Armed Militias Face Off With The "Antifa" In The New Landscape Of Political Protest
Fresh Air (NPR)
August 23, 2017
Mark Pitcavage of the Anti-Defamation League says the militia movement has created a conspiracy theory about the anti-fascist protesters, saying they're domestic terrorists backed by George Soros.
(From transcript)
DAVE DAVIES, HOST:
This is Dave Davies, in for Terry Gross, who is off this week.
The Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. 12 days ago that turned deadly attracted white supremacists and neo-Nazis along with a large crowd of counter-protesters.
Also among the crowd were men in camouflage, heavily armed, some carrying assault-style rifles.
These were members of the American militia movement, who say they were there not to support white supremacists but as a third force to keep the peace between opposing sides and ensure the right of free speech.
Our guest, Mark Pitcavage, has been studying militia groups for decades.
He's a senior researcher at the Center for Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League.
He says these groups strongly supported Donald Trump for president and many prepared for armed confrontation in anticipation of a Hillary Clinton win.
But Trump's victory surprised the anti-government troops and sent them in search of a new target for their anger.
We turn to Mark Pitcavage for some background on militia groups and how they're changing in the era of President Trump.
Mark Pitcavage, welcome to Fresh Air.
Let's talk about militias.
I guess by definition, they are armed groups.
How long have the current active militia groups been around?
MARK PITCAVAGE:
Well, the militia movement arose in 1994 in opposition to federal gun laws, the election of Bill Clinton, NAFTA, and particularly deadly standoffs with federal law enforcement at Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas in the early 1990s.
So it's been around over 20 years now.
DAVIES:
And what do they stand for?
PITCAVAGE:
The militia movement is an anti-government extremist movement.
It's part of a broader movement called the patriot movement, which also includes the sovereign citizen movement and the tax protest movement.
The foundational belief of the militia movement is a conspiracy theory, an anti-government conspiracy theory that posits that the rest of the world has essentially been taken over by a globalist tyrannical government.
Read more of transcript, or Listen to entire interview:
http://www.npr.org/2017/08/23/545509627/armed-militias-face-off-with-the-antifa-in-the-new-landscape-of-political-protest
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