Barry Croft Jr., left, and Adam Fox were found guilty by a federal jury on charges related to a 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Witmer.
Kent County Sheriff's Office via AP
Two men accused of planning to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 have been found guilty. Their backgrounds and the trial itself raise concerns about the role of extremism in America.
Members of the Oath Keepers stand outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press
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.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah speaks after submitting his candidacy papers for the presidential election last November. The poll was postponed.
EPA-EFE/Stringer
The biggest challenge is that the government does not have a monopoly over the legitimate use of force.
The Second Amendment declares the importance of state-government authorized militias, like these National Guard troops guarding the California State Capitol building.
AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli
A recent federal court ruling appeared to expand Second Amendment rights to private citizen militias, which a historian of early America explains is not what the founders intended.
Community policing must be high on the agenda of Nigeria’s new police chief
Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images
Looming threats of more possible violence signal broader opposition to the Biden administration in what could become a loose campaign of domestic terrorism.
A man wearing a T-shirt alluding to the QAnon misinformation campaign walks through the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 incursion.
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Much remains unknown so far about an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but five themes will remain relevant no matter how events unfold.
There is a long history of links between white nationalist movements and the U.S. military.
Bo Zaunders/Corbis Documentary via Getty Images
Some militia members see political unrest as an opportunity to wrest power from an overbearing federal government. But others support strict enforcement of law and order.
Members of the boogaloo have taken to wearing Hawaiian shirts.
(Charlie Riedel/AP)
The boogaloos, a far-right community, have taken to wearing Hawaiian shirts. This co-option is far from the spirit of the shirt, which signifies respect for all animated or inanimate beings.
Jean-Pierre Bemba during his trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, The Netherlands.
EPA-EFE/Michael Kooren
Many militia members have championed the importance of individual rights, but have also backed a president who is now threatening the kind of crackdown they fear.
Sudanese protesting against the conflict in Darfur.
Marwan Ali/EPA-EFE
Ismaila Kane, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
A weakened central power makes it easier for violent groups - like highway bandits, local militias and armed bands of jihadists - to emerge and thrive.
Rural Westerners have been stereotyped as angry ranchers who hate government. But for every gun-wielding militia member, there are many others who work collaboratively to protect what they value.
President Trump proposes to send the National Guard to protect the southern US border. Instead of searching for your old civics textbook, here’s a pocket history of the soldiers in the spotlight.
A surveillance photograph of Vicki Weaver at Ruby Ridge, 1992.
U.S. Marshal Service/Wikimedia Commons