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Armed and Underground: Inside the Turbulent, Secret World of an American Militia

Last February, some 20 men and their wives gathered for dinner at an upscale restaurant in Spokane, Washington, for their annual Valentine’s Day celebration. The men weren’t just friends; they did community service work together. They had been featured on local television, in khakis and baseball caps, delivering 1,200 pounds of food to an area veterans’ center; they were gearing up for their next food drive, which they called Operation Hunger Smash. A few days after the holiday, the men went camping in the snow-speckled mountains outside Spokane, where they grilled rib-eyes and bacon-wrapped asparagus over a bonfire.

They also engaged in more menacing activities. They assembled regularly — sometimes wearing night-vision goggles in the dark — to practice storming buildings together with semiautomatic rifles. Their drills included using sniper rifles to shoot targets from distances of half a mile. And they belonged to a shadowy organization whose members were debating, with ever more intensity, whether they should engage in mass-scale political violence.

They were among the thousands of members of American Patriots Three Percent, a militia that has long been one of the largest in the United States and has mostly managed to avoid scrutiny. Its ranks included cops and convicted criminals, active-duty U.S. soldiers and small-business owners, truck drivers and health care professionals. Like other militias, AP3 has a vague but militant right-wing ideology, a pronounced sense of grievance and a commitment to armed action. It has already sought to shape American life through vigilante operations: AP3 members have “rounded up” immigrants at the Texas border, assaulted Black Lives Matter protesters and attempted to crack down on people casting absentee ballots.

Now with the presidential election less than 100 days away, AP3 members see the fate of their country turning on a turbulent, charged campaign. They’re certain that Democrats will try to steal — not for the first time, in their view — the White House from Donald Trump. “The next election won’t be decided at a Ballot Box,” an AP3 leader wrote several months ago in a private Telegram chat. “It’ll be decided at the ammo box.” He has said he is ready to force his way into voting centers if need be, or “whatever it takes.”

girlfreddy OP ,
@girlfreddy@lemmy.ca avatar

“The next election won’t be decided at a Ballot Box,” an AP3 leader wrote several months ago in a private Telegram chat. “It’ll be decided at the ammo box.”

Well that’s not a little terrifying. :/

HK65 ,

How is this not a crime that gets counterterrorist units involved immediately?

Its ranks included … active-duty U.S. soldiers

How is this not a crime that gets the military police involved immediately?

“Don’t mind us, we’re just running a terrorist training camp here!”

Seriously, WTF?

Corkyskog ,

Because it’s not a crime if it supports the interests of the wealth holders.

JesusSon ,
@JesusSon@lemmy.world avatar

Please, just vote. I don’t care if you have to miss work and wait in line 12 hours to do it. There has never been a time when it has been more important.

Get your friends, pick up your family members, ask your neighbors if they need a ride, and go vote. Even if the news tells you that Harris has a commanding lead and polls show her winning, get up get in your car, take the bus, call a cab, run, walk, hitchhike, bike to the polls, and vote.

Vote because your rights depend on it.

CheapFrottage ,

Why did it take reading about right-wing nutters to let me know about bacon-wrapped asparagus?! How am I this late to that particular party? Or is that a thing only for the fash?

ArcaneSlime ,

Sorry if right wing people do something it’s off limits for everyone else, like the OK symbol, remember? That means no bacon wrapped anything for us, just kale, sprouts, and vegan “meat” are all we have left. We can’t even drink water anymore, since Trump drinks it of course. Can’t even sit on a couch anymore now either since someone had to fuck one. 'S a shame really.

MediaBiasFactChecker Bot ,

Propublica - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)Information for Propublica:
> MBFC: Left-Center - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: High - United States of America
> Wikipedia about this source

Search topics on Ground.Newshttps://www.propublica.org/article/inside-secret-ap3-militia-american-patriots-three-percent

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