I’ve heard about all the militias in the south and mississipi region.
Who are they?
What do they do?
Why did they form?
Take in mind this is from the michael moore thread which found out that a certain militia grouped up becuase they had all lost their jobs.
Well, it depends what you mean by “militia.”
Some states have active organizations of armed citizens that form a militia and can be called upon to defend the state in case of invasion, or assist during emergencies and natural disasters.
Also, there are groups of nutballs who have some guns and form small groups with the eventual goal of taking over the country. These people are usually aligned with white nationalists, neo-nazis, and other nefarious organizations. Often they keep to themselves and play soldier all day, but occasionally you’ll hear about the ATF raiding these militia compounds and seizing illegal weapons, and so forth.
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Oh pu-leeze… And what, may I ask, are you basing your assertion on? Have you ever even talked to someone involved with a citizen militia? Or are you basing your opinion on “media” accounts?
Expanding on Friedo’s reply: The meaning of the term militia in the U.S. varies, depending on context. In can refer to:
The historical organizations of armed citizens, separate from the regular Army, that fought against the British in the Revolution. Later, these groups were available to resist foreign invasions or domestic rebellions, and AFAIK, have all evolved into either categories #2 or #3 below.
The present day organized armed forces of the various states, usually called the National Guard. Members of the National Guard are mostly part-time soldiers, unless called up by the governor. In recent history, this has taken place in the case of natural disaster, rioting which is beyond the capabilites of the police to handle, or other emergency such as 9/11.
All of the physically capable male citizens of military age in a state. This concept has a legal basis in at least some states, but is of little or no modern-day relevance.
Private groups, usually armed, with no government links. I’m no expert on these. Most seem to have anti-government beliefs, ranging from reasonably coherent conspiracy theories.
If the OP is asking about the state-affiliated (or at least condoned) militias of the US south during the height of the civil rights era, that’s something completely different. Several states had them with Miss.'s being the most notorious. They gathered information on civil rights activists, organized actions against them (including murder), etc. The existence of such groups, their memberships and their activities was kept under wraps for the most part until the late '80s and it still has been just a slow trickle of info. A very dark side of the US for many decades.
Crafter_Man. If you have any concrete and verifiable information indicating that the extremely widely held view of current militia groups is in any way being misrepresented, please feel free to start a thread in Great Debates.
Um, I’m in a citizen militia, Crafter, specifically the first kind I mentioned in my OP, so yes.
Friedo asserted citizen militias are usually aligned with white nationalists, neo-nazis, etc. (emphasis added). Since this is GQ, I assume he has: a) a convincing basis for this assertion, or b) strong evidence or experience to lead one to such a conclusion. I would simply like to see him support his statement. (Note that I am not looking for a “cite” or “demonstrative proof,” as such does not exist. But in the spirit of GQ, I think anyone making such a sweeping claim should at least attempt to back up their claim.)
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Random *
**
The present day organized armed forces of the various states, usually called the National Guard. Members of the National Guard are mostly part-time soldiers, unless called up by the governor. In recent history, this has taken place in the case of natural disaster, rioting which is beyond the capabilites of the police to handle, or other emergency such as 9/11.
All of the physically capable male citizens of military age in a state. This concept has a legal basis in at least some states, but is of little or no modern-day relevance.
You are certainly right about Item Three, all men of certain ages are defined in US Code as the Unorganized Militia of the United States. A forgotten legalism.
On Item Two you are slightly mistaken. The National Guard (and Air Guard) are not the State Militas of an earlier era. (Although most outfits still carry the colors of those old regiments.) The Milita is (in several of the United States at least) a third-tier of military force run by the states exclusively.
In Maryland (for example, my birthplace) it is little more than a few retired guys at the Military Department, but in theory they are the nucelus of a Maryland Army to be used in the state for state purposes. The Militia does not meet federal training or equipment requirments (as the Gurad must). Again a historic relic.
I thought the organ used in Mississippi was somehitng called the Soverty Commission. I certainly could be wrong on that however.
No he didn’t. He said that “groups of nutballs who have some guns and form small groups with the eventual goal of taking over the country” are usually aligned with white nationalists and neo-nazis. He specifically separated those from productive citizen militias. Or do you define ‘citizen militia’ as a group of nutballs aiming to take over the country?
Crafter_Man, this is the whole paragraph that you excerpted from above. friedo did not make such a claim about ‘citizen militias,’ as you claim, but about ‘groups of nutballs…with the eventual goal of taking over the country.’ Which of these groups are you defending?
To add to my point, the New York State Constitution says in Article XII:
The specific legislation that deals with New York’s militia is Chapter 36 of the New York State Consolidated Laws, which defines the militia thusly:
This is similar to the state militia that most states in the US have, and by virtue of being an armed able-bodied male I am part of the latter group.
I have not heard of any non-state sanctioned militia groups that were not nutballs.
Here’s the official page of the Virginia Defense Force.
You can see here that
And that page also offers a quote from 32 U.S.C. Sec. 109, which states:
Okay, okay. I just wanted to bury the weekend warrior end of the answer under some code.
Now, can we please talk about the lunatics and who started calling them “militias,” how long such organizations have been around, their intentions, and their numbers? I’m curious to know such things, and I have a suspicion that’s what the OP wanted as well.
The militia movement, R.I.P.
Militias (of the non-state-sanctioned variety) are what happens when people take talk radio and/or Ayn Rand a little too seriously.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Paul in Saudi *
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I’m not sure I follow your point about the (organized) state militia and the National Guard. If you’re saying that they are two different things, I disagree, at least in my state (Illinois). By Illinois statute, the organized militia is the Illinois National Guard. 20 ILCS 1805/5. If you’re saying that the organized militia/National Guard now is in part under Federal control, I agree, although I don’t know much about the extent of that control, and don’t have time to research it today.
My first reply should have concluded: “…ranging from the reasonably coherent to bizarre conspiracy theories.”
That may be true in Illinois, but the point is some states maintain militia seperate from the National Guard. In my above cited statute from New York, the organized militia includes the National Guard, as well as the New York Naval Militia and the New York Guard, which are controlled entirely by the state, as far as I know.
Do the neo nazis really think they’ll ever get support from the outright majority?
sorry for the hijack
You have to be pretty crazy to be a neo-nazi to begin with, so I imagine so.