Extremism in America
Right Wing Extremists: Beliefs and Tactics
Extremism
U n d ered u ca ted
U n sop h is tica ted
L oca l P ersp ec tive
L on e W arrio rs
E xtrem is ts
A n ti-Tax
X en op h ob ia
Id en tity C h u rch
C on sp iracy P aran o ia
P atrio tism
Id eo log y
O rg an iza tion s
P rop ag an d a
C om m on L aw C ou rts
V io len ce
Y ou th M ovem en t
Tac tics
E xtrem ism
Extremists
• Undereducated– High school or less
• Unsophisticated– Need scapegoats
• Local Perspective– Narrow world view
• Lone Warriors
Warrior Dreams
• Culture of guns, violence, and victory.
• Lone warrior against the status quo.
• Justified by the doctrine of necessity.
• (James William Gibson, 1994)
Ideology
• Anti-Tax
• Xenophobia
• Identity Church Movement
• Conspiracy Paranoia
• Patriotism
Anti-tax
• Citizenship is a right that is surrendered with application for a social security card.
• Only legitimate government is county government.
• Federal and state taxes are illegal.
• Federal and state courts are illegal.
Xenophobia
• Fear of those who are different.
• This fear is often converted to hate.
• Primary targets of fear/hate are:– Jews– Blacks– Other non-whites– Catholics (occasionally)
Identity Church Movement
• Racial Identity– Enosh - nonwhites– Man - Children of Adam and Eve (whites)– Jews - Offspring of Satan– Mongrels - Mixed races
• Based on misinterpretation of Book of Revelation
Identity Church Movement
• National Identity– Variation of British Israelism– Lost Tribes of Israel – Rebirth of lost tribes as Western civilization– Tribe of Ephraim - England– Tribe of Mannasseh - United States– United States is Holy Land
Conspiracy Paranoia
• Everyone but them involved in conspiracy.
• Favorite conspiracy myths
– New World Order
– Bildebergers
– Trilateral Commission
– Council on Foreign Relations
– Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion
– Freemasons
Patriotism
• Extreme nationalism
• America for Americans– Americans are white Anglo-Saxon
protestants
• The enemy is anyone who disagrees.
Tactics
• Organizations
• Propaganda
• Common Law Courts
• Youth Movement
Organizations
• Survivalist– Militias
• Race-based– Ku Klux Klan
• Neo Nazis– Aryan Nations
Propaganda
• Newsletters• Web sites• Demonstrations• Political campaigns• Leaflets• Street corner preaching
Common Law Courts
• The Common Law Court movement is primarily an anti-tax movement.
• The founding father was William Potter Gale, an early minister and chief spokesman for the theology known as Christian Identity.
• In the 1970s Gale, who also founded the violent tax protest group, Posse Comitatus.
Posse Comitatus
• Proposed that the only legitimate government under old English common law is the county.
• Likewise, the county sheriff is the only recognized legitimate police official.
Posse Comitatus
• Gale’s ideology includes the belief that the United States Government is really a private corporation rather than a legitimate government.
• Such ideas come from a manipulation of various sources including the Magna Carta, English Common Law, U.S. Constitution, the Bible, Black’s Law Dictionary, and the 1828 version of Webster’s Dictionary
Common Law Courts
• With this philosophy, Common Law Court adherents argue that the American judicial system has failed and that the U.S. Constitution has been subverted.
• They claim the right to retry cases from these illegal courts in their own courts where they would receive a more sympathetic hearing.
Common Law Courts
• Primary tactics are:– Filing bogus liens– Filing bogus involuntary bankruptcy
notifications
• Such legal documents are submitted by the Common Law Court to a county court clerk.
Common Law Courts
• Unaware or untrained clerks accept these as real.
• The victim spends years and large sums of money clearing these notices from their credit histories and/or mortgage records.
Common Law Courts
• The targets are typically government officials.
• In Texas, $1.7 billion dollars in false liens have been filed against the Attorney General and various state judges.
Youth Movement
• Skinheads– Disenchanted youth– More violent– Susceptible to manipulation
