Whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump wins next Tuesday, the militia movement isn’t waiting to prepare for what comes next. They’re ready now.
The Reuters news agency today reported on a Georgia group called the Three Percent Security Force* which was conducting training operations in the woods near Jackson, a small town southeast of Atlanta near the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge.
As the most divisive presidential election in recent memory nears its conclusion, some armed militia groups are preparing for the possibility of a stolen election on Nov. 8 and civil unrest in the days following a victory by Democrat Hillary Clinton.
They say they won’t fire the first shot, but they’re not planning to leave their guns at home, either.
In a video that accompanies the Reuters report (unfortunately I cannot embed it here) the leader of this particular group, a paralegal named Chris Hill who goes by the codename “Bloodagent,” said his group expects violence whatever happens on Election Day.
Back in Georgia, the Three Percent Security Force wrapped up rifle practice in the midday sun. They then headed further into the trees to tackle an obstacle course with loaded pistols at their sides, ready for whatever may come.
“We’ve building up for this, just like the Marines,” he said. “We are going to really train harder and try to increase our operational capabilities in the event that this is the day that we hoped would never come.”
Meanwhile, closer to home, at least two Michigan militia groups — the Michigan Militia Corps Wolverines and the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia — have scheduled a training day for this coming Saturday in Lapeer, about an hour’s drive from where I live.
The second group, SMVM, has scheduled a meeting for Nov. 9 to “discuss the next 90 days after the election and the future of this nation.” Or, as their promotional material puts it, “The 9th of November: A Perfect Storm Arrives in 2016.”
I’ve been writing about these groups a lot lately. Like here. And here. And here. And again here. There’s good reason for it. They are an increasingly visible part of this deeply disturbing election season.
But most importantly, while few in number, they are more than enough to cause a lot of mayhem. And some of them are itching for the opportunity.
*Some militia groups include the phrase “Three Percent” in their name, or describe themselves as “Three Percenter” militias in reference to their claim that during the American Revolution only three percent of colonists took up arms against the tyranny of British rule. They see themselves as the equivalent today. They maintain a robust online presence which you can look up for yourself. The Anti-Defamation League first wrote about them in 2009, about a year after the first Three Percenter groups emerged on the militia scene.