During my 14-year stint in law enforcement from 1980-1993 in the Pacific Northwest white supremacist extremism was a constant threat that made leftist militant groups like that SLA look like a Barnes and Noble book club by comparison. At the time law enforcement was tracking hundreds of extremist cells across the country, 3/4ths of which were white supremacist, some with a handful of affiliates, some with hundreds. Bomb threats against colleges like the one where I worked by white supremacists were a constant concern. The KKK, which I think most Americans thought had ceased to exist, was well-organized throughout the Northwest, but they were a negligible threat compared to the various Aryan organizations like the "The Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord" whose recorded message line was a constant source of rants about "race-mixing" at the college (at one point calling for an armed attack on our university's "Racial Unity Dance", in response to which I hired sixty-five off-duty officers for additional security and the Pierce Country sheriff activated the SWAT team.).
Most Americans had no idea how bad things were in Washington and Idaho before the Ruby Ridge incident in '92, and knew nothing of the threats of violence police, sheriffs, and BATF were dealing with because it went all but unreported, including a planned attack on the Seattle federal courthouse in response to the trial of a white supremacist connected to an affiliate group of the "Northwest Territorial Imperative." [That plan was foiled by a WSP officer who I'd trained at the university. He intercepted a van full of machine guns, RPGs and grenades intended for the attack outside of Ritzville on the I-90.]
It was a symptom of the unwillingness at the time of both the media and law enforcement to call out white terrorism that the aforementioned incident was barely a blip in the local news. That hesitancy is not only still with us, but now we have entire television networks promoting white nationalism and senators who publicly call white nationalists "just Americans" and think having them serve in the military with access to military weaponry and ordinance is totes cool. But it's not. From 2010-2019 we know at least 1900 weapons went "missing" from domestic Army, Navy and Marine Corps posts (certainly an undercount, and the Air Force still refuses to give numbers), some of which have turned up in crimes. Imagine terrorists getting their hands on Javelins, M240's, anti-tank mines. I know if I were a terrorist, I'd be recruiting US Army supply and armory personnel who are not only in a position to steal ordnance but conceal the fact that it's missing.
I think we are wildly underestimating the degree and success of recruitment of these dangerous organizations. The Oathkeepers tried to recruit me in 2009 within weeks after they were formed. I'd been out of law enforcement since 1993, but I was still a member of the sheriff's association, which is where I am certain they got or bought my name and address. They would clearly have easy access to law enforcement member and mailing lists from their own affiliates and LE periodicals and associations. And of course, they'd be able to obtain the NRA's mailing list and that of all the gun magazines and military magazines. If anyone thinks the fact that Stuart Rhodes is going to prison has actually changed anything in the Oathkeepers, they are kidding themselves. They will just get smarter and more stealthy in how they recruit and operate.
Personally, I think we're just getting started, and white supremacists have enough allies in governmental positions to make any appropriate and necessary response to the threat difficult if not impossible. Just this last week we learned the Pentagon has dropped their program to deal with white supremacists in response to Republican lawmakers screaming about "wokeness" in the military. So, I am deeply concerned and not optimistic about where this is all going.
Excellent. Thank you Asha. I learned a lot. My friend, Dr. Erroll Southers wrote Homegrown Violent Extremism, which may be of interest to you and your readers.
Thanks Asha - important information connecting the dots. The Toobin and Belew books are key references. I read “Bring The War Home” by Belew recently and was sadly enlightened on how much recruiting for white nationalists causes happens via the US Military and first responders.
The article outlines a good rationale to remove Fox “news” from military bases. Fox TV acts as a Trojan horse of brainwashing and radicalization. It’s an immediate and easy thing to do to ban Fox on bases and other govt sites as a disinformation source that puts American security at risk.
I was working in a screen print shop in Lewisville, TX when news of the OKC bombing dropped. We overrode our very conservative manager and changed his Christian radio over to NPR so we could listen to what was happening. Suddenly, our warehouse manager charges in screaming out Islamic terror and Iran. His son worked with us and had to talk him down. Warehouse manager was a Vietnam vet, big time PTSD, and extremely vocal about conspiracy theories. It was sad having to keep some of the jerks I worked with from pranking him with fireworks and loud bangs. Not long after that, I learned what a Rush Limbaugh was. I look at the whole period working there during that time in a *very* different light these days. Fantastic read!
Well done and comprehensive in drawing a line of connective tissues from the Oklahoma City bombing by Tim Mcveigh to Jan 6 thugs rioting to prevent the peaceful transition of power in the USA. I will add one more disturbing ingredient. Rush Limbaugh began his AM Radio Talk Show on a nationwide basis in 1989. It lasted till his death in 2020. About 31 years of three hours per day, every weekday Mondays through Fridays broadcast in most major cities and small towns across the USA. Talk about indoctrination and brainwashing!! But wait, there’s more. The people behind Rush Limbaugh including successfully negotiated the the US military to have it broadcast on every military base worldwide. In every PX. Asha your scholarship is as always, top notch. The race war theme is huge and it goes back to the mass murderer Charles Manson. The so called coming race war was something he preached to his people as well. It’s such total and complete BS but many white men seem to have this fear and belief in their DNA. We have made much progress in breaking down racism in my own lifetime, but we have many more Miles to trudge before we get home. Onwards.
Sobering & thought-provoking article. It feels like this real-time confluence of elements (bolder racists / anti-semitism, anti-LGBTQ legislation, culturizing of misinformation, mass-shootings + the attendant 'thoughts & prayers' from GOP, defeat of Roe) shows no sign of relenting. The cockroaches are becoming more resilient to sunlight that would have chased them back into the dark only 20 years ago; the comparatively analog era of McVeigh was the only thing that left him much less capable of finding / networking w/ a larger pool of like-minded individuals, in comparison to today's social media market. As the parent of a trans teen, I am weekly demoralized by reports from states like Florida. I encourage unregistered colleagues (especially younger ones) to get signed-up to vote, and attend equal rights rallies whenever I can. I wish there was more I could do. Asha, do you have any suggestions? Best regards, big fan of your work / writing....
During my 14-year stint in law enforcement from 1980-1993 in the Pacific Northwest white supremacist extremism was a constant threat that made leftist militant groups like that SLA look like a Barnes and Noble book club by comparison. At the time law enforcement was tracking hundreds of extremist cells across the country, 3/4ths of which were white supremacist, some with a handful of affiliates, some with hundreds. Bomb threats against colleges like the one where I worked by white supremacists were a constant concern. The KKK, which I think most Americans thought had ceased to exist, was well-organized throughout the Northwest, but they were a negligible threat compared to the various Aryan organizations like the "The Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord" whose recorded message line was a constant source of rants about "race-mixing" at the college (at one point calling for an armed attack on our university's "Racial Unity Dance", in response to which I hired sixty-five off-duty officers for additional security and the Pierce Country sheriff activated the SWAT team.).
Most Americans had no idea how bad things were in Washington and Idaho before the Ruby Ridge incident in '92, and knew nothing of the threats of violence police, sheriffs, and BATF were dealing with because it went all but unreported, including a planned attack on the Seattle federal courthouse in response to the trial of a white supremacist connected to an affiliate group of the "Northwest Territorial Imperative." [That plan was foiled by a WSP officer who I'd trained at the university. He intercepted a van full of machine guns, RPGs and grenades intended for the attack outside of Ritzville on the I-90.]
It was a symptom of the unwillingness at the time of both the media and law enforcement to call out white terrorism that the aforementioned incident was barely a blip in the local news. That hesitancy is not only still with us, but now we have entire television networks promoting white nationalism and senators who publicly call white nationalists "just Americans" and think having them serve in the military with access to military weaponry and ordinance is totes cool. But it's not. From 2010-2019 we know at least 1900 weapons went "missing" from domestic Army, Navy and Marine Corps posts (certainly an undercount, and the Air Force still refuses to give numbers), some of which have turned up in crimes. Imagine terrorists getting their hands on Javelins, M240's, anti-tank mines. I know if I were a terrorist, I'd be recruiting US Army supply and armory personnel who are not only in a position to steal ordnance but conceal the fact that it's missing.
I think we are wildly underestimating the degree and success of recruitment of these dangerous organizations. The Oathkeepers tried to recruit me in 2009 within weeks after they were formed. I'd been out of law enforcement since 1993, but I was still a member of the sheriff's association, which is where I am certain they got or bought my name and address. They would clearly have easy access to law enforcement member and mailing lists from their own affiliates and LE periodicals and associations. And of course, they'd be able to obtain the NRA's mailing list and that of all the gun magazines and military magazines. If anyone thinks the fact that Stuart Rhodes is going to prison has actually changed anything in the Oathkeepers, they are kidding themselves. They will just get smarter and more stealthy in how they recruit and operate.
Personally, I think we're just getting started, and white supremacists have enough allies in governmental positions to make any appropriate and necessary response to the threat difficult if not impossible. Just this last week we learned the Pentagon has dropped their program to deal with white supremacists in response to Republican lawmakers screaming about "wokeness" in the military. So, I am deeply concerned and not optimistic about where this is all going.
Man, this was well-done. I think it took me 8 minutes to read on my phone yet there was so much connective tissue effectively connected.
Bravo, Asha (and Jeff Toobin)!
Excellent. Thank you Asha. I learned a lot. My friend, Dr. Erroll Southers wrote Homegrown Violent Extremism, which may be of interest to you and your readers.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Homegrown_Violent_Extremism.html?id=cyagBAAAQBAJ
A podcast that shows the links between events in far-right extremism in the US is Long Shadow: Rise of the American Right.
Thanks Asha - important information connecting the dots. The Toobin and Belew books are key references. I read “Bring The War Home” by Belew recently and was sadly enlightened on how much recruiting for white nationalists causes happens via the US Military and first responders.
Thank you, Asha.
You have created an awesome piece of work!
The article outlines a good rationale to remove Fox “news” from military bases. Fox TV acts as a Trojan horse of brainwashing and radicalization. It’s an immediate and easy thing to do to ban Fox on bases and other govt sites as a disinformation source that puts American security at risk.
I spent 20 years in federal law enforcement. This is the best synopsis of Timothy McVeigh and the connections to today. Amazing work! Thank You!
I was working in a screen print shop in Lewisville, TX when news of the OKC bombing dropped. We overrode our very conservative manager and changed his Christian radio over to NPR so we could listen to what was happening. Suddenly, our warehouse manager charges in screaming out Islamic terror and Iran. His son worked with us and had to talk him down. Warehouse manager was a Vietnam vet, big time PTSD, and extremely vocal about conspiracy theories. It was sad having to keep some of the jerks I worked with from pranking him with fireworks and loud bangs. Not long after that, I learned what a Rush Limbaugh was. I look at the whole period working there during that time in a *very* different light these days. Fantastic read!
Asha etal,
ICYMI Tonight (28 May) 60 Minutes lead with a short but interesting article on Radio Free Europe.
Well done and comprehensive in drawing a line of connective tissues from the Oklahoma City bombing by Tim Mcveigh to Jan 6 thugs rioting to prevent the peaceful transition of power in the USA. I will add one more disturbing ingredient. Rush Limbaugh began his AM Radio Talk Show on a nationwide basis in 1989. It lasted till his death in 2020. About 31 years of three hours per day, every weekday Mondays through Fridays broadcast in most major cities and small towns across the USA. Talk about indoctrination and brainwashing!! But wait, there’s more. The people behind Rush Limbaugh including successfully negotiated the the US military to have it broadcast on every military base worldwide. In every PX. Asha your scholarship is as always, top notch. The race war theme is huge and it goes back to the mass murderer Charles Manson. The so called coming race war was something he preached to his people as well. It’s such total and complete BS but many white men seem to have this fear and belief in their DNA. We have made much progress in breaking down racism in my own lifetime, but we have many more Miles to trudge before we get home. Onwards.
Excellent read, thank you
My father was in the military. He is pro-Trump. You are right with the extremists
Toobin lacks any credibility since his public masturbation on a zoom call with his publisher.
Sobering & thought-provoking article. It feels like this real-time confluence of elements (bolder racists / anti-semitism, anti-LGBTQ legislation, culturizing of misinformation, mass-shootings + the attendant 'thoughts & prayers' from GOP, defeat of Roe) shows no sign of relenting. The cockroaches are becoming more resilient to sunlight that would have chased them back into the dark only 20 years ago; the comparatively analog era of McVeigh was the only thing that left him much less capable of finding / networking w/ a larger pool of like-minded individuals, in comparison to today's social media market. As the parent of a trans teen, I am weekly demoralized by reports from states like Florida. I encourage unregistered colleagues (especially younger ones) to get signed-up to vote, and attend equal rights rallies whenever I can. I wish there was more I could do. Asha, do you have any suggestions? Best regards, big fan of your work / writing....
Shut the fuck up, you ignorant asshole.