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In the United States, the patriot movement is a term which is used to describe a conglomeration of non-unified right wing populist and nationalist political movements, most notably right-wing armed militias, sovereign citizens, and . Ideologies held by patriot movement groups often focus on anti-government conspiracy theories, with the SPLC describing a common belief that "despise the federal government and/or question its legitimacy." The movement first emerged in 1994 in response to what members saw as "violent government repression" of dissenting groups, along with increased gun control and the Clinton administration.
Several groups within the patriot movement have committed or endorsed violence, with U.S. law enforcement agencies labeling some groups "dangerous, delusional and sometimes violent." Right-wing Counterculture Uses Waco as Rallying Cry| Herald-Journal April 24, 1995 The ADL and The American Scientific Affiliation has noted that groups often have connections to white supremacy, however, their connections to it have shrunk over time due to their recent inclusion of non-white members. AMERICAN MILITIAS: Rebellion, Racism & Religion by Richard Abanes, review by Dennis L. Feucht in American Scientific Affiliation. Major events in America which alarm or inspire the patriot movement include the 1992 Ruby Ridge, the 1993 Waco siege and the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing. Report: 'Explosive' Growth Of 'Patriot Movement' And Militias Continues by Mark Memmott npr.org March 13, 2012 The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) found that the economic decline and nomination of Barack Obama in 2008 caused the movement to "come roaring back", after declining from 800 groups in 1996 to less than 150 groups in 2000.
In 2009, the SPLC expressed concern about a resurgent patriot movement, Militia movement on the rise - 22 August 2009 - MiamiHerald.com and the Department of Homeland Security issued a report warning of heightened "Rightwing Extremism". The SPLC attributed this growth to "an angry backlash against non-white immigration and ... the Great Recession and the Presidency of Barack Obama." It reported the growth of patriot groups with an increase from 149 in 2008, to 824 in 2010, to 1,274 in 2011 Right-wing 'patriot' groups girding for actual class warfare, report says By Patrik Jonsson | csmonitor.com | 8 March 2012 and 1,360 in 2012. According to the SPLC, the "explosive growth seems to have been driven by the election of our first black president and the approaching loss of a white majority in the U.S. that he represents. Another driver is the crash of the economy, which coincided neatly with the rise to national power of President Obama."
The SPLC found that while "there are many people" in the patriot movement "that aren't engaged in illegal activity," the "normalizing of conspiracy theories"—such as the belief that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is building Internment; rumors of covert plans by Mexico to reconquer the American Southwest; and the anxiety Sharia law might become part of the U.S. court system—has played into the growth of the groups. An extremist member of the patriot movement carried out the 2009 anti-abortion murder of George Tiller, and some extremists within the movement also have expressed support for Joseph Stack's 2010 plane crash into an Internal Revenue Service office. The movement was connected to and received a boost in profile from the 2014 Bundy standoff and 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Two members of the movement, Jerad Miller and Amanda Miller, killed two police officers and a civilian during a violent shooting rampage in Las Vegas after leaving the Bundy standoff; they pinned a note to one of their victims saying "This is the beginning of the revolution."
Descriptions of the patriot movement include:
Additionally, the patriot movement has been associated with the following views:
Elements of the patriot movement have expressed support for various conspiracy theories:
In addition to the militia movement, which is said to have come out of the patriot movement, the patriot movement is often associated with the sovereign citizen movement, whose adherents believe that most US laws are illegitimate and do not apply to them.
Views
Various patriot movement aligned groups have frequently been described as Racism, Xenophobia, Extremism, anti-semitic, Islamophobia, anti-immigrant, and Violence by groups such as the SPLC, ADL, and the FBI.
Groups
Groups identifying with the movement include:
See also
Further reading
External links
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