Boys leader, Enrique Tarrio,</a> cites his Afro-Cuban roots and brown skin color as reasons why <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/former-proud-boys-leader-enrique-tarrio-serves-brown-face-white-n1291949">he can’t be a white nationalist</a>. </p>
<p>Co-founded by <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/the-secret-history-of-gavin-mcinnes">Gavin McInnes</a> in 2016, <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys">the Proud Boys</a> have participated in events with white nationalists since the group’s inception, including the <a href="https://time.com/charlottesville-white-nationalist-rally-clashes/">Unite the Right march in 2017</a> and the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/06/1103364995/proud-boys-leader-tarrio-four-others-charged-with-seditious-conspiracy">Tarrio was arrested two days before Jan. 6</a> in Washington on charges stemming from his involvement in vandalizing a Black church and <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/protesters-rip-set-fire-to-blm-signs-at-two-dc-churches-organizers-respond/2507057/">burning a Black Lives Matter banner</a> during a violent <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/trump-rally-violence-proud-boys/2020/12/14/bf2f5826-3e26-11eb-8bc0-ae155bee4aff_story.html">Dec. 12, 2021, protest</a> in Washington. </p>
<p>While Oath Keepers <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/oathkeepers-stewart-rhodes-leader/2022/01/13/2e17e292-7492-11ec-bc13-18891499c514_story.html">founder Stewart Rhodes</a> publicly claims that he has Mexican and Apache heritage, the Oath Keepers have consistently taken stances that are racist and have warned of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/us/republicans-trump-capitol-riot.html">an impending civil war</a> in the United States. </p>
<p>In December 2018, the Oath Keepers website advertised a call to action for a “Border Operation” that encouraged paramilitary activity to prevent the “invasion” of “illegals” into the country and to provide “security for border ranches and families.”</p>
<p>This anti-immigration sentiment and warlike imagery were also found in the Trump White House. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/stephen-miller">Southern Poverty Law Center</a> details a series of emails sent to the conservative website Breitbart by <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/stephen-miller-splc-extremists-1518619">Stephen Miller</a>, who became a senior policy adviser in the Trump administration. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/presscenter/splc-leaked-emails-expose-key-white-house-aide-stephen-millers-affinity-white">emails promoted white nationalist literature</a>, pushed racist immigration stories and obsessed over the loss of Confederate symbols.</p>
<p>Miller’s white nationalist ideology was at the heart of some of Trump’s most controversial policies, such as <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/07/03/ice-raids-arrest-quotas/">setting arrest quotas</a> for undocumented immigrants, an executive order effectively banning immigration from <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/09/26/trumps-muslim-ban-really-was-muslim-ban-thats-what-data-suggest/">five Muslim-majority countries</a> and a policy of <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hhs-inspector-general-report-details-psychological-trauma-among-separated-migrant-children/">family separation at refugee resettlement facilities</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A brown-skinned man with a beard is pumping his fist as American flags and Trump banners wave in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473447/original/file-20220711-12-231ja6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473447/original/file-20220711-12-231ja6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473447/original/file-20220711-12-231ja6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473447/original/file-20220711-12-231ja6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473447/original/file-20220711-12-231ja6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473447/original/file-20220711-12-231ja6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473447/original/file-20220711-12-231ja6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this Feb. 28, 2021, photograph, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio is seen outside the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/enrique-tarrio-leader-of-the-proud-boys-is-seen-outside-the-news-photo/1231447043?adppopup=true">Eva Marie Uzcategui Trinkl/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>White nationalist GOP members</h2>
<p>Shortly after <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/16/1105776617/buffalo-shooting-suspect-says-his-motive-was-to-prevent-eliminating-the-white-ra">the Buffalo supermarket shooting</a>, where a self-avowed white supremacist allegedly shot and killed 10 black people to prevent, in his words, “eliminating the white race,” Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming blasted her Republican colleagues. </p>
<p>“The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism,” Cheney <a href="https://twitter.com/Liz_Cheney/status/1526159124840558592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1526159124840558592%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmybighornbasin.com%2Fliz-cheney-says-gop-leadership-has-enabled-white-nationalism-white-supremacy%2F">wrote in a tweet</a>. “History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse.”</p>
<p>Cheney, who is also co-chair of the Jan. 6 congressional select committee, then went a step further, calling on Republican leaders to “renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.” </p>
<p>Though Republican leaders like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3490663-house-gop-leaders-say-white-nationalism-accusations-part-of-a-political-game/">have denounced white supremacy</a>, several prominent Republicans still maintain ties to white nationalist groups. </p>
<p>According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, former Republican congressman Steve King, who represented Iowa in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2003 to 2021, is scheduled to attend the annual American Renaissance meeting in November 2022. People may remember King <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-seven-of-steve-kings-most-disturbing-comments-2019-8">for wondering aloud</a> in 2019 when the term “white supremacist” became offensive.</p>
<p>Started by <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/jared-taylor">racist idealogue Jared Taylor</a> in 1994, <a href="https://www.amren.com/">American Renaissance</a> is a website that promotes “racial differences,” and its annual meetings are a haven for neo-Nazis and white nationalists. </p>
<p>Also <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2022/07/06/white-nationalist-conference-lists-former-congressman-and-current-gop-congressional">scheduled to speak</a> there is GOP congressional candidate Laura Loomer of Florida, a self-described “#ProudIslamophobe” who stands for “pro-white nationalism.” </p>
<p>Such appearances at white nationalist gatherings by Republican legislators have drawn criticism from GOP leaders and are a potential political liability as midterm elections are taking place. </p>
<p>In February 2022, for instance, GOP Congressmen <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/17/house-republicans-condemn-gop-candidate-racist-videos-325579">Marjorie Taylor Greene</a> of Georgia and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/06/politics/republican-paul-gosar-white-nationalists-kfile/index.html">Paul Gosar of Arizona</a> spoke at the far-right <a href="https://americafirstfoundation.org/afpac/">America First Political Action Conference</a>. </p>
<p>The event was organized by <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/nick-fuentes">Nicholas Fuentes</a>, a white nationalist activist who gained national prominence after he attended the <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/photos/white-nationalists-counterprotesters-clash-charlottesville-49178539/image-56939351">2017 Unite the Right rally</a> in Charlottesville, Virginia.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/gop-leaders-denounce-greene-gosar-speaking-white-nationalist-event-rcna18050">GOP leaders quickly denounced them</a> for speaking at the gathering. </p>
<p>But Greene said she had <a href="https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/marjorie-taylor-greene-white-nationalist-no-regrets/">no regrets</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473270/original/file-20220710-16-7aviux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473270/original/file-20220710-16-7aviux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473270/original/file-20220710-16-7aviux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473270/original/file-20220710-16-7aviux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473270/original/file-20220710-16-7aviux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473270/original/file-20220710-16-7aviux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473270/original/file-20220710-16-7aviux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A video of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn is played during the sixth hearing held by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/video-of-former-national-security-advisor-michael-flynn-is-news-photo/1241592215?adppopup=true">Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Whither the GOP?</h2>
<p>Though GOP leaders deny claims of white supremacy and extremism within their party, their actions tell another story. </p>
<p>On July 11, 2022, Senate Republicans <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2022/05/26/republicans-block-gun-bill-to-battle-white-supremacy-and-domestic-terrorism/">blocked a bill</a> that would have authorized federal agencies to monitor domestic terrorism within the U.S., including incidents involving white supremacy.</p>
<p>Called the <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/58033">Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act</a>, the bill fell short of the 60 senators needed to move it forward in Congress, as the vote was 47-47 and divided along party lines. </p>
<p>More troubling is the allure of the white nationalist platform to elected officials and voters. Many successful local, state and federal elections in 2020 centered on perpetuating the Big Lie, the conspiracy theory embraced by many white nationalists that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. </p>
<p>Frank Eathorne is the <a href="https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/wyoming-gop-chair-eathorne-reportedly-seen-on-restricted-u-s-capitol-grounds/article_0a6660b5-f94c-5fda-82dc-74714790b16f.html">chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party</a> and <a href="https://wyofile.com/whistleblower-list-names-wyo-gop-chair-others-as-oath-keepers/">a member</a> of the Oath Keepers.</p>
<p>As such, Eathorne is <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/liz-cheneys-wyoming-nemesis-is-an-oath-keeper-who-was-at-capitol-rally">one of the more influential Republican</a> officials in the country as he is presiding over arguably the GOP’s highest-profile primary battle of the 2022 election: unseating Cheney for her relentless criticism of former Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.</p>
<p>In February 2021, Eathorne supported a successful effort by the Wyoming GOP to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/02/06/964933035/wyoming-gop-censures-liz-cheney-for-voting-to-impeach-trump">formally censure Cheney</a>. In November, he presided over another successful vote to <a href="https://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/wyoming-gop-votes-to-no-longer-recognize-rep-cheney-as-a-republican/article_66c3a62d-7207-54c7-b277-183817c0563c.html">no longer recognize Cheney</a> as a member of the Republican Party.</p>
<p>Not surpisingly, Eathorne is supporting <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/meet-the-anti-conservation-republican-vying-to-unseat-cheney/">attorney Harriet Hageman</a> in her primary challenge against Cheney. As is <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-02-17/kevin-mccarthy-endorses-liz-cheney-primary-opponent-trump">House Minority Leader McCarthy</a>. </p>
<p>Republican pushback against claims that the party has been infiltrated by white nationalists was made clear during a January 2021 meeting of the Grand Traverse County (Michigan) Board of Commissioners. </p>
<p>Keli MacIntosh, a 72-year-old retired nurse and regular attendee of board meetings, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/22/us/michigan-county-commissioner-gun-proud-boys/index.html">asked the board to denounce the Proud Boys</a> after some of its members were allowed to speak on their opposition to gun control. </p>
<p>As MacIntosh was speaking, Board Vice Chair Ron Clous got up, left the meeting, and returned with a large rifle. </p>
<p>Clous held the rifle to his chest for a moment and then placed it on his desk for the remainder of the meeting. </p>
<p>The January 6th hearings are making clear that American democracy is increasingly threatened by white nationalists in the Republican Party who are determined to perpetuate disinformation about the 2020 presidential election in order to hold onto power through the same system they deem illegitimate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185006/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Kamali does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A former Oath Keepers member testified during a congressional hearing that it was time to stop mincing words about the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol: ‘It was an armed revolution.’Sara Kamali, Visiting Research Scholar at the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California, Santa BarbaraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1845922022-06-09T17:46:01Z2022-06-09T17:46:01ZRegardless of seditious conspiracy charges’ outcome, right-wing groups like Proud Boys seek to build a white nation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C0%2C5083%2C3378&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Oath Keepers stand at the east front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolBreachJan6Lawsuit/dc35ae1cd6ba47e0a48ac92ba8017205/photo">AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the House Select Committee held its first public hearing on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, far-right groups including the <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520300453/alt-right-gangs">Proud Boys</a> and the <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/oath-keepers/9780231193450">Oath Keepers</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/07/us/politics/jan-6-hearings-tv-democrats.html">were a prominent topic of discussion</a>.</p>
<p>At the same time, both of those groups’ <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/06/us/politics/proud-boys-charged-sedition-capitol-attack.html">leaders</a> are facing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/06/06/tarrio-proud-boys-seditious-conpiracy/">criminal charges</a> of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/13/us/politics/oath-keepers-stewart-rhodes.html">seditious conspiracy</a>. They are alleged to have worked together “<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22053617-tarrio-et-al-superseding-indictment">to oppose by force the authority</a> of the Government of the United States.”</p>
<p>Those charges can be difficult to prove in court. But regardless of the outcome of any prosecution that alleges these groups worked to overthrow the government, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fjys1XAAAAAJ&hl=en">our</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cLpO6QwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">research</a> has shown that the more committed members of these and other <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Far+Right+Today-p-9781509536856">extreme right-wing groups</a> believe that the U.S. government, as currently constituted, is illegitimate and should be overthrown and replaced with one that is based on white supremacy.</p>
<h2>Violent racism</h2>
<p>Proud Boys have identified themselves as “<a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/proud-boys-leader-from-wa-faces-sedition-charge-in-u-s-capitol-insurrection/">Western chauvinists</a>” who focus on opposing political correctness and white guilt. But these claims have generally been seen as <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys">cover for deeper racist and antisemitic sentiments</a>. For some Proud Boys members, this group was a steppingstone to more <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/proud-boys-far-right-group-1183966/">extreme groups, such as The Base</a>.</p>
<p>Like any <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2018.1467003">street gang</a>, the Proud Boys as a national group is made up of semi-autonomous chapters of varying numbers and abilities. They are in different degrees of contact and coordination with other chapters. It’s not clear the level of interest – or capability – that most members have in actually following through with overthrowing the government.</p>
<p>Oath Keepers is an anti-government group that calls itself a “<a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/oath-keepers/9780231193450">militia</a>” focused on <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/oath-keepers">defending the Constitution and fighting tyranny</a>. Former Oath Keepers spokesman Jason Van Tatenhove stated that the group is actually “<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/oath-keepers-spokesperson-warns-wing-propaganda-dangerous-bullets/story?id=82094999">selling the revolution</a>,” meaning that the group is pushing conspiracy theories and propaganda to facilitate confrontations with federal law enforcement.</p>
<p>While members of the <a href="https://ctc.westpoint.edu/pride-prejudice-the-violent-evolution-of-the-proud-boys/">Proud Boys</a> have concentrated their confrontations on <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-or-who-is-antifa-140147">anti-fascists</a> or other protesters, Oath Keepers have participated in several armed standoffs against the government. </p>
<p>In 2014, the <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/standoff-nevada-years-ago-set-militia-movement-crash/story?id=82051940">Oath Keepers joined an armed standoff</a> between far-right patriot groups in Nevada on behalf of <a href="https://www.npr.org/podcasts/606441988/bundyville">Cliven Bundy</a>. In 2015, Oath Keepers showed up heavily armed in Ferguson, Missouri, during protests over the killing of <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/the-oath-keeper-who-wants-to-arm-black-lives-matter-59109/">Michael Brown</a>. And in 2016, Oath Keepers were present at the armed takeover of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/7/13489640/oath-keepers-donald-trump-voter-fraud-intimidation-rigged">Malheur National Wildlife Refuge</a> in Oregon.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A crowd, including a person carrying a megaphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of the Proud Boys, along with others, march toward the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolBreachProudBoys/9e3a1ebb87a34cc394b34446e00ab3f0/photo">AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A challenging road</h2>
<p>Historically, prosecutions of seditious conspiracy charges succeeded against <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/10/02/sheik-9-others-convicted-in-ny-bomb/5bd7099a-f960-4d32-b02d-8165302dd594/">militant Islamist</a> or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/12/us/after-9-months-of-delays-us-tries-3-for-sedition.html">Marxist groups</a>.</p>
<p>But prosecuting far-right groups has tended to be much more difficult. In 1988, <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674286078">Louis Beam, a figurehead in the white power movement</a>, and 13 white supremacists from groups such as the Aryan Brotherhood and the Ku Klux Klan were <a href="https://apnews.com/article/604c50e36bd020ac70be35445b12d059">acquitted</a> of conspiring to kill a federal judge and an FBI agent and plotting to overthrow the federal government to establish an all-white nation in the Pacific Northwest.</p>
<p>In 2012, charges of seditious conspiracy against members of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2010/04/12/125856761/how-the-fbi-got-inside-the-hutaree-militia">Hutaree</a>, a militant far-right <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-capitol-siege-recalls-past-acts-of-christian-nationalist-violence-153059">Christian nationalist</a> group, were <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-security-hutaree/three-hutaree-militia-members-sentenced-in-detroit-to-time-served-idUSBRE8770ZQ20120808">dismissed</a> after the judge concluded the government had not proved there was an actual conspiracy.</p>
<p>But it is clear from the charges stemming from the Jan. 6 insurrection – involving <a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-merrick-garland-government-and-politics-conspiracy-crime-c2e427dc0fa16077d7fb98c06e61149f">hundreds of alleged participants</a> – that police and prosecutors are <a href="https://contexts.org/articles/why-law-enforcement-needs-to-classify-far-right-groups-as-gangs/">taking seriously the threat of violent action</a> by <a href="https://www.start.umd.edu/publication/extremist-groupmovement-affiliations-january-6-capitol-rioters">Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other far-right groups</a> against individuals, organizations and local and national governments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184592/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>White supremacist groups seek to solidify their control over the US by changing the government, sometimes by violence.Matthew Valasik, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of AlabamaShannon Reid, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, University of North Carolina – CharlotteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1758232022-02-09T13:20:42Z2022-02-09T13:20:42ZThe Jan. 6 Capitol attacks offer a reminder – distrust in government has long been part of Republicans’ playbook<p>The Republican National Committee has legitimized the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attacks. The RNC declared on Feb. 4, 2022, that the insurrection and preceding events were “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/us/politics/republicans-jan-6-cheney-censure.html">legitimate political discourse</a>” — an assertion that Sen. Mitch McConnell <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/us/politics/republicans-censure-mcconnell.html">soon after countered</a>, saying that it was a “violent insurrection.”</p>
<p>The Justice Department <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/18/us/politics/trump-jan-6-riot.html">is investigating</a> former President Donald Trump’s involvement on Jan. 6, when several thousand rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. The attacks resulted in the deaths of at least <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/us/politics/jan-6-capitol-deaths.html">seven people</a> and the injury of 150 police officers. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/30/us/politics/trump-speech-texas.html">Trump says</a> he will consider pardoning Jan. 6 rioters if he is reelected in 2024, while continuing to lie that the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ap-fact-check-on-jan-6-anniversary-trump-sticks-to-election-falsehoods">2020 election was stolen</a>.</p>
<p>It’s the latest step in a long-standing, systemic effort of the Republican Party to sow and capitalize on public distrust.</p>
<p>As political scientists who study the politics of <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Pathways-to-Polling-Crisis-Cooperation-and-the-Making-of-Public-Opinion/Fried/p/book/9780415891424">public opinion</a> and <a href="https://www.loyola.edu/academics/political-science/faculty/harris">congressional rhetoric</a>, we have chronicled American conservatives’ decadeslong strategic use of distrustful rhetoric in our book <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/at-war-with-government/9780231195218">“At War with Government.”</a> </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444882/original/file-20220207-47158-taxo2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A police officer runs, ducking, with another man - both wearing black suits - across the U.S. House floor." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444882/original/file-20220207-47158-taxo2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444882/original/file-20220207-47158-taxo2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444882/original/file-20220207-47158-taxo2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444882/original/file-20220207-47158-taxo2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444882/original/file-20220207-47158-taxo2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444882/original/file-20220207-47158-taxo2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444882/original/file-20220207-47158-taxo2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A member of the U.S. Capitol Police rushes U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser through the U.S. Capitol House Chamber on Jan. 6, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/member-of-the-us-capitol-police-rushes-rep-dan-meuser-out-of-the-as-picture-id1236911809?s=2048x2048">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How distrust can help in politics</h2>
<p>There are a few clear benefits to leveraging distrust as a political tool. </p>
<p>Over the past several decades, Republicans have used distrust to caution voters against opponents in election campaigns and to argue that Democrats’ policy proposals would hurt Americans. Republicans have also sown political distrust toward institutions they did not control – like the presidency – while seeking to empower the same institutions when they were in power.</p>
<p><a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/at-war-with-government/9780231551243">Our research</a> shows that distrust has been a particularly powerful resource for Republican politicians as they work to galvanize the conservative base and attract the independent voters they need to win elections.</p>
<h2>History of distrust</h2>
<p>In the 1950s, Republican Sen. Joe McCarthy <a href="https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/age-of-eisenhower/mcarthyism-red-scare">conducted a series</a> of high-profile probes into U.S. government officials’ potential Communist Party affiliations. McCarthy and others used smear tactics to delegitimize political opponents, painting them as untrustworthy.</p>
<p>Public <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/05/17/public-trust-in-government-1958-2021/">trust in government dropped precipitously</a>, from 77% in October 1964 to 36% in December 1974. </p>
<p>Democrats began championing civil rights in the early 1960s. Republicans then adopted an electoral plan known as the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-long-southern-strategy-9780190265960?cc=us&lang=en&">Southern strategy</a> around 1968, wooing white Southerners who opposed Democrats’ progressive direction on civil rights and social issues and who championed states’ power.</p>
<p>Various presidential administrations’ <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/us/pentagon-papers-vietnam-war.html">secrecy about the Vietnam War</a>, as well as former President Richard Nixon’s <a href="https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/watergate/watergate-aftermath">involvement in the Watergate scandal</a>, furthered political distrust. </p>
<p>Left-wing American politicians have also capitalized on government distrust, especially regarding national security. <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393634044">Historian Paul Sabin</a> attributes distrust in government to such liberal reformers as Ralph Nader, who criticized cozy relationships between government and business. </p>
<p>But it is largely Republicans who have strategically promoted political distrust. Republicans have also used distrust to rally against Democrats’ health policy proposals. </p>
<p>Working for the American Medical Association in 1961, 20 years before his election, for example, former President Ronald Reagan <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYrlDlrLDSQ">said that the proposal</a> that would become Medicare was “one of the traditional methods of imposing socialism or statism on a people.” </p>
<p>Newt Gingrich’s 1990s fight against former President Bill Clinton and House Democrats marked a turning point, as <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/local-govt--politics/gingrich-language-set-new-course/O5bgK6lY2wQ3KwEZsYTBlO/">Gingrich encouraged his fellow Republicans</a> to use hyperbolic and highly personal attacks against Democratic colleagues, casting them as undeserving of citizens’ trust. </p>
<p>An early 1990s campaign memo from Gingrich advised candidates to define “the Democrats as the party of radical left-wing activists, unionized bureaucracies, and <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/at-war-with-government/9780231195218">corrupt political machines</a>.”</p>
<p>When arguing against Clinton’s proposed health reform, Republicans used phrases like <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/at-war-with-government/9780231195218">“Gestapo medicine”</a> to elicit fear of a destructive government. </p>
<p>In 2009 and 2010, opponents of the Affordable Care Act raised the prospect of government <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/01/10/509164679/from-the-start-obama-struggled-with-fallout-from-a-kind-of-fake-news">“death panels”</a> making life-and-death decisions for citizens. <a href="https://www.politifact.com/article/2010/dec/16/lie-year-government-takeover-health-care/">A Republican strategist</a> urged Republican leaders to characterize the health care plan as a “government takeover” which “like coups … lead to dictators and a loss of freedom.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444885/original/file-20220207-69470-1dijfua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a suit speaks into microphones in a black-and-white photo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444885/original/file-20220207-69470-1dijfua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444885/original/file-20220207-69470-1dijfua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444885/original/file-20220207-69470-1dijfua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444885/original/file-20220207-69470-1dijfua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444885/original/file-20220207-69470-1dijfua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=991&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444885/original/file-20220207-69470-1dijfua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=991&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444885/original/file-20220207-69470-1dijfua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=991&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy led a campaign in the 1950s to put government officials on trial for alleged Communist Party ties.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/republican-senator-joseph-mccarthy-led-a-campaign-to-put-prominent-picture-id615291718?s=2048x2048">Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘He had everyone enraged’</h2>
<p>The echoes of more than a half-century of anti-government rhetoric spilled over on Jan. 6. </p>
<p>Trump’s “drain the swamp” <a href="https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781623499068/demagogue-for-president/">rhetoric</a>, along with his claim that <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12115-020-00526-y">elections are rigged</a>, fueled people’s long-held suspicions toward government. </p>
<p>In a New York federal district court in January 2021, one of the accused Jan. 6 insurrectionists defended his participation in the attack, saying that he had “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/nyregion/capitol-rioter-new-york.html">tired of the corruption of government</a>.” </p>
<p>Some protesters present on Jan. 6 were involved in far-right anti-government groups, such as the <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/oath-keepers">Oath Keepers</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/three-percenters-charged-conspiracy-capitol-riot/2021/06/10/f84091e6-c9ec-11eb-81b1-34796c7393af_story.html">Three Percenters</a>. </p>
<p>Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes wrote on the messaging app Signal two days after the November 2020 election that the group’s members shouldn’t accept the election results, saying, “<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1462481/download">We aren’t getting through this without a civil war</a>.” </p>
<p>Other insurrectionists rationalized their actions by citing Trump’s false claims in court. </p>
<p>Some rioters, for example, defended themselves against trespassing charges by saying that Trump <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-capitol-defense/he-invited-us-accused-capitol-rioters-blame-trump-in-novel-legal-defense-idUSKBN2A219E">“invited”</a> them to the Capitol. </p>
<p>One accused insurrectionist, Zachary Wilson, said, “I was caught up in President Trump telling everybody the election was stolen. <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-riot-sentences-2656496544/">He had everyone enraged</a>.” </p>
<p>Trump’s promotion of distrust about the election results proved legally dangerous to citizens who were moved by his rhetoric. </p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta told one Jan. 6 defendant that he was “a pawn” of those who lied about the 2020 election results. The people who believed the lie <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/19/politics/judge-blames-trump-riot/index.html">“are the ones paying the [legal] consequences,” Mehta said</a></p>
<p>Distrust in the American election system has grown since the Jan. 6 attacks. More than 3 in 10 Americans believe the nation’s system is fundamentally unsound, according to a <a href="https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_111521/">November 2021 Monmouth University poll</a>, up from 22% in January 2021. That finding fits with the longer-term GOP effort to weaponize political distrust.</p>
<p>[<em>The Conversation’s Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=politics&source=inline-politics-need-to-know">Sign up for Politics Weekly</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175823/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Both authors received support for portions of the research for their book, "At War With Government: How Conservatives weaponized Distrust from Goldwater to Trump" (2021, Columbia University Press). Amy Fried received funding from the University of Maine for several archival visits and to support research assistants at several other archives. Douglas B. Harris received funding from the Everett McKinley Dirksen Congressional Research Center, the Carl Albert Congressional Research & Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma, and the Loyola University Summer Research Grant Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Fried does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Republican Party has a decadeslong relationship with using distrust to incite its base and draw in more supporters – the Jan. 6 Capitol attacks just offer the latest example of this tactic.Amy Fried, John M. Nickerson Professor of Political Science, University of MaineDouglas B. Harris, Professor of political science, Loyola University MarylandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1753222022-01-27T13:29:46Z2022-01-27T13:29:46ZBehind the 11 Oath Keepers charged with sedition are many more who have been trained by the US military<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442061/original/file-20220122-25-1aq7cbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C50%2C6720%2C4416&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Stewart Rhodes must stay behind bars until his trial.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-oath-keeper-brought-on-to-provide-security-stands-guard-news-photo/674249800?adppopup=true">Philip Pacheco/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The leader of the Oath Keepers militia, Stewart Rhodes, must stay behind bars pending trial for his alleged role in the storming of the Capitol, a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/26/stewart-rhodes-jailed-seditious-conspiracy/">judge ruled on Jan. 26, 2022</a>. While this means authorities can keep tabs on the whereabouts of Rhodes – and presumably limit any perceived threat from him – the same may not be said for all members of the group.</p>
<p>Rhodes and other defendants who have pleaded not guilty to charges of <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-oath-keepers-and-10-other-individuals-indicted-federal-court-seditious-conspiracy-and">seditious conspiracy</a> over the attempted insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, present just a fraction of the total membership of the Oath Keepers – the size of which raises uncomfortable questions about the possibility of violent radicalization in the U.S. military. </p>
<p>As experts on <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=pdQoqX4AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">violent</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UlDYlEoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">extremism</a>, we believe it isn’t only the number of Oath Keepers that is a problem, it is their makeup. A significant number of their members are veterans – both female and male – who bring military skills to the group and also serve as recruiters for other active and former armed service personnel. </p>
<h2>Challenging the commander in chief</h2>
<p>The Oath Keepers were founded by Rhodes in 2009 as an anti-government group in response to the Obama presidency. </p>
<p>The group’s name implies a mandate to honor their oath to the U.S. Constitution, and <a href="https://www.oathkeepers.org/about-oath-keepers/">in particular to</a> “defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”</p>
<p>But its founding inspiration was precisely the opposite: challenging a legitimate president and commander in chief out of <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/oath-keepers-paramilitary-units-default/">animosity toward what Barack Obama</a> stood for. Since then, the Oath Keepers have armed and broadcast plans to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-capitol-riots-oath-keepers-2021-06-20/">mobilize</a>.</p>
<p>The Oath Keepers may <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/oath-keepers">number in the thousands</a>, yet we believe they present a greater threat than their membership suggests. This is partly because the Oath Keepers actively <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/military-police-and-rise-terrorism-united-states">recruit</a> <a href="https://www.oathkeepers.org/about-oath-keepers/">current and retired members</a> of the armed forces.</p>
<p>As UMass Lowell terrorism expert and our research collaborator, Arie Perliger, has shown in his work, Oath Keepers members are likely <a href="https://theconversation.com/police-soldiers-bring-lethal-skill-to-militia-campaigns-against-us-government-153369">better trained</a> militarily than other extremist groups because of the group’s composition. </p>
<p>About <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/right-wing-militias-civil-war/616473/">10%</a> of the Oath Keepers are active-duty military, and around two-thirds are retired military or law enforcement, according to <a href="https://www.csis.org/blogs/examining-extremism/examining-extremism-oath-keepers">analysis of the group’s membership</a> by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Several Oath Keepers present at the Jan. 6 attack were veterans, such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/18/us/politics/capitol-riot-militias.html">Larry Brock</a>, the so-called “zip-tie guy” due to his being <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/01/09/insurrectionist-zip-tie-guy-identified-as-retired-air-force-lieutenant-colonel/">photographed with the makeshift handcuffs</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/31/us/capitol-riot-arrests-active-military-veterans-soh/index.html">an analysis of court and Pentagon records by CNN</a>, as many as 14% of those charged with crimes related to storming the Capitol served in the military. This is <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/slideshows/where-veterans-live">double the proportion</a> of veterans in the general American adult population.</p>
<p>Military members are desirable to extremist groups because they bring special skills such as experience with weapons, targeting and combat experience. According to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1462481/download">the indictment</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/01/15/oath-keepers-stewart-rhodes-sedition/">the Oath Keepers used a “stack</a>,” or staggered <a href="https://youtu.be/p1QJLffN15k?t=200">military formation</a>, to breach the Capitol. </p>
<p>As our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17467586.2021.1912374">previous research</a> demonstrated, the processes of radicalization in an extremist group movement is in many ways similar to military training. Those with military backgrounds possess not only the skills that radical groups seek, but also the psychological readiness for violent conflict that is rare among civilians. </p>
<p>The rise in radicalization within the ranks of the military can be observed in the <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/military-police-and-rise-terrorism-united-states">increasing proportion of domestic terrorism acts in the U.S. involving active-duty and reserve personel</a>, from 0% in 2018 to 1.5% in 2019 and 6.4% in 2020, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. </p>
<p>The number of Americans with military ties classified as extremists <a href="https://www.start.umd.edu/sites/default/files/publications/local_attachments/Extremism%20In%20the%20Ranks%20and%20After%20-%20Research%20Brief%20-%20July_13_2021%20Final%20accessible.pdf">quadrupled</a> in recent years, according to Michael Jensen and other researchers at the University of Maryland’s Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism center.</p>
<h2>Recruiting ground</h2>
<p>An increase in radical ideology among members of the U.S. military makes it a fertile ground for recruiting by groups such as the Oath Keepers. </p>
<p>A 2019 <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/02/06/signs-of-white-supremacy-extremism-up-again-in-poll-of-active-duty-troops/">poll</a> of active-duty troops found that around 1 in 3 (36%) reported personally witnessing “White nationalism and ideologically-driven racism” among their peers. This included the use of racist language, but also swastikas drawn on service members’ cars and stickers supporting the Ku Klux Klan.</p>
<p>This high proportion reflects a significant increase from the previous year: In a <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/02/28/white-nationalism-remains-a-problem-for-the-military-poll-shows/">2018 poll</a>, 1 in 5 (22%) active military troops had reported witnessing such behavior. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>As well as posing a risk due to their weapons training, active and former military personnel pose a greater threat as members of right-wing militia groups. Unlike civilians, <a href="https://www.army.mil/values/oath.html">military people must take an oath</a>, pledging allegiance to their country and the institutions of democracy enshrined in the Constitution.</p>
<p>When they align with groups like the Oath Keepers and plan an attack on the U.S. government, these military personnel betray their oath. This kind of hypocrisy is known in psychology as <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2003-07815-003">cognitive dissonance</a> – an uncomfortable psychological state that arises when one’s actions contradict one’s self-image, causing a motivation to “double-down” to justify one’s actions. It is the reason that painful, embarrassing or humiliating initiation rites are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5914.2005.00282.x">often effective in radicalizing new members</a>. The additional psychological cost of cognitive dissonance may mean military members of the Oath Keepers are more committed to their new allegiance after they turn away from their old one.</p>
<p>While the Oath Keepers wish to present themselves as the ultimate masculine alphas, some of the real power lies with the women supporting their efforts. </p>
<p>The number of men arrested over the Jan. 6 riot outnumber that of women. Of the 11 charged with seditious conspiracy, only one – <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/22/politics/oath-keepers-watkins-changed-story/index.html">Jessica Watkins</a>, a former army ranger who at the time of the attack identified as an Oath Keeper – is a woman.</p>
<p>However, women play key support roles from behind the scenes, raising money, disseminating propaganda and even recruiting new members. </p>
<p>After Rhodes was arrested, Kellye SoRelle, a former attorney, was <a href="https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2022/01/14/granbury-lawyer-kellye-sorelle-acting-president-oath-keepers/">named as “acting president</a>” of the Oath Keepers. </p>
<p>The hidden face of extremism is often female, as <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/859160774">our previous research</a> on the subject has shown. In Jihadi groups, women were crucial for fundraising, disseminating propaganda and recruiting men for the cause. Women in Jihadi organizations, like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/world/europe/28terror.html">al-Qaeda</a> recruiter Malika el Aroud, were able to <a href="https://oxfordre.com/politics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-124?mediaType=Article">shame men</a> into participating in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.</p>
<p>On her website, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/30/robertson.al.qaeda.full/index.html">minbar.sos</a>, Aroud exhorted men to <a href="https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/news/a5527/malika-el-aroud-female-terrorist/">step up</a> to prove that they were real men. </p>
<p>We see comparable dynamics in American right-wing extremist groups and the ways in which women <a href="https://icct.nl/publication/women-far-right-extremism/">weaponize</a> toxic masculinity.</p>
<p>Some <a href="https://twitter.com/juliettekayyem/status/1481816792746053633?s=20">analysts</a> have predicted that membership in the Oath Keepers will <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/oath-keepers-sedition-charges/">decline </a> as a result of the indictments. </p>
<p>But those indicted number a only a few; the real concern is that the men and women who make up the Oath Keepers’ rank and file could continue to recruit while the leaders remain behind bars.</p>
<p>[<em>Understand key political developments, each week.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=politics&source=inline-politics-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s politics newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175322/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mia Bloom receives funding from the Minerva Research Initiative and the Office of Naval Research, any opinions, findings, or recommendations expressed are those of the author alone and do not reflect the views of the Office of Naval Research, the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense. Bloom is also the International Security Fellow at New America.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophia Moskalenko works for Evidence Based Cybersecurity Group, GSU. She receives funding from the Minerva Research Initiative and the Office of Naval Research. </span></em></p>About 10% of the Oath Keepers are active-duty military, and around two-thirds are retired military or law enforcement.Mia M. Bloom, Professor and fellow at Evidence Based Cyber Security Program, GSU, Georgia State UniversitySophia Moskalenko, Research Fellow in Social Psychology, Georgia State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1749582022-01-14T13:35:18Z2022-01-14T13:35:18ZSeditious conspiracy charge against Oath Keepers founder and others in Jan. 6 riot faces First Amendment hurdle<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440798/original/file-20220113-23-1ofy1xr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4630%2C2883&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Stewart Rhodes faces up to 20 years behind bars if convicted of seditious conspiracy.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolRiotSedition/981d3aaf03ef42378ced4ea0c2b9252f/photo?Query=Stewart%20Rhodes&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=22&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Susan Walsh</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-oath-keepers-and-10-other-individuals-indicted-federal-court-seditious-conspiracy-and">seditious conspiracy charges filed</a> against Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers militia, along with 10 other defendants, opens a new and significant chapter in the events of Jan. 6, 2021. </p>
<p>Many observers have <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/01/january-6-sedition-charges-trump-white-supremacy-capitol/">noted the absence</a> of “seditious conspiracy” charges in connection with prosecutions of those who took part in the Capitol riot. Participants in the riot have been <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/04/jan-6-insurrection-sentencing-tracker-526091">charged with minor crimes</a> such as trespassing or other lower-level offenses. <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/capitol-breach-cases">Others have been charged with more serious offenses</a>, such as obstructing a congressional proceeding or bringing a weapon inside the U.S. Capitol. </p>
<p>But the seditious conspiracy charges <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-oath-keepers-and-10-other-individuals-indicted-federal-court-seditious-conspiracy-and">announced on Jan. 13, 2022 by the Department of Justice</a> raise the stakes and political temperature of the Jan. 6 investigation. As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3xAnT2QAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">First Amendment scholar</a>, I believe they may also give rise to serious concerns about the rights of others protesting government actions down the road. </p>
<h2>Prosecutions are rare</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/13/what-is-sedition/">crime of seditious conspiracy</a> involves joining with others to overthrow the government of the United States.</p>
<p>Under <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter115&edition=prelim">federal law</a>, persons are guilty of seditious conspiracy if they conspire “to overthrow, put down, or destroy the government” by force. That is the central or core offense. </p>
<p>However, the <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter115&edition=prelim">federal seditious conspiracy law</a> also prohibits using force to “prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States” and using force to “seize, take, or possess any property of the United States.” The crime carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, fines, or both.</p>
<p>Seditious conspiracy prosecutions are rare in the U.S., but not unheard of. Charges have been successfully <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/when-extremists-stormed-capitol-and-got-convicted-seditious-conspiracy">brought against Puerto Rican nationalists</a> who stormed the Capitol in March of 1954 <a href="https://apnews.com/article/riots-conspiracy-9d22bdd4e2d4d786531ebe0fb8095de4">and against Islamic militants</a> who plotted to bomb several New York landmarks in the early 1990s. However, juries have also acquitted members of a neo-Nazi group charged with seditious conspiracy for conspiring to overthrow the U.S. government and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/604c50e36bd020ac70be35445b12d059">assassinate federal officials</a>.</p>
<p>Prosecutors may be reluctant to charge seditious conspiracy for several reasons. Conspiracy charges, which entail planning between two or more people to commit a crime, take lots of time and resources to develop and prosecute. Proving the elements of seditious conspiracy can be factually and legally difficult. Entering a restricted area or obstructing a congressional proceeding are far easier crimes to prove than plots to overthrow or hinder the U.S. government. </p>
<p>Prosecutors may also be reluctant to charge seditious conspiracy because the charges may appear to be politically motivated. </p>
<h2>From speech to action</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-i">First Amendment</a> also may pose a significant hurdle for prosecutors trying to prove seditious conspiracy. </p>
<p>Although it does not protect speech that incites imminent lawless action, the First Amendment does protect speech that advocates overthrowing government in more abstract terms. </p>
<p>So anti-government sentiment or general calls to “action” against purported “tyrants” – or statements of that nature – don’t rise to the level of a seditious conspiracy. For prosecutors to convict those charged with seditious conspiracy, they must prove there were specific plans to hinder the execution of the law or seize government property.</p>
<p>For example, a 2010 seditious conspiracy charge <a href="https://apnews.com/article/riots-conspiracy-9d22bdd4e2d4d786531ebe0fb8095de4">brought against members of the Hutaree militia</a>, which the government alleged planned to wage war against the government, was dismissed because the prosecution’s case rested substantially on hateful and offensive speech by members of the Christian extremist group that was protected by the First Amendment. The evidence did not demonstrate a plot to overthrow the government. </p>
<p>In the case of the Oath Keepers, the government will have to overcome similar First Amendment concerns. </p>
<p>In the case of Rhodes and his alleged co-conspirators, prosecutors may secure a conviction if they can prove, as is <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1462346/download">alleged in the indictment</a>, that the militia moved from protected speech to planning specific actions – including “to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power” – that are not protected by the First Amendment.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-oath-keepers-and-10-other-individuals-indicted-federal-court-seditious-conspiracy-and">press release accompanying the conspiracy charges</a>, the Department of Justice alleged specific actions by the defendants, including planning to travel to Washington, and bringing weapons to the area in support of the operation. </p>
<p>If any case fits the seditious conspiracy crime, perhaps this is it. </p>
<p>[<em>More than 140,000 readers get one of The Conversation’s informative newsletters.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140K">Join the list today</a>.]</p>
<h2>Potential for abuse</h2>
<p>However, use of the seditious conspiracy law in Rhodes’s case may set a bad precedent as far as future protesters and dissidents are concerned. I see a danger that it could be used to support seditious conspiracy charges against other, potentially nonviolent, groups. </p>
<p>The words of the seditious conspiracy law – using force to “prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States” or to “seize, take, or possess any property of the United States” – may be broad enough to sweep in certain kinds of civil disobedience, disruptive protests at the Capitol and elsewhere, and plans to resist mass arrests.</p>
<p>Such concerns may be yet another reason prosecutors had seemingly been reluctant to rely on seditious conspiracy charges for the Jan. 6 defendants. </p>
<p>History demonstrates how broadly worded sedition laws can suppress protest and dissent. During the World War I, <a href="https://www.history.com/news/sedition-espionage-acts-woodrow-wilson-wwi">pacifists and dissidents were frequently charged</a> with sedition and seditious conspiracy based on their political advocacy and criticism of government. </p>
<p>The First Amendment, which broadly protects dissent, would not permit such prosecutions today. Modern interpretations of freedom of speech <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/brandenburg_test">impose stringent requirements</a> in prosecutions for “inciting” violence. However, a successful prosecution for seditious conspiracy in the Rhodes case may create a precedent for going after demonstrators who commit ordinary crimes, such as damaging a police car or occupying a federal building, or who engage in other acts of civil disobedience.</p>
<p>This danger is not entirely speculative. In 2020, the Trump Justice Department <a href="https://apnews.com/article/state-courts-violent-crime-arson-violence-crime-cbca8672a70f9f170a086a7a252a751e">considered charging Black Lives Matter protesters with seditious conspiracy</a> in connection with demonstrations in Washington, D.C., and Portland. The Justice Department ultimately decided not to go down that road. To be sure, factual and other distinctions can be made between those protests and the storming of the Capitol. But in the hands of a zealous prosecutor, the potential for abuse is clear.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174958/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Zick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Stewart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers, has been charged with seditious conspiracy over the attempted insurrection. A constitutional law scholar outlines why that may set a bad precedent.Timothy Zick, Professor of Law, William & Mary Law SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1683592021-09-23T12:29:42Z2021-09-23T12:29:42Z21 million Americans say Biden is ‘illegitimate’ and Trump should be restored by violence, survey finds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422723/original/file-20210922-13-7v8i6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C0%2C5700%2C3899&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some Americans are looking past Joe Biden, seeking the return of Donald Trump as president.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Election2020-Wisconsin/35f39fc79ea846e8830d1257dfd8cf37/photo">AP Photo/Julio Cortez</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A recent Washington demonstration supporting those charged with crimes for the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol fizzled, with <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-capitol-high-alert-pro-trump-demonstrators-converge-rally-2021-09-18/">no more than 200</a> demonstrators showing up. The organizers had promised 700 people would turn out – or more.</p>
<p>But the threat from far-right insurrectionists is not over.</p>
<p>For months, my colleagues and I at the <a href="https://cpost.uchicago.edu/">University of Chicago Project on Security and Threats</a> have been tracking insurrectionist sentiments in U.S. adults, most recently in surveys in June. We have found that 47 million American adults – nearly 1 in 5 – agree with the statement that “the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump and Joe Biden is an illegitimate president.” Of those, 21 million also agree that “use of force is justified to restore Donald J. Trump to the presidency.”</p>
<p>Our survey found that many of these 21 million people with insurrectionist sentiments have the capacity for violent mobilization. At least 7 million of them already own a gun, and at least 3 million have served in the U.S. military and so have lethal skills. Of those 21 million, 6 million said they supported right-wing militias and extremist groups, and 1 million said they are themselves or personally know a member of such a group, including the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.</p>
<p>Only a small percentage of <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/09/justice-for-j6-rally-capitol-dc-trump-jason-stanley-interview.html">people who hold extremist views</a> ever actually commit acts of violence, but our findings reveal how many Americans hold views that could turn them toward insurrection.</p>
<h2>A solid survey</h2>
<p>In June 2021, our group commissioned a survey done by the independent, non-partisan researchers at <a href="https://www.norc.org/Pages/default.aspx">NORC at the University of Chicago</a>, seeking to discover how widespread insurrectionist sentiments are among U.S. adults. </p>
<p>The research methods meet the highest standards in the polling industry – a random sample of a representative sample. It’s the same process NORC uses to conduct polling for <a href="https://www.norc.org/Research/Projects/Pages/default.aspx">The Associated Press, the federal government and other major institutions</a>.</p>
<p>First, NORC pulls together a panel of 40,000 people, <a href="https://amerispeak.norc.org/Documents/Research/AmeriSpeak%20Technical%20Overview%202019%2002%2018.pdf">called AmeriSpeak</a>, who are representative of the entire U.S. population on dozens of characteristics, such as age, race, income, location of residence and religion. From that representative sample, NORC drew a random sample – in our case, 1,070 people.</p>
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<h2>Extreme beliefs</h2>
<p>This polling found that <a href="http://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/cpost/i/docs/CPOST-NORC_UnderstandingInsurrectionSurvey_JUN2021_Topline.pdf">9% of American adults</a> say they agree with the statement that “Use of force is justified to restore Donald J. Trump to the presidency.” And 25% of adults either strongly or somewhat agree with the statement that “The 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump and Joe Biden is an illegitimate president.”</p>
<p>Overall, 8% of the survey participants share both of those views. </p>
<p>The margin of error of this survey was plus or minus 4 percentage points. So when calculating the number of the <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/united-states-adult-population-grew-faster-than-nations-total-population-from-2010-to-2020.html">258 million adult Americans</a> who hold these views, we looked at the range of between 4% and 12% – which gave us between 10 million and 31 million. The best single figure is the middle of that range, 21 million.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422724/original/file-20210922-23-p9sk84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A view of people storming the US Capitol" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422724/original/file-20210922-23-p9sk84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422724/original/file-20210922-23-p9sk84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422724/original/file-20210922-23-p9sk84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422724/original/file-20210922-23-p9sk84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422724/original/file-20210922-23-p9sk84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422724/original/file-20210922-23-p9sk84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422724/original/file-20210922-23-p9sk84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On Jan. 6, 2021, people claiming the presidential election had been stolen stormed the U.S. Capitol in hopes of keeping Donald Trump in office.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolRiotSeattlePolice/13a006a6813b4facb919c286af9a674a/photo">AP Photo/John Minchillo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People who said force is justified to restore Trump were consistent in their insurrectionist sentiments: Of them, <a href="https://cpost.uchicago.edu/research/domestic_extremism/why_we_cannot_afford_to_ignore_the_american_insurrectionist_movement/">90% also see Biden as illegitimate</a>, and 68% also think force may be needed to preserve America’s traditional way of life.</p>
<h2>The fringe moving into the mainstream</h2>
<p>Combined with their military experience, gun ownership and connections to extremist groups and militias, this signals the existence of significant mainstream support in America for a violent insurrection.</p>
<p>This group of 21 million who agree both that force is justified to restore Trump and that Biden is an illegitimate president has two additional views that are also on the fringes of mainstream society:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cpost.uchicago.edu/research/domestic_extremism/why_we_cannot_afford_to_ignore_the_american_insurrectionist_movement/">63% agree with the statement</a> that “African American people or Hispanic people in our country will eventually have more rights than whites” – a belief sometimes called “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/technology/replacement-theory.html">the Great Replacement</a>.”</li>
<li><a href="https://cpost.uchicago.edu/research/domestic_extremism/why_we_cannot_afford_to_ignore_the_american_insurrectionist_movement/">54% agree</a> that “A secret group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles is ruling the US government,” which is the <a href="https://theconversation.com/support-for-qanon-is-hard-to-measure-and-polls-may-overestimate-it-156020">key belief in the QAnon movement</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>Some people with insurrectionist sentiments hold one of these political views but not the other, suggesting there are multiple ways of thinking that lead a person toward the insurrectionist movement.</p>
<h2>Broader support</h2>
<p>This latest research reinforces our previous findings, that the Jan. 6 insurrection represents a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/06/capitol-insurrection-arrests-cpost-analysis/">far more mainstream movement</a> than earlier instances of right-wing extremism across the country. Those events, mostly limited to white supremacist and militia groups, saw <a href="https://d3qi0qp55mx5f5.cloudfront.net/cpost/i/docs/americas_insurrectionists_online_2021_02_05.pdf?mtime=1612585947">more than 100 individuals arrested from 2015 to 2020</a>. But just 14% of those arrested for their actions on Jan. 6 are members of those groups. <a href="https://cpost.uchicago.edu/research/domestic_extremism/why_we_cannot_afford_to_ignore_the_american_insurrectionist_movement/">More than half are business owners or middle-aged white-collar professionals</a>, and only 7% are unemployed.</p>
<p>There is no way to say for sure when – or even whether – these insurrectionists will take action. On Jan. 6, it took clear direction from Donald Trump and other political leaders to turn these dangerous sentiments into a violent reality. But the movement itself is larger and more complex than many people might like to think.</p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/politics-weekly-74/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=politics-important">Get The Conversation’s most important politics headlines, in our Politics Weekly newsletter</a>.</em>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168359/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert A. Pape receives funding from the Tawani Foundation. </span></em></p>A representative survey of American adults finds broader support for violent insurrection than many would like to think.Robert A. Pape, Professor of Political Science, University of ChicagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1560272021-03-11T13:29:43Z2021-03-11T13:29:43ZHow the quest for significance and respect underlies the white supremacist movement, conspiracy theories and a range of other problems<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388886/original/file-20210310-23-1oud1kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C2941%2C1962&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Unemployed Blackjewel coal miners, their family members and activists man a blockade along railroad tracks leading to their old mine on Aug. 23, 2019, in Cumberland, Kentucky. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/unemployed-blackjewel-coal-miners-their-family-members-and-news-photo/1169799870?adppopup=true">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>President Joe Biden’s fundamental pitch to America has been about dignity and respect. He never tires of repeating his father’s words that “a job is about more than a paycheck, it is about … dignity … about respect … being able to look your kid in the eye and say, ‘<a href="https://twitter.com/joebiden/status/1202972212384288768?lang=en">Everything is going to be OK</a>.’”</p>
<p>In strikingly similar language, Princeton economists <a href="http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bKON6gYAAAAJ&hl=en">Anne Case</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rvFjcQIAAAAJ&hl=en">Angus Deaton</a> affirm that “jobs are not just the source of money.” When jobs are lost, they wrote in 2020, “it is the loss of meaning, of dignity, of pride, and of self respect … <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691190785/deaths-of-despair-and-the-future-of-capitalism">that brings on despair, not just or even primarily the loss of money</a>.”</p>
<p><a href="https://psyc.umd.edu/facultyprofile/kruglanski/arie">I am a psychologist</a> who studies <a href="https://scholar.google.gr/citations?user=Trd2BdsAAAAJ&hl=en">the human quest for significance and respect</a>. My research reveals that this basic motivation is a major force in human affairs. It shapes the course of world history and determines the destiny of nations. It underlies some of the chief challenges society is facing. Among others, these are: </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691190785/deaths-of-despair-and-the-future-of-capitalism">The suicides – known as “deaths of despair” – of working-class Americans</a> </li>
<li>White supremacist movements </li>
<li>Systemic racism </li>
<li>Islamist terrorism</li>
<li>The proliferation of conspiracy theories</li>
<li>The growing rift in the Republican Party between moderates and extremists</li>
</ul>
<p>In all these cases, people’s actions, opinions and attitudes aim, often unconsciously, to satisfy their fundamental need to count, to be recognized and respected. </p>
<p>The very term “supremacism” betrays concern for superior standing. So do names like “Proud Boys” or “Oath Keepers.” Systemic racism is rooted in the motivation to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/07/01/885878564/what-systemic-racism-means-and-the-way-it-harms-communities">put down one race to elevate another</a>. Islamist terrorism targets the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032615">alleged belittlers of a religion</a>. Conspiracy theories identify alleged culprits <a href="https://www.springer.com/us/book/9781461298021">plotting the subjugation and dishonor of their victims</a>. And the <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90553503/its-time-to-respect-that-republicans-care-about-only-one-thing-winning">extremist faction of the Republican Party cares exclusively about winning, no holds barred</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388889/original/file-20210310-19-70s8h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Torch-bearing white men marching at night, shouting" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388889/original/file-20210310-19-70s8h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388889/original/file-20210310-19-70s8h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388889/original/file-20210310-19-70s8h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388889/original/file-20210310-19-70s8h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388889/original/file-20210310-19-70s8h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388889/original/file-20210310-19-70s8h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388889/original/file-20210310-19-70s8h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chanting ‘White lives matter! You will not replace us!’ and ‘Jews will not replace us!’ several hundred white nationalists and white supremacists march through the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville on Aug. 10, 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/chanting-white-lives-matter-you-will-not-replace-us-and-news-photo/831221784?adppopup=true">Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Triggering the quest</h2>
<p>This quest for significance and respect must first be awakened before it can drive behavior. We don’t strive for significance 24/7. </p>
<p>The quest can be triggered by the experience of significant loss through humiliation and failure. When we suffer such a loss, we desperately seek to regain significance and respect. We are then keen to embrace any narrative that tells us how, and to follow leaders who show us the way. </p>
<p>The quest for significance can also be triggered by an opportunity for substantial gain – becoming a hero, a martyr, a superstar.</p>
<p>Over the past several decades, many Americans have experienced a stinging loss of significance and respect. Social scientists examined the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217721174">perception of social class in the United States between 1972 and 2010</a>. The results of their research were striking: In the 1970s, most Americans viewed themselves as comfortably middle class, defined at the time by conduct and manners – being a good neighbor and a good member of the community, exhibiting proper behavior.</p>
<p>In contrast, by the 2000s, membership in the middle class was determined primarily by income. And because incomes have stagnated over the past half-century, by 2010 many Americans (particularly the lower-income ones) lost their middle-class identity entirely. </p>
<p>Small wonder, then, that they resonated to the Trump campaign slogan that promised to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12647">make America (or Americans) “great again</a>.” </p>
<h2>Piling on</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/How-to-turn-the-coronavirus-anxiety-into-15136037.php">compounds people’s sense of fragility</a> and insignificance. </p>
<p>Isolation from loved ones, the danger to our own health and the dread of an economic disaster are all stressors that make a person feel weak and vulnerable. They increase the attraction to ideas that offer quick fixes for loss of significance and respect. </p>
<p>Though the ideas that promise restoration of significance and dignity range widely, they share an important core: They <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032615">depict the promotion of different social values as paths to significance</a>. Promoting freedom and democracy, defending one’s nation or one’s religion, advancing one’s political party – all aim to earn respect and dignity in communities that cherish those values.</p>
<p>When the quest for significance and respect is intensified, other considerations such as comfort, relationships or compassion are sidelined. Any actions that promote significance are then seen as legitimate. That includes actions that would otherwise seem reprehensible: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000260">violence, aggression, torture or terrorism</a>. </p>
<p>An intense quest for significance does not invite reprehensible actions directly. But it boosts a person’s readiness to tolerate and enact them for the sake of significance and dignity. </p>
<p>The path ultimately taken depends on the narrative that identifies significance-bestowing actions in a given situation. Depending on one’s moral perspective, such actions may be seen as “good,” “bad” or “ugly.” One might have an entirely different moral evaluation of the Black Lives Matter movement and the Proud Boys and yet recognize that, psychologically, both represent routes to significance.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388895/original/file-20210310-17-1hmj7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A gallows with a noose hanging on it at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388895/original/file-20210310-17-1hmj7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388895/original/file-20210310-17-1hmj7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388895/original/file-20210310-17-1hmj7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388895/original/file-20210310-17-1hmj7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388895/original/file-20210310-17-1hmj7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388895/original/file-20210310-17-1hmj7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388895/original/file-20210310-17-1hmj7vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A noose is seen on makeshift gallows erected on Jan. 6 at the Capitol before Trump supporters violently stormed a session of Congress.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/noose-is-seen-on-makeshift-gallows-as-supporters-of-us-news-photo/1230473117?adppopup=true">Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The allure of violence</h2>
<p>A special danger to societies stems from the primordial, significance-lending appeal of violence. </p>
<p>Among animals, dominance is established through <a href="https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/idOVDU2NS9R">“trial by combat,” to use Rudy Giuliani’s</a> recent turn of phrase at the rally before the Capitol insurrection. And as President Theodore Roosevelt famously observed, <a href="https://millercenter.org/president/roosevelt/foreign-affairs">walking with a “big stick”</a> makes other nations pay attention and respect. </p>
<p>Most narratives adopted by violent extremists identify a real or imagined enemy at the gates, and fighting such enemies is depicted as worthy and honorable: For Trump acolytes, the enemy is the “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-10-02/the-deep-state-is-fighting-back">deep state</a>.” For much of the far right, the enemy is, variously, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36130006">immigrants, refugees</a>, <a href="https://www.voanews.com/usa/race-america/far-right-us-facebook-groups-pivot-attacks-black-lives-matter">people of color</a>, <a href="https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/Antisemitism%20as%20an%20Underlying%20Precursor%20to%20Violent%20Extremism%20in%20American%20Far-Right%20and%20Islamist%20Contexts%20Pdf.pdf">Jews</a>, <a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/study-shows-rise-of-hate-crimes-violence-against-asian-americans-in-nyc-during-covid/2883215/">Asians</a>, or even <a href="http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1860871_1860876_1861029,00.html">reptilians who plot to dominate the world</a>. </p>
<p>Evangelicals view Trump’s alleged battle <a href="https://theconversation.com/demons-of-the-deep-state-how-evangelicals-and-conspiracy-theories-combine-in-trumps-america-144898">against the “deep state” as divinely inspired</a>. And a QAnon message from Jan. 13, 2018, stated: “You were chosen for a reason. You are being provided the highest level of intel to ever be dropped publicly in the history of the world. <a href="https://joyinliberty.com/q/category/qanon-quotes/">Use it – protect and comfort those around you</a>.” These views sow division among segments of society, inviting fissures and polarization.</p>
<p>The quest for significance and respect is a universal and immutable aspect of human nature. It has the potential to inspire great works but also tear society asunder. The formidable challenge these days is to harness the energies sparked by this fundamental motive and channel them for the betterment of humanity.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156027/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arie Kruglanski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The quest for significance and respect is a universal part of human nature. It has the potential to inspire great works – but lately, it has been much in evidence tearing society apart.Arie Kruglanski, Professor of Psychology, University of MarylandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1536762021-01-22T15:58:32Z2021-01-22T15:58:32ZCapitol mob wasn’t just angry men – there were angry women as well<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380067/original/file-20210121-15-17vtax2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C16%2C5523%2C3715&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There were women among the crowd that marched to the Capitol and stormed the building.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/trump-supporters-near-the-u-s-capitol-on-january-06-2021-in-news-photo/1230476985?adppopup=true">Shay Horse/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/capitol-insurrection-visual-timeline/">terror inflicted on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6</a> laid bare <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-boogaloo-and-who-are-the-rioters-who-stormed-the-capitol-5-essential-reads-153337">America’s problem with violent extremism</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-law-enforcement-is-using-technology-to-track-down-people-who-attacked-the-us-capitol-building-153282">The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have begun to piece together</a> the events of that day, while attempting to thwart any impending attacks. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/storytelling/capitol-riot-mob-arrests/">Scores of people have been arrested and charged</a> over the attack – the vast majority being men. </p>
<p>In the wake of these events, there were stories attributing the violence and destruction to “<a href="https://www.thelily.com/what-happened-at-the-capitol-was-pure-white-male-privilege/">white male rage</a>” “<a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/capitol-riot-male-rage.html">violent male rage</a>” and “<a href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/capitol-breach-white-rioters-protesters-georgia-election-20210111.html">angry white men</a>.” </p>
<p>But what about the women?</p>
<p>To distill the violent insurrection into a tale of angry male rage is to overlook the threat that women in the mob posed to congressional officials, law enforcement and U.S. democracy that day. </p>
<h2>Long history of women’s involvement</h2>
<p>Several women have been identified as alleged participants in the events of Jan. 6. Among those women are a <a href="https://www.cleveland19.com/2021/01/11/still-no-charges-against-former-cmsd-employee-linked-capitol-riots/">former school occupational therapist</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-protest-officials-insight/off-duty-cops-other-officials-face-reckoning-after-rallying-for-trump-in-d-c-idUSKBN29I315">an employee of a county sheriff’s office</a>, a <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/jenna-ryan-texas-realtor-capitol-riots-sign-vandalised-1560515">real estate broker</a> and a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/13/we-mock-the-rioters-as-ignorant-at-our-peril-459072">former mayoral candidate</a>. </p>
<p>At least <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/us/politics/oath-keepers-capitol-riot.html">one woman</a> is being investigated for her role in organizing the attack with fellow members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia movement. And <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/07/ashli-babbitt-dead-capitol-riot/">Ashli Babbit, a female veteran</a>, was shot dead by police while attempting to breach the Senate floor.</p>
<p>The women who took part in the siege of the Capitol are part of a long history of women’s participation in extremist violence, both in the United States and abroad. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380060/original/file-20210121-23-1ci8szt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A headshot of Jessica Watkins." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380060/original/file-20210121-23-1ci8szt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380060/original/file-20210121-23-1ci8szt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380060/original/file-20210121-23-1ci8szt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380060/original/file-20210121-23-1ci8szt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380060/original/file-20210121-23-1ci8szt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380060/original/file-20210121-23-1ci8szt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380060/original/file-20210121-23-1ci8szt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jessica Watkins, seen here in a photo from the Montgomery County jail, is facing federal charges that she participated in the assault on the U.S. Capitol.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolBreachArrests/b6464e489c5c4245a59807864fb2fd4a/photo?Query=Capitol%20AND%20Breach&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1239&currentItemNo=21">Montgomery County Jail via AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Women have buoyed American far-right organizations and causes for centuries. In <a href="https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/seyward-darby/sisters-in-hate/9780316487771/">her recent book</a> on women at the forefront of contemporary white nationalism, author <a href="https://seywarddarby.com/">Seyward Darby</a> writes that women are not “incidental to white nationalism, they are a sustaining feature.” </p>
<p>Since the late 1800s, women have supported and enabled the terrorist white supremacist organization the Ku Klux Klan, while hundreds of thousands joined its female affiliate, Women of the Ku Klux Klan, and its predecessors. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3178170?pq-origsite=summon&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">Women helped establish</a> the Klan’s culture, bolstered its recruitment efforts and manufactured its propaganda. Despite its hyper-masculine ideology, which identifies white men as the primary arbiters of political power, women have also held leadership positions <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00380237.2016.1135029">within the modern-day Klan</a>. </p>
<p>More recently, women have joined the far-right Proud Boys movement, which has <a href="https://www.wiisglobal.org/not-convinced-a-gender-perspective-matters-to-todays-political-activism-meet-the-proud-boys-and-their-girls/">openly recruited female foot soldiers</a>. In December, a growing rift between male and female Proud Boys was reported. After experiencing intense sexist backlash from men in the organization, women led by <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/proud-boys-are-at-war-with-their-proud-girls-female-extremist-wing?ref=home">MMA fighter Tara LaRosa</a> began their own group, the Proud Girls USA. </p>
<p>To leave one extremist organization in order to form another suggests a deep commitment to the far-right cause.</p>
<h2>Discounting is dangerous</h2>
<p>A 2005 study <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10576100601101067?casa_token=5Up9CxiwQpAAAAAA%3ATmDm-CtsOasDz__iRni78NJf3UFY-tylaKfYChMRuwCqsdr1uVeH__sOjOGQ4qtA3EvR0qWuIYCE">noted a disconnect between the rise in women</a> within American right-wing terrorist organizations and the attention it received from law enforcement. </p>
<p>Despite a marked increase in women’s engagement in acts of terror against the state and racial minorities, security officials <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100601101067">have largely failed to publicize</a>, search and interrogate women operatives in these organizations, even after they become known to law enforcement. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100601101067">There is also evidence</a> that American far-right women have drawn inspiration and tactical knowledge from women engaged in extremist violence abroad. </p>
<p>Evidence from the global war on terror points to the potential dangers of ignoring the growth of violent extremism among women. In Iraq, for example, female terrorists carried out large numbers of deadly suicide attacks against American assets during the U.S. occupation. </p>
<p>The rest of the world has since been forced to grapple with the reality of violent women after female terrorists staged lethal attacks in Nigeria, Somalia, Tunisia, the Philippines, Indonesia and France. </p>
<p>Recent terror attacks in American cities such as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/12/02/one-year-after-san-bernardino-police-offer-a-possible-motive-as-questions-still-linger/">San Bernardino</a>, California, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/06/24/las-vegas-cop-killers-packed-ammo-and-wore-adult-diapers-as-they-prepared-for-their-revolution/">Las Vegas</a> that featured women among the perpetrators confirm violent women have already inflicted damage on U.S. soil.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380069/original/file-20210121-13-1lwibg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Ku Klux Klan security guards escorting two women members." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380069/original/file-20210121-13-1lwibg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380069/original/file-20210121-13-1lwibg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380069/original/file-20210121-13-1lwibg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380069/original/file-20210121-13-1lwibg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380069/original/file-20210121-13-1lwibg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380069/original/file-20210121-13-1lwibg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380069/original/file-20210121-13-1lwibg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ku Klux Klan security guards escort two female members after a Klan meeting in Castro Valley, California, in 1979.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/KuKluxKlan1979Women/a1d3e8cff91c4ccdaa56b3f0d2e2f257/photo?Query=women%20Ku%20Klux%20Klan&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=17&currentItemNo=7">AP Photo/PS</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Gender bias can be deadly</h2>
<p>In fact, <a href="http://www.jakanathomas.com/research.html">my research</a> suggests that attacks by female terrorists are often more destructive than those executed by their male counterparts.</p>
<p>In an analysis of over 2,500 global suicide attacks, I show disparities in the severity of male and female attacks are greatest where gender stereotypes suggest that women are neither violent nor political. Such tropes can blind security officials and civilians to the threat posed by women terrorists, causing them to overlook the potential for female complicity. </p>
<p>Female terrorists, including in <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/isis-female-suicide-bombers-battle-mosul-631846">Iraq,</a> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3395973.stm">Israel</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/world/africa/nigeria-vexed-by-boko-harams-use-of-women-as-suicide-bombers.html">Nigeria</a>, have been able to deflect suspicion because they were women. My research shows that gender bias can become deadly when it stops effective counterterrorism policies, such as surveillance, searches and interrogations, from being implemented. </p>
<p>Additionally, since ordinary citizens played an unusual role in exposing the identities of the Capitol attackers, gender biases among civilians are also relevant. Failure to accept women’s complicity in the Capitol siege and the broader movement may prevent the identification of female offenders and impedes efforts to punish and deter future attacks.</p>
<p>American women have been key pillars of support for violent right-wing extremists for centuries. They have been right-wing extremists themselves – racist skinheads, neo-Nazis and Klanswomen. Women are also Oath Keepers, <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2020/05/26/what-to-know-about-kentucky-three-percenters-group/5258749002/">Three Percenters</a> and Proud Boys. They were capitol rioters.</p>
<p>To construct an accurate account of the Capitol attack, it’s necessary to ask “Where are the women?” And the answer is, “Right there.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153676/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jakana Thomas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To distill the violent insurrection at the US Capitol into a tale of angry male rage is to overlook the threat that women in the mob posed.Jakana Thomas, Associate Professor, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1533692021-01-19T19:53:48Z2021-01-19T19:53:48ZPolice, soldiers bring lethal skill to militia campaigns against US government<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379078/original/file-20210115-23-j8apf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C0%2C5760%2C3750&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Militia members associated with the Three Percenters movement conducting a military drill in Flovilla, Ga., in 2016, days after Trump's election. After his 2020 defeat, Three Percenters were involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-the-georgia-security-forces-are-seen-during-news-photo/623578082?adppopup=true">Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Image</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Thousands of police and soldiers – people professionally trained in the use of violence and familiar with military protocols – are part of an extremist effort to undermine the U.S. government and subvert the democratic process. </p>
<p>According to an investigative report published in the Atlantic in November into a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/right-wing-militias-civil-war/616473/">leaked database kept by the Oath Keepers</a> – one of several <a href="https://theconversation.com/symbols-of-white-supremacy-flew-proudly-at-the-capitol-riot-5-essential-reads-153055">far-right and white supremacist militias</a> that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 – 10% of Oath Keepers are current police officers or military members. Another significant portion of the group’s membership is retired military and <a href="https://theconversation.com/capitol-siege-raises-questions-over-extent-of-white-supremacist-infiltration-of-us-police-153145">law enforcement personnel</a>.</p>
<p>The hate group – founded by a former Army paratrooper after Barack Obama’s 2008 election – claimed “an improbable 30,000 members who were said to be mostly current and former military, law enforcement and emergency first responders” in 2016, according to the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/oath-keepers">Southern Poverty Law Center</a>. </p>
<p>The Three Percenters, another militia present at the Capitol on Jan. 6, also draws a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/18/us/politics/capitol-riot-militias.html">substantial portion of its members from law enforcement, both military and civilian</a>. Larry Brock, a pro-Trump rioter <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/larry-brock-arrested-capitol-riots-intended-take-hostages/">arrested</a> with <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1352026/download">zip-tie handcuffs, allegedly for taking hostages</a>, is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/prosecutor-capitol-rioter-aimed-to-take-hostages/2021/01/14/f06e589a-56c9-11eb-acc5-92d2819a1ccb_story.html">posted content from the Three Percenters online</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/militia-movement">militia movement</a> is a militarized stream of the American far-right. Its members promote an ideology that undermines the authority and legitimacy of the federal government and stockpile weapons.</p>
<p>When <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/11/us/politics/veterans-trump-protests-militias.html">militia members have a professional background with the military or police</a>, it enhances the ability of these groups to execute sophisticated and successful operations. It also helps them convey a patriotic image that obscures the security threat they present.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379070/original/file-20210115-23-1lcprea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man in camouflage, a bulletproof vest and sunglasses stands guard with hands folded" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379070/original/file-20210115-23-1lcprea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379070/original/file-20210115-23-1lcprea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379070/original/file-20210115-23-1lcprea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379070/original/file-20210115-23-1lcprea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379070/original/file-20210115-23-1lcprea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379070/original/file-20210115-23-1lcprea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379070/original/file-20210115-23-1lcprea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A member of the Oath Keepers at a rally to overturn the 2020 election results at the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 5, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/member-of-the-right-wing-group-oath-keepers-stands-guard-news-photo/1294712646?adppopup=true">Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Longstanding ties</h2>
<p>The day before the Biden inauguration, in late afternoon, 12 National Guardsmen deployed to Washington, D.C. were removed from that duty after an investigation uncovered <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/19/national-guard-members-removed-inauguration-460426">problems in their past; two had apparent ties to right-wing militias</a>.</p>
<p>Far-right elements have always had some presence in <a href="https://www.vox.com/michael-brown-shooting-ferguson-mo/2014/8/19/6031759/ferguson-history-riots-police-brutality-civil-rights">U.S. security forces</a>. </p>
<p>Throughout the 20th century, many <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/watchmen">local police departments were heavily populated with Ku Klux Klan members</a>. The connections between terror groups and law enforcement enabled discrimination and violence against African Americans, Jews and other minorities. </p>
<p>In 1923, all the Black residents of Blandford, Indiana were forced out of town to an unknown location following accusations that an African American man assaulted a young girl. The unlawful “deportation” was conducted and organized by the local sheriff, a Klansman, <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/watchmen">with the assistance of local Klan chapters</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379092/original/file-20210115-13-qkcf30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Head shot of a balding white man with a goatee against a blue background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379092/original/file-20210115-13-qkcf30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379092/original/file-20210115-13-qkcf30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379092/original/file-20210115-13-qkcf30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379092/original/file-20210115-13-qkcf30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379092/original/file-20210115-13-qkcf30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379092/original/file-20210115-13-qkcf30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379092/original/file-20210115-13-qkcf30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wade Michael Page, the U.S. Army veteran who killed six Sikh worshipers in 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-handout-photo-provided-by-the-johnson-county-news-photo/484960729?adppopup=true">FBI via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many U.S. military bases have also had <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/frazier-glenn-miller">cells of neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups</a> throughout the 20th century.</p>
<p>In 1995, three paratroopers from Fort Bragg, in North Carolina, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/12/11/soldiers-in-white-supremacist-uniforms/0d5d01b9-5f4d-478a-a598-73c7646a8711/">were arrested and charged</a> in the killing of a Black couple in Fayetteville. <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-05-13-9705130165-story.html">Two were sentenced to life in prison</a> for the murders. The Army initiated an investigation at the base, which was known for being a hub of the National Alliance, <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/national-alliance">then the country’s most influential American neo-Nazi group</a>. </p>
<p>The Army identified and discharged 19 paratroopers for participating in hate activities. <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2012/sikh-temple-killer-wade-michael-page-radicalized-army">One went on</a> to kill <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2012/08/06/us/wisconsin-temple-shooting/index.html">six worshipers in a Sikh temple</a> in Oak Creek, Wisconsin in August 2012. He died in a police shootout.</p>
<h2>Growing convergence</h2>
<p>Concerns about the penetration of <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/11/military-right-wing-extremism-457861">far-right elements into the military and law enforcement have become acute in the last decade</a> with the emergence of militias like the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/19/politics/oath-keepers-capitol-riot-charges/index.html">Oath Keepers</a>, which was founded on the principle of recruiting police and military. Oath Keepers <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/right-wing-militias-civil-war/616473/">pledge to disobey orders on the job which they deem contradict the Constitution</a>. </p>
<p>The militias’ success secretly infiltrating police departments contributed to the emergence of new far-right associations that openly recruit law enforcement, like the <a href="https://cspoa.org">Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers of America</a>. </p>
<p>Founded in 2011 by former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack, the group promotes the notion – contrary to the Constitution – that the federal government authorities should be subordinated to local law enforcement. It has more than 500 sheriffs nationwide. <a href="https://www.politicalresearch.org/2019/06/10/how-a-right-wing-network-mobilized-sheriffs-departments">Just over half are currently in office</a>. </p>
<p>The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers of America has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2016/04/28/national-group-of-sheriffs-opposed-to-federal-government-overreach-gains-size-momentum/">pushed its members not to enforce gun control laws</a> and pandemic-related <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/31/us-sheriffs-mask-orders-covid-19-blm">mask regulations</a> that they believe infringe on civil liberties.</p>
<h2>Skilled insurrectionists</h2>
<p>When members of far-right groups are also <a href="https://theconversation.com/capitol-siege-raises-questions-over-extent-of-white-supremacist-infiltration-of-us-police-153145">professionals sworn to protect the nation or their communities</a>, it makes those groups seem more legitimate. </p>
<p>Authorities may be less likely to treat them as domestic security threats, a categorization that would limit their access to firearms and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-uncomfortable-questions-facing-capitol-police-over-the-security-breach-by-maga-mob-152857">sensitive locations</a>. </p>
<p>Yet military and police members actually make American militias more effective, according to <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xBQYKHwAAAAJ&hl=en">my research on the violent practices of the American far-right</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379077/original/file-20210115-13-1jzeywx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C15%2C5185%2C3803&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Glasses-wearing man in military fatigues poses with an American flag in front of a large crowd" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379077/original/file-20210115-13-1jzeywx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C15%2C5185%2C3803&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379077/original/file-20210115-13-1jzeywx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379077/original/file-20210115-13-1jzeywx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379077/original/file-20210115-13-1jzeywx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379077/original/file-20210115-13-1jzeywx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379077/original/file-20210115-13-1jzeywx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379077/original/file-20210115-13-1jzeywx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Texas Militia member at the pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C., Jan. 6, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/trump-supporters-near-the-us-capitol-following-a-quot-stop-news-photo/1230475969?adppopup=true">Selcuk Acar/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A data set I manage with my team at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and used for my <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/american-zealots/9780231167116">recent book on right-wing terror</a> shows that militia attacks are more lethal than those of other far-right groups. The perpetrators are experienced with weapons and ammunition, and have at least some military training. </p>
<p>Attacks by other far-right groups are, in large measure, <a href="https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/binaries/content/assets/customsites/perspectives-on-terrorism/2018/issue-6/a4-sweeney-perliger.pdf">initiated by people with limited operational experience, who act spontaneously</a>. </p>
<p>Militias are also more likely to attack secured, high-value targets like <a href="https://www.radicalrightanalysis.com/2021/01/07/carr-policy-insight-series-deciphering-the-second-wave-of-the-american-militia-movement/">government facilities</a>. Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, is a prime example. He was a Gulf War veteran <a href="https://www.news9.com/story/5f80fb1f1f327834b9461b18/michigan-militia-group-had-ties-to-timothy-mcveigh">associated with the Michigan Militia</a> whose bomb killed 168 people at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995. </p>
<p>The penetration of far-right militants into the ranks of police and the military seems to be driving an increase in direct attacks on police and military targets. </p>
<p>Between 1990 and 2000, 13% of U.S. of militia attacks and plots were aimed at military or police installations or personnel, our data set shows. The proportion <a href="https://www.radicalrightanalysis.com/2021/01/07/carr-policy-insight-series-deciphering-the-second-wave-of-the-american-militia-movement/">jumped to 40%</a> by 2017. </p>
<p>And with their training in surveillance, intelligence collection and public safety, the dangerous activities of militias are generally harder for federal agencies to monitor and counter. </p>
<p>When militias recruit professionals, they are better at waging their radical crusade.</p>
<p><em>This story was updated to reflect developing news about security at Biden’s inauguration and corrected to accurately locate Fayetteville in North Carolina.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153369/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arie Perliger receives funding from the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Defense.</span></em></p>A leaked database shows at least 10% of the far-right Oath Keepers militia is active police or military – people professionally trained in using weapons and conducting sophisticated operations.Arie Perliger, Director of Security Studies and Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies, UMass LowellLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1535802021-01-19T19:45:57Z2021-01-19T19:45:57ZArmed groups from Capitol riot pose longer-term threat to Biden presidency<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379601/original/file-20210119-22-bgigax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C30%2C5067%2C3342&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, but that may not be their last violent move.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protesters-gather-outside-the-u-s-capitol-building-on-news-photo/1294933486">Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Details continue to emerge about the <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/visual-timeline-attack-capitol-hill-unfolded/story?id=75112066">Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol incursion</a>. Exactly what happened – including the degree of planning involved and rioters’ possible connections with <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/13/politics/capitol-insurrection-insider-help/index.html">Capitol police or even members of Congress</a> – <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/15/politics/lieutenant-general-russel-honore-capitol-security-review/index.html">may not be known</a> for some time. </p>
<p>But there are looming threats of <a href="https://theconversation.com/trump-supporters-seeking-more-violence-could-target-state-capitols-during-inauguration-heres-how-cities-can-prepare-153285">more possible violence</a>, not just in Washington, D.C., but in <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/armed-protests-planned-50-state-capitols-fbi-bulletin/story?id=75179771">all 50 state capitals</a>. As a scholar of American militants, I see the groups behind the Jan. 6 events looking beyond Inauguration Day toward broader opposition to the Biden administration. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379598/original/file-20210119-26-b7y1yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The crowd heads toward the U.S. Capitol" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379598/original/file-20210119-26-b7y1yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379598/original/file-20210119-26-b7y1yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379598/original/file-20210119-26-b7y1yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379598/original/file-20210119-26-b7y1yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379598/original/file-20210119-26-b7y1yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379598/original/file-20210119-26-b7y1yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379598/original/file-20210119-26-b7y1yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On Jan. 6, a large crowd with a range of right-wing views headed toward the U.S. Capitol.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/trump-supporters-near-the-u-s-capitol-on-january-06-2021-in-news-photo/1230477024">Shay Horse/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Different groups, different goals</h2>
<p>Among the insurrectionists were members of various groups with a wide range of generally right-wing views, including neo-Nazis, <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/epdmva/a-proud-boy-in-disguise-helped-lead-the-insurrection-at-the-capitol">Proud Boys</a>, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-former-marine-stormed-the-capitol-as-part-of-a-far-right-militia">Oath Keepers</a>, <a href="https://patch.com/washington/lakewood-jblm/right-wing-militia-announces-plans-occupy-wa-capitol-report">Three Percenters</a> and <a href="https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2021/01/12/ohio-militia-group-joined-invasion-of-u-s-capitol/">militia members</a>. There were also <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2021/01/05/michigan-trump-supporters-heading-washington-rally-trump/4126658001/">supporters of Donald Trump</a> who likely see themselves as concerned individual citizens, rather than members of any preexisting groups.</p>
<p>Among the militia groups I study, some truly believe the presidential election results were fraudulent, though <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/william-barr-doj-fbi-voter-fraud-2020-election">there is no evidence of that</a>. Some – regardless of their perceptions of the election’s legitimacy – do not want to see Trump’s tenure end because they believe Biden’s proposed policies threaten their ideal America. That image prioritizes individual effort and achievement, and disdains social welfare. It also discourages efforts to have legislation – or even hard conversations – that would move toward reducing systemic racism or other oppressive structures in society.</p>
<p>Their goals in traveling to the Capitol from all over the country included symbolically supporting Trump, forcibly “stopping the steal” of the election from Trump and even <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/06/dc-protests-trump-rally-live-updates/">starting a civil war</a>.</p>
<h2>What they have in common</h2>
<p>Beyond wanting to keep Trump in office, these different groups had other shared views. Those who attended were <a href="https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/jan/11/timeline-what-trump-said-jan-6-capitol-riot/">generally attentive to Trump’s own messaging</a> about Jan. 6, encouraging them to believe in the illegitimacy of the election and to individually do something about the outcome by protesting in person.</p>
<p>Most – but notably <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/07/ashli-babbitt-dead-capitol-riot/">not all</a> – were men, and the vast majority appear to have been white. White voters have always comprised the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/11/7/21551364/white-trump-voters-2020">bulk of Trump’s support</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-embedding-with-the-michigan-militia-5-questions-answered-about-the-group-allegedly-plotting-to-kidnap-a-governor-147876">White men comprise the majority</a> of militias and similar groups, so their representation at the incursion is not surprising. Their presence is, however, likely evidence of some of their motivations.</p>
<p>The groups I study are, at their core, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/militia-expert-warns-trumps-capitol-insurrectionists-could-try-again/">nostalgic groups</a> who believe America as it should be has already been lost, and who look to the past in search of a society where all citizens, but especially men, were more self-sufficient and less reliant on the federal government. They believe it is their moral responsibility to prevent a further decline of American society and, where possible, to fight for a return to this earlier time.</p>
<p>Many insurrectionists at the Capitol held flags or wore clothing with <a href="https://qz.com/1953366/decoding-the-pro-trump-insurrectionist-flags-and-banners/">references to 1776</a>, which has been used in some overtly white supremacist groups, but has been more widely used by groups calling themselves “patriots” for decades to symbolically advocate for a second American Revolution and a return to a smaller government that, from their perspective, better remembers it serves the people. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379599/original/file-20210119-13-194i05g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Trump supporters clash with police Jan. 6" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379599/original/file-20210119-13-194i05g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379599/original/file-20210119-13-194i05g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379599/original/file-20210119-13-194i05g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379599/original/file-20210119-13-194i05g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379599/original/file-20210119-13-194i05g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379599/original/file-20210119-13-194i05g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379599/original/file-20210119-13-194i05g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trump supporters, some of whom say they support the police, clash with officers outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/trump-supporters-clash-with-police-and-security-forces-as-news-photo/1230454383">Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A complex relationship with authority</h2>
<p>These groups, which traditionally have been described as “<a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/antigovernment">anti-government</a>,” in fact have a much more complicated relationship with government and other authority. </p>
<p>Most see constitutional leaders as legitimate and worthy of protection but believe it is their sole prerogative to determine who lives up to that standard. They also believe that liberals and others who disagree with them should not have an equal say in the direction of the country or in which leaders should represent the people’s collective interests.</p>
<p>Footage from the Capitol, including the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/video-dept/a-reporters-footage-from-inside-the-capitol-siege">extended video released by the New Yorker</a>, shows how these people view themselves as the arbiters of who is good and who is bad, in at least two ways.</p>
<p>In a scene when men are rifling through desks on the Senate floor, they initially misunderstand paperwork and believe Sen. Ted Cruz was going to “sell [them] out” by accepting Biden’s win in Arizona. </p>
<p>But then they say “he’s with us” after another man notes that Cruz was actually objecting to Arizona’s outcome. </p>
<p>Others, looking for evidence to “use against these scumbags” – by which they mean members of Congress whom they believe are disloyal to the people – say, “I think Cruz would want us to do this.” These people frame Cruz as a morally just representative, in contrast to other senators and representatives.</p>
<p>The video also shows apparently contradictory responses to Capitol police. Some groups involved likely do have <a href="https://theconversation.com/militias-warning-of-excessive-federal-power-comes-true-but-where-are-they-143333">different views of police</a>, but much of the response was driven by whether they believed any given officer was protecting the public or the government.</p>
<p>Some participants told officers they appreciated and supported them, such as the improperly masked officer in that same New Yorker video who asked a man sitting on the Senate floor if he needed medical attention while voicing few objections to their actions. Other participants <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/us/officer-crushed-capitol-riot-video/index.html">physically attacked</a> and <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/01/10/black-capitol-police-officers-say-terrorists-used-n-word/">yelled racist slurs</a> at officers seen as blocking entry into different parts of the building or generally opposing their efforts.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379597/original/file-20210119-21-1jk0gxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The U.S. Capitol is fortified in advance of Joe Biden's inauguration" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379597/original/file-20210119-21-1jk0gxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379597/original/file-20210119-21-1jk0gxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379597/original/file-20210119-21-1jk0gxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379597/original/file-20210119-21-1jk0gxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379597/original/file-20210119-21-1jk0gxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379597/original/file-20210119-21-1jk0gxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379597/original/file-20210119-21-1jk0gxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The U.S. Capitol is fortified in advance of Joe Biden’s inauguration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolBreach/7c8a46f120c042e29684a7a7a93ecba1/photo">AP Photo/Matt Slocum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>On Inauguration Day</h2>
<p>Predicting what may happen on Jan. 20 is difficult, in part because efforts to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/amazon-suspends-hosting-parler-its-servers-citing-violent-content-n1253648">take these groups and their communications offline</a> make systematically monitoring them more difficult. In addition, from conversations I have had with members and from what I can see on message boards, these groups and their members do not yet agree on what their next steps should be.</p>
<p>Several groups who had previously planned to protest either on or shortly before Inauguration Day now say they believe participation to be too risky. That may be a reason behind the <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2021-01-17/statehouses-us-capital-brace-for-potentially-violent-week">relatively low turnout for protests at state capitols on Jan. 17</a>, despite initial promises of mass action. </p>
<p>Some groups are undoubtedly deterred by the <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/01/14/national-guard-dc-presence-will-swell-to-26000-for-biden-inauguration/">increased law enforcement presence</a> in Washington, D.C. Others are now saying they believe plans for demonstrations to be <a href="https://www.michiganadvance.com/2021/01/15/militia-group-bows-out-right-wing-extremist-groups-gear-up-for-sunday-in-lansing/">“false flag” events</a> – essentially fake protests whose true intent is designed to malign people they view as “real patriots,” or to bring them out in the open so the FBI and other agencies can identify them for further arrest or harassment.</p>
<p>Some, influenced by QAnon conspiracy fantasies, even believe that either Trump or Biden may enact <a href="https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/jan/11/fact-checking-claims-about-insurrection-act-martia/">martial law on Inauguration Day</a> – Trump to maintain power, or Biden as part of a broader plan to control citizens and move America toward a dictatorship.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379596/original/file-20210119-14-1h6n2da.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Armed protesters at the New Hampshire Statehouse Jan. 17, 2021" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379596/original/file-20210119-14-1h6n2da.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379596/original/file-20210119-14-1h6n2da.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379596/original/file-20210119-14-1h6n2da.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379596/original/file-20210119-14-1h6n2da.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379596/original/file-20210119-14-1h6n2da.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379596/original/file-20210119-14-1h6n2da.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379596/original/file-20210119-14-1h6n2da.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Armed protesters demonstrated at the New Hampshire Statehouse on Jan. 17.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolBreach-DemonstrationsNewHampshire/7031c50bff574165ab26aa2840083abf/photo">AP Photo/Winslow Townson</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Beyond Jan. 20</h2>
<p>What is more concerning is the potential for small groups or individuals to plan and act well past Jan. 20. </p>
<p>Trump’s inflammatory influence may be long-lasting, and it was not the root cause of unease for many of these groups, whose anti-government stance predates Trump and will outlast him. Even after Biden takes office and does not implement martial law, their suspicion and feelings of alienation will not immediately dissipate.</p>
<p>Some will be looking for signals that they should again act to combat what they see as governmental tyranny. Small groups and individuals may continue to plan violent actions, in what could amount to an uncoordinated campaign of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-domestic-terrorist-designation-wont-stop-extremism-141258">domestic terrorism</a>.</p>
<p>Potential <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/29/us/politics/trump-biden-mask-mandate.html">national mandates</a> related to controlling the coronavirus could be especially important flashpoints for these groups, and Biden’s administration will likely have ongoing and enormous challenges in moving forward without strong – and possibly violent – opposition to change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153580/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Cooter is a prior recipient of the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program.</span></em></p>Looming threats of more possible violence signal broader opposition to the Biden administration in what could become a loose campaign of domestic terrorism.Amy Cooter, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1478252020-10-12T18:17:09Z2020-10-12T18:17:09ZPlot to kidnap Michigan’s governor grew from the militia movement’s toxic mix of constitutional falsehoods and half-truths<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362778/original/file-20201009-23-1gseggi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C9%2C854%2C524&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pete Musico, left, is one of the founding members of the Wolverine Watchmen, as is Joseph Morrison, right. Both were charged in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (Jackson County Sheriff’s Office via AP)</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MichiganGovernor-KidnappingPlot/523aa0e2200846129bf32c9ce4f8899f/photo?Query=Michigan%20AND%20militia&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=49&currentItemNo=0/https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MichiganGovernor-KidnappingPlot/d237ba7029d5460c826f2f8375e11a1e/photo?Query=Michigan%20AND%20militia&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=49&currentItemNo=1">Jackson County Sheriff’s Office via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The U.S. militia movement has long been steeped in a peculiar – and unquestionably mistaken – interpretation of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and civil liberties. </p>
<p>This is true of an armed militia group that calls itself the Wolverine Watchmen, who were involved in the recently revealed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/michigan-governor-kidnap-plot/2020/10/08/0032e206-0980-11eb-9be6-cf25fb429f1a_story.html">plot to overthrow</a> Michigan’s government and kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. </p>
<p>As I wrote in “<a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538123683/Fracturing-the-Founding-How-the-Alt-Right-Corrupts-the-Constitution">Fracturing the Founding: How the Alt-Right Corrupts the Constitution</a>,” published in 2019, the crux of the militia movement’s devotion to what I have called the “alt-right constitution” is a toxic mix of constitutional falsehoods and half-truths. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362816/original/file-20201011-13-leg0z9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addressing the state." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362816/original/file-20201011-13-leg0z9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362816/original/file-20201011-13-leg0z9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362816/original/file-20201011-13-leg0z9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362816/original/file-20201011-13-leg0z9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362816/original/file-20201011-13-leg0z9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362816/original/file-20201011-13-leg0z9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362816/original/file-20201011-13-leg0z9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The men arrested were charged in a plot to kidnap and place on trial Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MichiganGovernorKidnappingPlot/37be31aef6d244d488394d44506fc23f/photo?Query=Whitmer&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=693&currentItemNo=17">Michigan Office of the Governor via AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Private militias</h2>
<p>The term “militia” has many meanings. </p>
<p><a href="https://law.justia.com/constitution/us/article-1/58-the-militia-clauses.html">The Constitution addresses militias in Article 1</a>, authorizing Congress to “provide for organizing, arming and disciplining, the Militia.” </p>
<p>But the Constitution <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/10/10/922679215/the-legality-of-private-militias">makes no provision for private militias</a>, like the far-right Wolverine Watchmen, Proud Boys, Michigan Militia and the Oath Keepers, to name just a few. </p>
<p>Private militias are simply groups of like-minded men – members are <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-embedding-with-the-michigan-militia-5-questions-answered-about-the-group-allegedly-plotting-to-kidnap-a-governor-147876">almost always white males</a> – who subscribe to a sometimes confusing set of beliefs about an avaricious federal government that is hostile to white men and white heritage, and the sanctity of the right to bear arms and private property. They believe that government is under the control of Jews, the United Nations, international banking interests, Leftists, Antifa, Black Lives Matter and so on. There is no evidence of this.</p>
<p>On Oct. 8, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/michigan-governor-kidnap-plot/2020/10/08/0032e206-0980-11eb-9be6-cf25fb429f1a_story.html">FBI arrested six men</a>, five of them from Michigan, and <a href="https://www.mlive.com/crime/2020/10/what-we-know-about-the-militia-members-charged-in-kidnapping-plot-against-michigan-governor.html">charged them with conspiring</a> to kidnap Whitmer. Shortly thereafter, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/us/gretchen-whitmer-michigan-militia.html">state authorities charged an additional seven men</a> with, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/michigan-checks-and-balances-archive-gretchen-whitmer-da09ca66cd8d5f36722021d3593425ff">according to the Associated Press</a>, “allegedly seeking to storm the Michigan Capitol and seek a "civil war.” Included were the founders and several members of the <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/documents/ag/Affidavit_joe_morrison_and_pete_musico_704633_7.pdf">Wolverine Watchmen</a>. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://static.politico.com/e5/1d/aa6277a242e0af889ec06f7e4a12/michiganaffidavit.pdf">revealed in the FBI affidavit</a> accompanying the federal charges, the six men charged claimed to be defenders of the Bill of Rights. Indeed, some of the men in April had participated in <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/08/whitmer-kidnap-plot-capitol-gun-rally/5931604002/">rallies in Lansing</a>, the state capital, where armed citizens tried to force their way onto the floor of the State House to protest <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/16/1937852/-Fringe-right-closes-down-Michigan-capital-with-gridlock-protest-against-coronavirus-measures">Governor Whitmer’s pandemic shut-down orders</a> as a violation of the Constitution by a “tyrannical” government intent upon sacrificing civil liberties in the name of the COVID-19 fight. </p>
<p>According to the FBI’s affidavit, the conspirators wanted to create “a society that followed the U.S. Bill of Rights and where they could <a href="https://static.politico.com/e5/1d/aa6277a242e0af889ec06f7e4a12/michiganaffidavit.pdf?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=00000156-93f5-d63c-a7d6-93ff85830001&nlid=964328">be self-sufficient</a>.” </p>
<p>Militia members imagine themselves to be “the last true American patriots,” “the modern defenders of the United States Constitution in general and the <a href="http://www.sheriffbrigadesofpenn.com/">Second Amendment in particular.</a>”</p>
<p>Hence, the Bill of Rights – and especially the <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-ii">Second Amendment</a>, which establishes the right to bear arms – figure prominently in the alt-constitution. It is no accident that the initial discussions about overthrowing Michigan’s so-called tyrannical governor started at a Second Amendment <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/08/feds-thwart-militia-plot-kidnap-michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer/5922301002/">rally in June</a>. </p>
<p>According to most militias, the Second Amendment authorizes their activity and likewise makes them free of legal regulation by the state. In truth, the Second Amendment does nothing to authorize private armed militias. Private armed militias are explicitly <a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/our-press-releases/fact-sheets-on-unlawful-militias-for-all-50-states-now-available-from-georgetown-laws-institute-for-constitutional-advocacy-and-protection/">illegal in every state</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362779/original/file-20201009-21-1gb0mhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="William Null at a statehouse protest in Michigan." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362779/original/file-20201009-21-1gb0mhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362779/original/file-20201009-21-1gb0mhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362779/original/file-20201009-21-1gb0mhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362779/original/file-20201009-21-1gb0mhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362779/original/file-20201009-21-1gb0mhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362779/original/file-20201009-21-1gb0mhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362779/original/file-20201009-21-1gb0mhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">William Null (right), arrested in the plot to kidnap Whitmer, also participated in this rally on April 30 in the Michigan State Capitol to protest the state government’s pandemic measures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/william-null-stands-in-the-gallery-of-the-michigan-senate-news-photo/1228979697?adppopup=true">Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>No restrictions on rights</h2>
<p>Additional <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538123683/Fracturing-the-Founding-How-the-Alt-Right-Corrupts-the-Constitution">foundational principles of militia constitutionalism include absolutism</a>. Absolutism, in the militia world, is the idea that fundamental constitutional rights – like freedom of speech, the right to bear arms and the right to own property – cannot be restricted or regulated by the state without a citizen’s consent. </p>
<p>The far right’s reading of the First and Second Amendments – which govern free speech and the right to bear arms, respectively – starts from a simple premise: Both amendments are literal and absolute. They believe that the First Amendment allows them to say anything, anytime, anywhere, to anyone, without consequence or reproach by government or even by other citizens who disagree or take offense at their speech.</p>
<p>Similarly, the alt-right gun advocates hold that the Second Amendment protects their God-given right to own a weapon – any weapon – and that governmental efforts to deny, restrict or even to register their weapons must be unconstitutional. They think the Second Amendment trumps every other provision in the Constitution. </p>
<p>Another key belief among militia members is the principle of constitutional self-help. That’s the belief that citizens, acting on their inherent authority as sovereign free men, are ultimately and finally responsible for enforcing the Constitution – as they understand it. </p>
<p>Demonstrating this way of thinking, the men arrested in Michigan discussed taking Gov. Whitmer to a “secure location” in Wisconsin to stand “trial” for treason <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/08/feds-thwart-militia-plot-kidnap-michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer/5922301002/">prior to the Nov. 3 election</a>. According to Barry County, Michigan <a href="https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/michigan/man-charged-in-plot-to-kidnap-whitmer-shared-stage-with-west-michigan-sheriff-at-rally">Sheriff Dar Leaf</a> – a member of the militia-friendly Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officer Association – the men arrested in Michigan were perhaps not trying to kidnap the governor but were instead simply making a citizen’s arrest. </p>
<p>Leaf, who appeared at a Grand Rapids protest in May of Gov. Whitmer’s stay-at-home order along with two of the alleged kidnappers, <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538123683/Fracturing-the-Founding-How-the-Alt-Right-Corrupts-the-Constitution">mistakenly believes</a> that local sheriffs are the highest constitutional authority in the United States, invested with the right to determine which laws support and which laws violate the Constitution. The events in Michigan show how dangerous these mistaken understandings of the Constitution can be.</p>
<h2>There will be more</h2>
<p>The Wolverine Watchmen are not a Second Amendment militia or constitutional patriots in any sense of the word. If they are guilty of the charges brought against them, then they are terrorists. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>The FBI and Michigan law enforcement shut down the Watchmen before an egregious crime and a terrible human tragedy unfolded. But as I concluded just last year in my book, “there is little reason to think the militia movement will subside soon.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I did not account for the possibility that President Trump would encourage militias “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-donald-trump-chris-wallace-0b32339da25fbc9e8b7c7c7066a1db0f">to stand back and stand by</a>,” which seems likely to encourage and embolden groups that already clearly represent a threat. Expect more Michigans. </p>
<p><em>This story incorporates material from <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-alt-right-corrupts-the-constitution-113650">a story published on April 15, 2019</a> in The Conversation.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147825/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John E. Finn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar of militia movements describes the ‘peculiar’ – and erroneous – principles that right-wing militias subscribe to, including believing themselves to be defenders of the Bill of Rights.John E. Finn, Professor Emeritus of Government, Wesleyan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.