Executive Summary UP IN ARMS: A GUIDE TO OREGON’S PATRIOT MOVEMENT

hile the news media focuses on As Spencer Sunshine, PhD and Associate Fel- the prosecution of Patriot movement low at Political Research Associates, documents Wmembers who occupied the Malheur in the guide’s opening study, the Oregon Patriot National Wildlife Refuge outside of Burns, Ore- movement engages in the same political culture gon, in early 2016, Oregonians across the state of violence as the national movement, including continue to deal with the resurgence of armed armed occupations, protests, camps, and march- and aggressive right-wing activists in their es—as well as threats against elected officials, midst. Most of the Malheur occupiers were from community activists, employees of federal agen- out-of-state, but Oregon’s own Patriot movement cies handling public lands, and critics. Press con- laid the groundwork for the occupation, and its ferences, demonstrations, and meetings critical leaders went to Burns to politically profit from of the movement have been disrupted. Those who the confrontation with government authorities speak out against the movement have had their and expand their power at home. home addresses distributed in Patriot movement Up In Arms: A Guide to Oregon’s Patriot Move- circles, were threatened with assault and murder, ment offers a short study of the Patriot movement and have had their vehicles vandalized. and the economic challenges in which it thrives, This political culture of violence creates a chill- along with practical examples of how groups of ing effect on political speech and democratic par- rural Oregonians have successfully challenged it. ticipation, particularly in situations where law The guide was produced by the Rural Organizing enforcement fails to guarantee free expression, Project, Oregon’s statewide network of locally or even aligns itself with the paramilitaries. The based human dignity groups, and the Massachu- Patriot movement further undermines democra- setts-based think tank Political Research Asso- cy by creating its own private policing bodies and ciates, as a resource for organizers, journalists, faux-judicial and executive government branch- public officials, and community members in the es—all of which bypass existing government enti- state and across the country who seek to under- ties and attempt to create antidemocratic struc- stand, expose, and contain the Patriot move- tures controlled by their political movement. In ment’s threat to democracy. this guide, the Rural Organizing Project offers

1 | UP IN ARMS A GUIDE TO OREGON’S PATRIOT MOVEMENT concrete stories of how communities have safely deride federal power and regard any form of gun responded to this threatening atmosphere, and control as a step towards tyranny. They are hos- debunks claims made by the movement in the tile to environmentalism, hold a political world- easily accessible “Taking on the Patriot Move- view rooted in conspiracy theories, have a pen- ment’s Talking Points.” chant for forming paramilitaries, and often set up their own “shadow” governmental structures. LOOKING AT THE PATRIOT MOVEMENT They frequently threaten to wage “civil war” against their governmental enemies. Sunshine’s short study, “Looking at the Patri- The Patriot movement is saturated with rac- ot Movement,” also offers these findings: ism and xenophobia but distances itself from While no comprehensive nationwide study explicit declarations of White supremacy. Some exists, it appears that Oregon has one of the activists are skeptical or dismissive of amend- most developed, active Patriot movements in ments to the U.S. Constitution that followed the the country. The move- Bill of Rights—including ment has won new support- those ending slavery and ers since the 2008 election granting equal protection of the nation’s first Black under the law—but are gen- President and again since erally cautious about pub- the 2014 armed encamp- licly advertising such views. ment by Nevada rancher Islamophobia has largely Cliven Bundy, who refused replaced the coded (and to pay fees to the Bureau of sometimes open) antisem- Land Management for graz- itism that was common in ing on public land. Dozens the 1990s militia move- of Patriot movement groups ment. Jon Ritzheimer, one have thousands of support- of the high-profile Malheur ers in the state. Groups occupiers, is a well-known include local affiliates of Islamophobic organizer. the Oath Keepers and Three Occupier allies in the Har- Percenters, as well as mem- ney Country Committee of bers of the Constitutional Safety released a document Sheriffs and Peace Officers calling Native Americans Association, all formed in Up in Arms: A Guide to Oregon’s Patriot “savages.” 2008 and after. Movement is a co-published report by The Oregon Patriot Today’s Patriot move- Rural Organizing Project and Political movement includes elected Research Associates. ment is the successor to officials, so-called “Sover- the 1990s militia movement, which also swept eign Citizens,” and fake judges and courts. Mal- the Pacific Northwest. Key activists from the heur occupiers were arrested while en route to 1990s have leadership roles in today’s national a third meeting with Grant County Sheriff Glenn Patriot movement groups. Then as now, they are Palmer, a nationally recognized so-called Consti- united by a common belief that the U.S. federal tutional Sheriff. State representatives and a state government is preparing to seize privately held senator spoke at a May 2015 Patriot movement firearms, impose martial law on the states, and rally against SB 941, a newly passed gun law put Americans in “concentration camps”—before in Oregon. This rally featured national Patriot allowing foreign armies to invade. The groups movement leader Mike Vanderboegh calling for

POLITICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES & RURAL ORGANIZING PROJECT | 2 the Oregon state government to be overthrown justice. Under the banner of “coordination,” they through a civil war. peddle the fiction that county governments can Of particular concern is the influence of the control how federal lands are used. In Oregon, Oath Keepers and the Constitutional Sheriffs several county commissions, two CSPOA sher- and Peace Officers’ Association (CSPOA) on law iffs, and even a mining district have invoked the enforcement officers, especially county sheriffs. movement’s version of “coordination” to chal- The Oath Keepers and CSPOA encourage sheriffs lenge federal authority to manage public lands. and police to practice a form of “nullification,” Patriot movement activists are part of a larg- refusing to enforce new gun-control laws in the er trend of right-wing populists who feel that, state. Twenty-one of Oregon’s sheriffs appeared as a group, they are losing power, and offer on a CSPOA list of county sheriffs who said they right-wing solutions to economic problems. would follow their oath to “uphold the Consti- Most movement activists embrace a “produce- tution” and “support the constitutional second rist” worldview that decries political elites while amendment rights of citizens.” In Roseburg, deriding others—such as immigrants and refu- Oregon, site of the October 2015 Umpqua Com- gees—as lazy or immoral. Their simple solution munity College mass shooting, Douglas County to the economic problems rural areas face is to Sheriff John Hanlin had signed a CSPOA-inspired transfer federally owned land to states or coun- letter and publicly criticized gun regulation as a ties, with the ultimate goal of privatization or response to mass shootings. He also promoted deregulation for commercial use by the “produc- conspiracy theories on social media, including ers” they claim to support: ranchers, loggers, and that the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre miners. was a hoax perpetrated in order to seize U.S. cit- Some movement members peddle conspira- izens’ guns. torial, apocalyptic tales, preparing for the col- Many Patriot movement activists engage in lapse of governmental and business structures community service work, cultivating a public by learning subsistence farming and surviv- image similar to the Elks Club or a veterans’ alist tactics, and by creating their alternative organization, and less like a semi-underground faux-governmental structures, which they hope paramilitary that makes death threats against will take the place of existing ones after a natural its opponents. In Josephine County, for instance, disaster or economic meltdown. They peddle cli- the Oath Keepers (recently renamed the Citizen mate denial and conspiracy theories, for instance Patriots of Josephine County) participated in that the United Nations’ sustainability program playground and river cleanups while it estab- Agenda 21 (now Agenda 2030) is actually a covert lished disaster response teams, formed and campaign to seize land and facilitate a foreign groomed community watches and militias as invasion. usable alternatives to police, and worked with a The movement operates with an “inside/ variety of other Patriot movement groups. outside” strategy: some parts of the move- The Patriot movement worldview builds on ment work inside of established government tactics of county political supremacy forged structures to change them, while others work in a decades-old racist rural insurgency called outside the system to undermine it. As “out- Posse Comitatus. Patriot movement groups siders,” these groups are often armed and openly argue that local sheriffs have the power to ignore advocate defying those federal laws they deem federal law; they seek to promote the political unconstitutional. As insiders, they are embed- dominance of county governments; and like Posse ded in the political life of rural areas, includ- Comitatus they set up their own “grand juries,” ing the six Oregon counties at the heart of this “judges,” and “marshals” to meet out their idea of report—Baker, Grant, Josephine, Harney, Crook,

3 | UP IN ARMS A GUIDE TO OREGON’S PATRIOT MOVEMENT and Deschutes—and find a home within the state gon’s Josephine County is 68 percent. Republican Party. Oregon State Representative The movement’s libertarian-style anti-tax, Dallas Heard made a pilgrimage to the Malheur anti-federal government positions will only National Wildlife Refuge occupation. Josephine intensify the problems of unemployment and County Oath Keeper Joseph Rice, leader of the lack of services that plague rural communities, April 2015 armed encampment at the Sugar Pine HoSang and Beda show. It also builds off a fantasy Mine in rural southwestern Oregon, attended the of the past that ignores the expropriation of land 2016 Republican Convention as an Oregon state from Native Americans, and previous alliances of party delegate. Former Harney County Republi- timber workers and environmentalists to defend can Party chair Tim Smith was the head of the public forests. Federal government payments to Ammon Bundy-formed shadow government, the prop up rural economies after the collapse of the Committee of Safety, during the occupation. Ken timber economy—which occurred partly because Taylor—treasurer of the state-level Republican of changes in demand and advances in technol- Party and chair of the Crook County GOP, at least ogy—are now decreasing significantly, severely until mid-2016—recorded the founding of this undercutting county services and infrastructure. Committee of Safety and promoted the group, In Josephine County, voters defeated taxes that even as Ammon Bundy and his colleagues were would fund basic government functions, includ- threatening the Harney County sheriff. ing police. Now, in many cases 911 calls go unan- You can also find Patriot movement priorities swered and crimes are simply not investigated. reflected in the national Republican Party—even HoSang and Beda argue for more planning and if the movement’s tactics are still on the fringe. government support—not less—revolving around For instance, the 2016 national GOP platform conservation-based logging, domestic produc- advocates the transfer of federal lands to the tion, clean energy, and restoring the forests and states and denounces Agenda 21. waterways that everyone depends on, including city people. THE ROOTS OF RURAL OREGON’S ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CRISIS ORGANIZING FOR AN OREGON WHERE EVERYONE COUNTS The Patriot movement is extending its roots in rural Oregon communities, capitalizing on Despite the intimidation and threats, groups the sense of abandonment by the federal gov- of neighbors are organizing to ensure that their ernment, as documented by Sunshine and Pro- communities determine their futures civilly fessors Daniel HoSang and Steven Beda in their and democratically. The Rural Organizing Proj- chapter, “We Need to Understand Our Histo- ect, building on almost 25 years’ work support- ry! The Roots of Rural Oregon’s Economic and ing rural activists who stand up for the dignity Political Crisis.” These stagnant economies— of all people, has learned that “when communi- whose wealth, based on logging and other natural ties organize to challenge the Patriot movement, resource extraction industries, dried up in the they win.” In “Organizing for an Oregon Where 1980s and 1990s—are prime areas for resent- Everyone Counts,” the Rural Organizing Project ment. This is especially true in counties where says a few strategies are key: the federal government owns much of the land; it • Break isolation and build a group. Bring controls 53 percent of Oregon as a whole, includ- people together to share concerns, informa- ing more than half of nine counties. Harney tion, and ideas, including those who are on County, where the Malheur Refuge is located, is the fence about taking action. 75 percent federal land, while southwestern Ore- • Put small town and rural values front and

POLITICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES & RURAL ORGANIZING PROJECT | 4 center. We do not need outside groups to demonstrated their opposition to the poli- dictate what we want most for our com- tics of fear and exclusion. munities. Clearly naming our priorities and • In Grant County, the home of “constitution- how we want to interact with our neighbors al sheriff” Glenn Palmer, more than 50 res- is key. What we value most should be the idents with signs attended a meeting called center of our work and our message. to form a “Committee of Safety,” a Patriot • Silence is complicity. Paramilitaries thrive movement shadow government. The pro- in communities that remain silent. Without testers formed a new group, Grant County opposition, they claim to speak and act on Positive Action. Their immediate, public, the behalf of the entire community, and the and locally based opposition to the Patriot loudest and most persistent narrative wins. movement groups dispelled any belief that We must speak out and change the story their community would be easy to dominate. being told to our neighbors. Like other new groups, they built support and credibility by engaging with the county Along with sharing practical guides for form- government as well as in public demonstra- ing a group, holding meetings, and operating in tions. a way that protects the safety of members, the • When an Oath Keeper ran for county com- Rural Organizing Project offers lessons from five mission, the Panhandle Community Alliance counties: in Baker County stepped into the electoral • In Josephine County, the press was buying arena. Their members and allies commu- the idea that the Oath Keepers’ April 2015 nicated with 200 voters, including engag- armed camp at Sugar Pine Mine had broad ing 45 people in one-on-one conversations. local support. That changed when concerned When the votes came in, the Oath Keepers’ citizens spoke out publicly on the courthouse candidate lost the election by 38 votes. steps, and Oath Keepers tailed and harassed • When a neighborhood in the city of Eugene them in view of the media. Through this and also found itself touched by Patriot move- other actions, the new group Together for ment organizing, the Rural Organizing Proj- Josephine showed that locals were not wel- ect and the Community Alliance of Lane coming the paramilitaries as heroes, which County worked fast. They called a meeting hurt the Patriot movement groups’ ability to with community members and neighbor- recruit locally and sustain their actions. hood organizations, prominently positioning • In Harney County, home of the Malheur security personnel to deter opponents from National Wildlife Refuge, a new group orga- coming in and disrupting it. Then they went nized actions against the armed Patriot door-to-door with flyers to send a simple movement activists during the occupation. and clear message: militia organizing in this Hundreds of locals spoke out against the neighborhood is not welcome. intruders and asked them to leave the coun- ty, led by the local county judge and sher- Together, these resources provide a roadmap of iff, as well as the Burns Paiute Tribe. Once how to respond to the Patriot movement’s threat- again, locals undercut the paramilitaries’ ening attempts to take over the community’s dia- claim that they were acting for “the people.” logue and governance. k To help break isolation and demonstrate that local folks on the frontlines are not alone, the Rural Organizing Project held a day of Copyright © 2016 by Rural Organizing Project and action where communities across the state Political Research Associates.

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