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I saw this on yahoo this morning and thought it was interesting. Here is a few parts from the article. Read the full one Here

Officials see rise in militia groups across U.S.

Associated Press Writer Eileen Sullivan, Associated Press Writer – Wed Aug 12, 3:50 am ET

WASHINGTON – Militia groups with gripes against the government are regrouping across the country and could grow rapidly, according to an organization that tracks such trends.

The stress of a poor economy and a liberal administration led by a black president are among the causes for the recent rise, the report from the Southern Poverty Law Center says. Conspiracy theories about a secret Mexican plan to reclaim the Southwest are also growing amid the public debate about illegal immigration.

Bart McEntire, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told SPLC researchers that this is the most growth he's seen in more than a decade.

"All it's lacking is a spark," McEntire said in the report.

It's reminiscent of what was seen in the 1990s — right-wing militias, people ideologically against paying taxes and so-called "sovereign citizens" are popping up in large numbers, according to the report to be released Wednesday. The SPLC is a nonprofit civil rights group that, among other activities, investigates hate groups.


While anti-government sentiment has been on the rise over the last two years, there aren't as many threats and violent acts at this point as there were in the 1990s, according to the report. That movement bore the likes of Timothy McVeigh, who in 1995 blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City and killed 168 people.

But McEntire fears it's only a matter of time.

These militias are concentrated in the Midwest, Pacific Northwest and the Deep South, according to Mark Potok, an SPLC staff director who co-wrote the report. Recruiting videos and other outreach on the Internet are on the rise, he said, and researchers from his center found at least 50 new groups in the last few months.

The militia movement of the 1990s gained traction with growing concerns about gun control, environmental laws and anything perceived as liberal government meddling.

The spark for that movement came in 1992 with an FBI standoff with white separatist Randall Weaver at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. Weaver's wife and son were killed by an FBI sniper. And in 1993, a 52-day standoff between federal agents and the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas, resulted in nearly 80 deaths. These events rallied more people who became convinced that the government would murder its own citizens to promote its liberal agenda.

Now officials are seeing a new generation of activists, according to the report. The law center spotlights Edward Koernke, a Michigan man who hosts an Internet radio show about militias. His father, Mark, was a major figure in the 1990s militia movement and served six years in prison for charges including assaulting police.

Last year, officials warned about an increase in activity from militias in a five-year threat projection by the Homeland Security Department.

"White supremacists and militias are more violent and thus more likely to conduct mass-casualty attacks on the scale of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing," the threat projection said.

A series of domestic terrorism incidents over the past year have not been directly tied to organized militias, but the rhetoric behind some of the crimes are similar with that of the militia movement. For instance, the man charged with the April killings of three Pittsburgh police officers posted some of his views online. Richard Andrew Poplawski wrote that U.S. troops could be used against American citizens, and he thinks a gun ban could be coming.

The FBI's assistant director for counterterrorism, Michael Heimbach, said that law enforcement officials need to identify people who go beyond hateful rhetoric and decide to commit violent acts and crimes. Heimbach said one of the bigger challenges is identifying the lone-wolf offenders.

One alleged example of a lone-wolf offender is the 88-year-old man charged in the June shooting death of a guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.


I don't know about you, but I don't care what color our president is. He could be purple for all I care. I hate how the media thinks that we are racists. I don't like Obama for his views and how he is leading our country.

I'm willing to bet that most of those "militia groups" that AP Obama is referring to are just activist groups that are peacefully protesting all of this increased government control.

Ditto. It blows my mind how stupid people are. You know I heard an online story (don't remember it exactly except the point of it) and there were actual citizen militia rising up. But they aren't violent or plotting to kill Obama. They are practicing and readying themselves incase something horrible happens.

Well, if Obama completely violates the Constitution or throws it out completely, then he's really no longer president since on inauguration day he swore to uphold the Constitution. If Barack Obama violates the Constitution, then he's breached his oath, and really is no longer president. That means he ceases to be Commander in Chief, and therefore is NOT treason to attack his forces (but that probably won't hold up in his """""""""""""""""""""""""""court""""""""""""""""""""""""""" of """""""""""""""""""""""""""law""""""""""""""""""""""""""" (I use those terms so loosely that they really don't have much meaning in that context))

Well I guess the good news(if you call it that) that you won't be alone when your hanged. There will be a few along with you who stood for what they believe in.

Then don't get captured! Force Obama's troops to kill you! Run out of ammo? That's what a bayonet is for! Too injured to move? I bet you still have one grenade or bomb you can light, don't you?

Ya know, if I actually had some machine tools, a furnace capable of melting steel, a 90% platinum and 10% rhodium catalyst, a way to get a lot of ammonia without raising suspicion, a supply of mercury, and knew how to make smokeless powder, I would have made at least three guns and plenty of ammo by now... but I don't, much to the relieve of Obaminations.

In that time I've already had four vicious attack cats trained for anything. They can penetrate the enemy lines with their cuteness but never be corrupted since I have hand raised them all. Plus I have a neighbors that own horses. If we needed a natural get away into the woods behind my house I'm pretty sure nobody would be able to catch us.