This weekly update features some of the following:
- Formations of a few militia groups in CA and elsewhere
- Boogaloo adherent and defense contractor charged in TX and NM
- Wolverine Watchmen planned to blow up a commuter bridge
- Georgia cop outed as Nazi leader, arrested with 11 illegal guns
- Ammo shortages impacting militia training
News from the West Coast
Some in Calaveras County, California have been trying to put together a militia, the Calaveras Community Service Militia. Doug Rockey, the group’s primary organizer, said his ‘militia’ would not be armed, though he himself owns a gun store. Rockey told CBS13 Sacramento that he used the militia to “attract attention”. The formation attracted immediate backlash from locals.
Elsewhere in California, a group of anti-vax moms launched their own militia, called the “Mamalitia”. They’ve technically been meeting for close to a month, but have many more meetings planned in the future.
News from the Southwest
San Antonio Boogaloo Boy Cameron Emersen Casey Rankin pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges this past week. Federal prosecutors also allege that Rankin made threats on social media and was present at the Alamo in May 2020.
A New Mexico-based defense contractor was charged by the FBI this past week. He holds a security clearance and told federal agents he went to DC after reading Trump’s tweets. He also claimed that Capitol Police opened the doors for people to enter the rotunda.
News from the Midwest
Federal prosecutors have added charges involving weapons of mass destruction to three Wolverine Watchmen already on trial for their alleged plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan. As part of these charges, it was revealed that the three apparently discussed blowing up a bridge as a police diversion while undergoing their kidnapping operation. The DoJ release also includes details of the group of three training how to deploy IEDs against Whitmer’s security detail.
A New York man was also charged in connection to the Wolverine Watchmen fiasco. The man went by “Yankee Patriot” online and made over 140 threatening phone calls to 9-1-1 before finally being apprehended in Florida after a three-month manhunt. He allegedly told a female emergency dispatcher, “(B—-), I’m gonna cut your throat. I’m gonna make you eat your ——- nose. I’m gonna hurt you bad for this. It won’t be today, it won’t be tomorrow, it’ll be ——- soon though … Insurrection Act, I’m coming to your door first and it’s public knowledge, you stupid, stupid (b—-)!” He concluded one call by saying, “I’ll never see a judge.”
News from the Southeast
An investigation into members of the highly violent vigilante group Defend East County revealed that a Georgia cop, Cody Richard Griggers, was the East Coast leader of a neo-Nazi organization called “Shadow Moses”. The officer was arrested for charges related to 11 illegal firearms he had in his possession. In Nazi chats, the officer discussed explosives and violence against non-white people, regularly using homophobic slurs. This was all while working as a police officer. Griggers kept a gun in his patrol vehicle that was not issued to him (and with the serial number scraped off). Nate Thayer has a thread on the arrestee that’s worth perusing here.
Other News
The DHS said it will review how it identifies extremist penetration of the organization. The DHS is a post-9/11 fixture and oversees other controversial agencies such as ICE. It is associated with numerous civil rights breaches on US soil, often against immigrant and Muslim communities, and engages in ‘counter-terror’ or ‘security’ work that some in the far-right have historically found attractive. The DHS also has a disappointing track record on refusing to engage with far-right violence, for the majority of its under two decades of existence. Activists and advocates know that an expansion of the Global War on Terror state apparatus is only going to harm the most vulnerable, historic targets of the agencies associated with DHS et al.
Ammo shortages are having impacts on forming and training with militia groups, effectively pricing out shooting guns in the woods with your local far-right armed group. In statements to VICE, would-be militia leaders detailed specifically how the ammo shortage has led to this temporary demobilization.
Further Reading
- On the phenomenon of J6 stormers ‘posting thru it’ (MLive)
- On far-right threats against public health officials (LA Times, KHN)