All posts tagged "Militia"

A special forces soldier turned motivational speaker who led a civilian disaster response to Hurricane Helene last fall, generating an Army investigation into whether he was leading an armed militia group, is running for Congress in North Carolina.

In the final stretch of the 2024 presidential campaign, Adam R. Smith’s Savage Freedoms Relief Operations won praise from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, as he sought to discredit federal disaster response efforts under then-President Joe Biden.

But as reported by Raw Story, Smith’s effort, part of a surge of armed civilians, many with military experience, also contributed intentionally or not to a climate of intimidation that led to the evacuation of a state medical assistance team including contract workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the investigation by U.S. Army Special Operations Command....

The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) has banned Matt Wakulik, a podcaster and self-proclaimed militia leader with a history of violent and often antisemitic statements, from a memorial service commemorating the attack on the USS Liberty this weekend — though survivors appear to be quietly moving forward with plans to feature him as a guest speaker.

Earlier this week, Raw Story reported that Wakulik cited antisemitic conspiracy theories in calling for the execution of President Donald Trump and the torture of FBI director Kash Patel.

The Liberty, a U.S. Navy ship, became the subject of such theories when it was attacked in error by Israeli forces in June 1967, resulting in the death of 34 U.S. service members and the wounding of 173. ...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has sought to recreate the Florida State Guard, a World War II-era volunteer force intended to supplement the state's National Guard for non-military missions like emergencies and natural disasters.

But according to the Miami Herald, droves of veterans who were brought in for training quickly quit — because they realized they were being given purely military training, for a force that looked like it would have a military mission.

"Over 30 days in June, teenagers out of high school and retired military veterans came to Camp Blanding, the National Guard base near Jacksonville. Many were told they would volunteer for a revived State Guard with a non-military mission: help Floridians in times of need or disaster," reported Lawrence Mower, Emma Rose Brown, and Ana Ceballos. However, when they arrived, "the state’s National Guard trained the volunteers for combat. Khakis and polos were replaced by camouflaged uniforms. Volunteers assured they could keep their facial hair were ordered to shave. And they were drilled on how to rappel with ropes, navigate through the woods and respond to incidents under military command."...

Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller's use of private security guards who "arrested" and handcuffed a blogger-journalist following a Miller campaign event on Sunday is continuing to raise questions about the candidate's affiliations.

The U.S. militia movement sees itself as a bulwark against encroaching government powers -- a way to maintain individual liberty in an era of what they see as ever-growing state control over people's lives.