Happy late summer, MW reader! Here’s a quick news round-up of things relevant to US-based militia groups from July 2025. This month, these stories are featured:
- Oklahoma radar attack may or may not be militia-related, but an actor in the space is desperate to claim it
- Trump unable to avoid own goals on Epstein, militia activists respond
- A bunch of miscellanea, like a ‘liberal sheriff’ backing an Oath Keeper and the Senate OK’ing an extremist for counter-terrorism lead
If you’d like to read the previously Monthly, it’s available here:
VOP Claims Responsibility for Radar Attack, Even If Connection Isn’t Directly Clear to Police
On July 6, a man damaged several components of weather radar equipment used by Oklahoma City outlet News 9. In mid-July, court documents filed in Oklahoma County revealed multiple felony charges against Anthony Tyler Mitchell, who allegedly used a hammer to smash the equipment.
The head of Veterans on Patrol (VOP), Michael Meyer, has claimed responsibility for the vandalism, but police claim no direct connection between the suspect and the VOP. This hasn’t stopped Meyer, who similarly claimed to have vandalized government equipment in Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, from issuing several waves of dubious claims. He continues to encourage that his followers target “weather weapons”.
Since July’s escapades, Meyer has rebranded the VOP’s media channels once again, now describing his network as “Sojourner News Network”, drawing on a well-known Christian connotation of the word and callously trying to tie his right-wing extremist organization’s legacy to one of abolitionists (an altogether not uncommon thing for Meyer’s peers).
Trump Keeps Digging Hole on Epstein, Gets Verbal Militia Responses
On July 6, the FBI released a two-page memo concluding that they had investigated the Epstein case and found nothing of note, a finding that directly contradicts the statements of Attorney General Pam Bondi (among many others in the Trump camp). In the weeks since, Donald Trump has continued to bring up his views on the Epstein files, sometimes taking baiting questions from media and other times keeping the item in the news by volunteering a new daily take.
This appears to be the first issue to have driven a marginal wedge between factions of the Trump base, and the response from a few high-level militia actors is worth noting:
- Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, whose J6 sentence Trump commuted, warned Trump over a “cover-up” when speaking with a right-wing group in Texas. Rhodes specifically said that Trump’s rhetoric on the matter would deeply split his base.
- Oath Keepers member and J6 “stack” member Jessica Watkins, whose sentence Trump commuted, claimed she shared space in jail with Epstein attorney and business partner Ghislaine Maxwell. Watkins said Maxwell was in no way suicidal (a view offered because of the widely held narrative that Epstein didn’t kill himself), kept to herself in jail, and apparently told other inmates she was a teacher before being incarcerated.
Other stories, including those at the nexus of state and paramilitary:
San Francisco County Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, who represents one of the most liberal cities in California, appears to have endorsed Riverside County Sheriff candidate Chad Bianco. Bianco has previously admitted that he was a member of the Oath Keepers.
On July 30, the Senate confirmed Trump’s National Counterterrorism Center lead pick, Joe Kent. Kent previously paid Proud Boy Graham Jorgensen for consulting work and worked very closely with Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson. Thom Tillis of North Carolina was the only Republican to oppose his nomination.
In late July, some Etsy users called for a boycott over the platform’s continuing hosting of “Alligator Alcatraz” merch, referring to products that support Florida’s newest concentration camp. Some of the images positively include the phrase “Alligator Auschwitz” referencing the Nazi death camp to which many detractors of the new ICE facility have compared it. Many of the products, like others corrupting much of the site and other online retailers, appears to be AI-generated. Etsy, like other online retailers, has previously found itself in hot water with users and consumers for hosting militia merchandise.
In July, a grand jury charged Katia Trevon Bougere three months after he allegedly shot and killed Abdul Rahman Waziri in Houston following an argument over parking on April 27. Police officers talked with Bougere on the scene but let him leave the crime scene without charging him. On July 17, 2020, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Bougere filed paperwork to establish “Black Kartier Militia LLC”. However, there is no indication that Bougere ran a militia, under this name or otherwise.
Further Reading
- Ali Breland, writing for The Atlantic, wonders where the Proud Boys have gone (and offers a few theories)
- Mark Graber, writing for The Journal of the Civil War Era, makes some observations on how the Trump administration might be misusing the Militia Act of 1903