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The Truth About MAGA Rep. Lauren Boebert's Ties to Militias.... FRIENDS IN SHADY PLACES
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-truth-about-maga-rep-lauren-boeberts-ties-to-militias
When The Daily Beast found an alleged Capitol rioter in a beaming, gun-toting selfie in front of Rep. Lauren Boebert’s restaurant, it wasn’t the only example of far-right militia fanboys looking to the Colorado member of Congress for inspiration. As she’s risen to national office on a platform of Wild West gun culture, Boebert has displayed a strange habit of hanging around militia members, posing for selfies with them, and proclaiming herself “the militia.” The associations never caused much trouble for the freshman congresswoman in her rise to power. But ever since militia members, QAnon cultists, and other extremists stormed the Capitol, Boebert’s chumminess with the far right is coming into an uncomfortable focus. So who’s she been hanging out with?
Three Percent discount: Robert Gieswein, who was seen in photos both before and during the riot allegedly clashing with police officers, wielding a baseball bat, and moving throughout the Capitol alongside other rioters, posted a photo of himself and three other men in front of Boebert’s bar, Shooters Grill, brandishing an assault rifle and flashing the hand sign for the Three Percenters, a far-right militia. Though Gieswein’s picture was taken in November 2018, well before Boebert started her run for office, the photo was a sign that Boebert’s business had fans on the far right. Those fans stuck by her when she traded her job as a restauranteur for a seat in Congress.
The Colorado Times Recorder found a post in a since-deleted Three Percenter militia Facebook group which called for members to assist in providing “perimeter security” for the would-be congresswoman while she was campaigning in Pueblo, Colorado, in late July. The same post claimed that the group had been invited by Boebert’s campaign. In December 2019, Three Percenters again appeared alongside Boebert when she attended a gun-rights rally in Denver. Boebert, who was then just beginning her candidacy to unseat incumbent Republican Scott Tipton, is visible in a picture published on Facebook which shows her smiling on the Colorado state capitol steps with at least three men flashing the Three Percenter sign. Boebert didn’t answer questions from The Daily Beast about her thoughts on the militia movement but on Twitter over the summer, she was more succinct. “I am the militia. #2A #WeThePeople,” she wrote.
Link to tweet
Origin story: According to an interview Boebert gave with Gunpowder Magazine, Edwards Wilks played a role in her education as a gun-rights enthusiast and open carrier. In the interview, Boebert claims that Shooters Grill didn’t start out as an open carry-themed restaurant until a man was killed in an altercation behind the Grill. At that point, she “sought out advice from a local business owner,” Wilks, who owned a gun store next to the restaurant. “And that's when you explained to me Colorado’s open carry laws and then I purchased the [Taurus Judge handgun] and began to open carry and you began to educate me on how important it is to defend yourself, the right that we have to keep and bear arms,” she told Wilks in the video. The Colorado Sun has twice identified Wilks, Boebert’s guide to the world of firearms, as a member of the far-right Oath Keepers militia.
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Bang Bang and the white nationalists
13 replies
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https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/three-percenters
Key Points
Three Percenters are part of the militia movement, which supports the idea of a small number of dedicated “patriots” protecting Americans from government tyranny, just as the patriots of the American Revolution protected early Americans from British tyranny. The Three Percenter concept, created in 2008, is based on an inaccurate historical claim that only three percent of Americans fought in the Revolutionary War against the British. Three Percenters may join or form traditional militia groups but often form non-paramilitary groups or online networks. Many are not associated with any particular groups. The Three Percenter concept both contributed to and benefited from the resurgence of the militia movement that began in 2008. Because many adherents to the militia movement strongly support President Trump, in recent years, Three Percenters have not been as active in opposing the federal government, directing their ire at other perceived foes, including leftists/antifa, Muslims and immigrants. Three Percenters have been active in 2019-2020 in reaction to a range of issues, including attempts to pass state level gun control measures, state-imposed restrictions and lockdowns to prevent spread of the coronavirus, and the protests that have taken place around the country over the May 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Three Percenters have a track record of criminal activity ranging from weapons violations to terrorist plots and attacks.
Origins
Three Percenters (also known as 3%ers, III%ers, and Threepers) are anti-government extremists who are part of the militia movement. They compare their hostility to the federal government with the opposition of American patriots to the British during the American Revolution. The term itself is a reference to a false belief that the number of Americans who fought against the British during the Revolutionary War amounted to only three percent of the population at the time (historians say that percentage was actually far higher). Three Percenters believe that, just as a small revolutionary vanguard overthrew the tyrannical British rule in America, a dedicated group of modern patriots could rid the United States of today’s alleged tyranny. Though the media often refer to Three Percenters as a movement or a group, they are neither. Rather, they constitute a major part of the broader anti-government militia movement, whose ideology they share. Some Three Percenters form militia groups, while others form non-paramilitary groups or create online networks; even more are active as individual or unaffiliated Three Percenters.
The Three Percenter concept may be best understood as a way to simplify, popularize and spread the ideology and beliefs of the militia movement. The militia movement is a right-wing anti-government extremist movement that arose in 1993-94. Its core belief centered on the idea that the federal government is collaborating with a shadowy globalist and socialist conspiracy (often referred to as the “New World Order”) in order to strip Americans of their rights and freedoms, starting with their right to bear arms, so that Americans can be made slaves to the New World Order and its agenda. Militia activists view the federal government as tyrannical and illegitimate; some seek to defend Americans from its perceived ravages, while others occasionally plot to attack the government.
The Three Percenter concept originated in 2008 on a blog, the Sipsey Street Irregulars, run by Mike Vanderboegh, an Alabama-based anti-government extremist who had been involved in the militia movement for many years. In the mid-1990s, Vanderboegh claimed to be commander of an Alabama militia group, the First Alabama Cavalry Regiment, though he appeared to be its sole member. After the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Vanderboegh became better known for popularizing anti-government conspiracy theories about the bombing, particularly through an on-line newsletter known as the John Doe Times. The title is a reference to “John Doe #2,” the identifier given to a notional bombing co-conspirator by law enforcement in the early days of the investigation.
snip
In Search of John Doe No. 2: The Story the Feds Never Told About the Oklahoma City Bombing
Federal officials insist that the Oklahoma City bombing case was solved a decade ago. But a Salt Lake City lawyer in search of his brother’s killers has dug up some remarkable clues—on cross-dressing bank robbers, the FBI, and the mysterious third man.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/07/search-john-doe-no-2-story-feds-never-told-about-oklahoma-city-bombing/
Andreas Strassmeir
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Strassmeir
Key Points
Three Percenters are part of the militia movement, which supports the idea of a small number of dedicated “patriots” protecting Americans from government tyranny, just as the patriots of the American Revolution protected early Americans from British tyranny. The Three Percenter concept, created in 2008, is based on an inaccurate historical claim that only three percent of Americans fought in the Revolutionary War against the British. Three Percenters may join or form traditional militia groups but often form non-paramilitary groups or online networks. Many are not associated with any particular groups. The Three Percenter concept both contributed to and benefited from the resurgence of the militia movement that began in 2008. Because many adherents to the militia movement strongly support President Trump, in recent years, Three Percenters have not been as active in opposing the federal government, directing their ire at other perceived foes, including leftists/antifa, Muslims and immigrants. Three Percenters have been active in 2019-2020 in reaction to a range of issues, including attempts to pass state level gun control measures, state-imposed restrictions and lockdowns to prevent spread of the coronavirus, and the protests that have taken place around the country over the May 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Three Percenters have a track record of criminal activity ranging from weapons violations to terrorist plots and attacks.
Origins
Three Percenters (also known as 3%ers, III%ers, and Threepers) are anti-government extremists who are part of the militia movement. They compare their hostility to the federal government with the opposition of American patriots to the British during the American Revolution. The term itself is a reference to a false belief that the number of Americans who fought against the British during the Revolutionary War amounted to only three percent of the population at the time (historians say that percentage was actually far higher). Three Percenters believe that, just as a small revolutionary vanguard overthrew the tyrannical British rule in America, a dedicated group of modern patriots could rid the United States of today’s alleged tyranny. Though the media often refer to Three Percenters as a movement or a group, they are neither. Rather, they constitute a major part of the broader anti-government militia movement, whose ideology they share. Some Three Percenters form militia groups, while others form non-paramilitary groups or create online networks; even more are active as individual or unaffiliated Three Percenters.
The Three Percenter concept may be best understood as a way to simplify, popularize and spread the ideology and beliefs of the militia movement. The militia movement is a right-wing anti-government extremist movement that arose in 1993-94. Its core belief centered on the idea that the federal government is collaborating with a shadowy globalist and socialist conspiracy (often referred to as the “New World Order”) in order to strip Americans of their rights and freedoms, starting with their right to bear arms, so that Americans can be made slaves to the New World Order and its agenda. Militia activists view the federal government as tyrannical and illegitimate; some seek to defend Americans from its perceived ravages, while others occasionally plot to attack the government.
The Three Percenter concept originated in 2008 on a blog, the Sipsey Street Irregulars, run by Mike Vanderboegh, an Alabama-based anti-government extremist who had been involved in the militia movement for many years. In the mid-1990s, Vanderboegh claimed to be commander of an Alabama militia group, the First Alabama Cavalry Regiment, though he appeared to be its sole member. After the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Vanderboegh became better known for popularizing anti-government conspiracy theories about the bombing, particularly through an on-line newsletter known as the John Doe Times. The title is a reference to “John Doe #2,” the identifier given to a notional bombing co-conspirator by law enforcement in the early days of the investigation.
snip
In Search of John Doe No. 2: The Story the Feds Never Told About the Oklahoma City Bombing
Federal officials insist that the Oklahoma City bombing case was solved a decade ago. But a Salt Lake City lawyer in search of his brother’s killers has dug up some remarkable clues—on cross-dressing bank robbers, the FBI, and the mysterious third man.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/07/search-john-doe-no-2-story-feds-never-told-about-oklahoma-city-bombing/
Andreas Strassmeir
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Strassmeir
