z 0 TLIN E A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED'BY THE'ANTI DEFAMATION'LEAGUE'' MAY/JUNE 1995 : ADL Report Focused on Militia Movement Six Months Before Oklahom a

hen the news broke of possible militia connec- Updated report on Wtions to the terrorist militia activity in the bombing in Oklahoma City, mos t U.S. See page 20 for Americans were puzzled . . . What militias? Where did they operate ? details. Who were these people ? ADL had sounded the warning acy to disarm and control th e six months earlier with one of its American people and abolish on-target Fact-Finding reports, their Constitutional 'right to bear Armed & Dangerous : Militias Take arms.'" The introduction also Aim at the Federal Government . As relates an obsession by militia details of the investigation began t o ll groups with the role of the unfold the weekend after the April ,T Federal government in the 1993 19 tragedy, telephones rang off the The Federal Building in Oklahoma City after the terrorist bombing . hook in ADL national headquar- in , TX, and the 1992 sieg e ters and Regional Offices across the country The 28-page report, released last Octobe r in Idaho that claimed the lives of a Deput y with requests for information about the to government leaders, law enforcement Continued on page 4 extremists and copies of the report . agencies and the media, detailed the rise of Regional Offices reported receiving hun- bands of armed right-wing militants, most IN THIS ISSUE dreds of calls seeking information, both calling themselves "militias," across from the media and from community mem- America. The report detailed evidence of bers, who also offered details about local militia activity in 13 states . Subsequent militia activity. research reveals current militia activity in Acting Director of Fact-Finding Thomas 37 states with indications that the number Halpern was interviewed on ABC, CBS , may continue to rise . (See map on page 4 indicating states with militia activity .) TERRORISM, NBC and CNN network news and on th e SECURITY PBS Charlie Rose Show and Dateline NBC. The militias' aims — the ADL report said FOCUSES O F League spokespersons were quoted in almost prophetically — involve laying th e ADL MISSION countless radio broadcasts and pres s groundwork for large-scale resistance to the TO ARGENTINA accounts. Federal government and its law enforcement agencies. Thousands of these extremists This issue of ADL on the Frontline is view America's government as the enemy, made possible by a generous grant fro m now widening its authoritarian control an d The Louis and Hilda Silverstei n planning warfare against the citizenry. 5 Foundation The introduction to the ADL report noted Bernice Silverstein Lewis that militia ideologues view gun contro l ADL URGE S legislation such as the Brady Law and STATES TO Bernard G. Segal, Esq. restrictions on assault weapons as "majo r PASS' ANTI- Provident National Bank, Co-Trustees PARAMILI- stratagems in a secret government conspir TARY TRAINING STATUTES

DIRECTOR'S CORNE R

The Mainstreaming Of Extreth:ism

Abraham H. Foxman e principal ADL mission is to expose and fight extremism histories and were, therefore, more susceptible to the internation- in its varied forms. We work to keep extremists on the al terrorist onslaught, The World Trade Center ended our inno- margins of society so that they neither get legitimacy nor cence onthat score. can have a serious impact on society. And for years, ADL has been exposing the racism and anti- Unfortunately, in the last year or two, the impact of extremists Semitism of the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan. Here; too, on segments of American life — whether through violence as in there was a tendency to dismiss the movement asmarginal, but the case of Oklahoma City or the World Trade Center or through we noted that he was attracting large crowds on campuses . word as in the case ofKhalidMuhammad and the Nation o f When, two years ago, a convention of the Congressional Blac k Islam — has become much more direct and raises the need fo r Caucus had Farrakhan on a panel with black establishment lead- Americans to take more seriously the struggles ahead. ers—Jesse Jackson, Ben Chavis, Kweisi Mfume andMaxine In each case, there was a certain complacency in America tha t Waters—and then announced a "sacred covenant" with NOI, th e the danger posed was remote, would not affect us, need not b e legitimizing process had reached new heights . At that point, taken seriously . ADL challenged America to reconsider the issue when it placed It was inOctober 1994 that ADL issued a report, Armed & a full-page ad in and other publications, Dangerous: Militias Take Aim at the Federal Government, describing exposing the virulent hatred of Farrakhan spokesman Khali d the growing militia movement in the United States. The report Muhammad. suggested that the combination of militia ideology—seeing the These trends of extremists, whether through violence or Federal Government as a real and immediate enemy—together words, intruding themselves on our life in a way we haven' t with the stockpiling of weapons, as well as the participation in seenin a long time, are worrisome . We need not overreact; we some of these groupsby racists and anti-Semites, made for a must remember that civil liberties and free speech are key ingre - dangerous mix. We distributed our report widely, but it did not dients that make America different, that give us all a sense of get much play or interest. That is, until the tragedy in Oklahoma security. City. What we need to do, however, is resolve to act against extrem - For a long time, ADL, — through its Leon and Marily n ismwith great commitment and consistency . For our part; ADL Klinghoffer Memorial Foundation and the William and Naomi will further its work of monitoring and exposing extremists, of Gorowitz Institute, which combat terrorism through educat ion , working with legislators and law enforcementto provide the political and legal means had been trying to raisethe con- strongest protection we can achieve to maintain security and lib- sciousness of Americans concerning the threat ofterrorism, par- erty for Americans. The time for complacency is gone . ticularly Islamic extremist terrorism, to Americans. Too often it was said that it could not happen here, that the Middle East or Abraham H. Foxman Europe or Latin America were different societies with different National Director

Winner of the Mercury Award for Outstanding Achievement WE GET LETTERS... in Professional Communication s ADL on the FRONTLINE is published seven times annually We welcome hearing;f oom .o by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, readers,,Send to ;k 7 823 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 1001 c. David H.Strassler, National Chairman,Abraham H. Foxman,NationalDirector We Get TJetters i Nat Kariieny,Chairman of Marketing & Communications Committee ADL on the'Frontline Mark A. Edelman, Director, Marketing & Communications Division 823 United I*Tations Plaza Jane R. Ornauer, Editor Mary Vasiliades, Editorial Staff Anthony J. Papale, Design York, NY 1001.7 May/June 1995 Vol .5, No. 4 & 5ISSN-1061-5202 .© Anti-Defamation League 1995 New Subscriptions $12 per year

2 FRON LINE FOCUS In the Aftermath of Oklahoma How Can We Feel Safe From Terrorism? by Thomas Halpern

ince the tragedy and devastation pro- speeches, videotapes, radio programs an d Another step can be taken . Our research duced by the Oklahoma City bomb- computer bulletin boards, ADL deter- on extremist groups over the years has Sing, Americans have been asking mined by last fall that the militias' growth , convinced us that paramilitary training by what can be done to help prevent such an activities and bellicose message needed t o organizations intent on fostering civil dis- atrocity from happening again. How can be exposed to the American people. order should be outlawed altogether . We we feel safe from terrorism? What tools d o Armed and Dangerous : Militias Take Aim a t see no reason why a society such as ours , law enforcement agencies need to properl y the Federal Government, the ADL report which affords every opportunity for free- monitor and counter extremist group s released in October 1994, detailed thes e dom of expression and peaceful change, while ensuring that our civil liberties are groups' paramilitary activities, their stock- should permit any group to acquire, and protected? Our 80-plus years of experience piling of weapons and their fanatical train its members to use, lethal weapons have convinced ADL that there are usefu l hatred of the Federal government. We for the purpose of getting its way by shoot- and effective measures to be taken. posed the question of "what exactly the ing or bombing. Today's so-called militias, which many militias intend to do with their guns? " When the last wave of paramilitary believe to have spawned the Oklahoma Surely, our law enforcement agencies activity occurred in the late '70s, ADL pro - City bomber, are a case in point . Tracking ought to have the legal authority and the duced a report documenting the prolifera- the militia movement since its emergenc e necessary resources to answer such ques- tion of training centers operated by the Ku last spring through published materials, tions. Furthermore, there should be Klux Klan and other racist groups in improved coordination among the variou s Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois , Thomas Halpern is Acting Director of the agencies involved. In this regard, and . Using such Fact Finding Department of the ADL Civil President Clinton's call for the creation of names as The White Patriot Party and the Rights Division. an interagency domestic counterterrorism Christian Patriots Defense League, thes e center headed by the FBI is welcome. Continued on page 8

Terrorism, Security Focuse s Of ADL Mission to Argentin a eventeen lay and professional leaders traveled to Argentin a steps being take to reinforce security and April 22-26 for an ADL mission, headed by David H. intelligence and explored ways to further S Strassler, the League's National Chairman; Abraham H. working relations between ADL and Foxman, ADL National Director, and Glen A . Tobias, Chairman Argentine Jews. of the International Affairs Committee. The visit grew out of con- During the visit, the group met with versations with leaders of the Argentinean Jewish community an d Argentine President Carlos Saul Menem ; was intended to show solidarity of American and Argentine Jews , Justice Minister Rodolfo Barra; Interior following Minister Carlos Corach; Mayor of Bueno s the bombing Aires Jorge Dominguez; American of the main Ambassador James Cheek; Israeli Jewish com- Glen A. Tobias, Chair- Ambassador Yitzhak Aviram, and DAI A man of the International President Ruben Beraja, as well as othe r munity Affairs Committee. structure in government leaders and representative s Buenos of B'nai B'rith and other members of the Jewish community . Aires last The issue of terrorism was on everyone's mind — not onl y year. The because of the bombings in Argentina but also since the group ar- group also rived in Buenos Aires only days after the . assessed the The mission provided an opportunity for ADL leaders to see th e govern- new democracy of Argentina evolving, to raise concerns about the In Buenos Aires, from left, Ruben Beraja, President , ment's issue of terrorism as well as to learn about the positive approache s DAIA, the Argentine Jewish community's politica l investigation of the government. It also strengthened the League's ties with the arm; Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, of the leadership of the Argentine Jewish community and offered close r and Argentine President Carlos Saul Menem. tragedy and working relationships on matters of mutual concern. ❑

FOCUS ADL Reveals McVeigh Offered Weapons for Sal e

n ADL press release revealing ated a booth offering weapons for sale at that Oklahoma City bombing sus- a September 1993 gun show in Phoenix , Apect Timothy McVeigh — using ►IFIED S AZ. the alias "T. Tuttle" — advertised for sal e nosh toffi mass EELFarvE2I'CLE -Aa mum Oe4Rbee CA01d1Cel*mu,rnanm eiuta u The Spotlight regularly features articles IJ00 a ooMo.t gream UAL Mt aaageN and lmm atlie Apt. mural. Mmtt%WOG]atfiga'm y CM 00 1i0652f8Ga. eon ours DbOnSN.Aa Waenmcn nit4 In[,41M134691 . a military-style launcher in The Spotlight, Moo. bs tnma. te yams ma MI at sympathetic to the militia movement and ms,mm moo nw the publication of the extremist and anti- its claims of a plot by the Federal govern- REAL ESTATE SURVIVAL Semitic Liberty Lobby, received wide cov- Wy*SOryLMIDRUIOMISyAm1Fr. 120aum M&S LAW 1AIMa191 MMUCAros Th. ment to take away the rights of erage in the media. The ad, whic h W- da i, Americans. The paper promotes right- appeared in the August 16, 1993 and tw o yrMiil . h wing extremist conspiracy theorie s B IMYIM o LAW LAUNCHER REPLICA fires 37mm Rams,, 2 Ivtm subsequent issues, offered for sale a • ;wr Sprr s incl . $125 fla Pepper MAIL including the use of "black helicopters," aay .10.eeam n onlyy..1. Tut- 1 "LAW launcher replica" which "fires 3 Orders AEOMO,. 7 tle 1719 Hill, #206 Kaman, Az 86401 . Russian tanks and United Nations troops mBVro Or 03b3, GoGl mm. flares" as well as the flares them- G. P03 2t6. G. eOSBtaOffeml d.AaGGOM , to take over the United States and create a GN'AmabylmTixntO wR:Mea—P03 1RS6.M}Ap.0aBO01l selves, which can be modified for explo- Mont MI "New World Order." A September 1994 G. xa ocol50. otl 14ZO• WE PM MOW,. CO Ier In, fl0we--ua1 0r40. sive use. [LAW stands for "light antitank SmpobSe Gem (31g 5921za I. VIDEOS Spotlight supplement on these themes has t®E%aaEb eobamnFbfd p•Dr,, I. FREE OE. MOO ft.) Oin 30YO10BNIY—LSFAIMOAIEiRx WAF weapon."] 41 inMIS 1150 0 R)wID WaSeO UNe>r. fimYnb moWmt been widely distributed among militias . According to The Wall Street journal, an The Spotlight also features Holocaust- FBI affidavit on McVeigh indicates that responses could be sent — the same denial propaganda as well as meetin g he has used the names of "Terry Tuttle" address McVeigh used as a mail drop notes for such groups as and "Tim Tuttle" as aliases . The ad listed when he resided in Kingman. and self-styled "patriot" organizations . ❑ an address in Kingman, AZ, where the ADL also revealed that McVeigh oper -

ADL Report Focused on Militia ...

Continued from page 1

U.S. Marshal and the wife and son of ed to commit the atrocity by his fury ove r of racial and religious bigotry and political Randy Weaver, a white supremacist want- the Waco conflagration. McVeigh report- extremism. Some have backgrounds in the ed on a gun charge. The Oklahoma City edly attended meetings of a militia group in Aryan Nations, the Ku Klux Klan and other bombing occurred on April 19, precisely Michigan.) racist and anti-Semitic movements . two years after the Waco standoff ended in According to the ADL report, a numbe r The ADL report includes a breakdown o f flames. (Timothy McVeigh, the prime sus- of people in the militia movement, includ- militia groups state-by-state. There are pect in the bombing, was allegedly motivat - ing some in leadership roles, have histories details of considerable activity in Michi- gan, where much of the law enforcement investigation into the Oklahoma bombing Militia activity in the United States has been centered. Gun control fuels the movement in Michigan (as it does else- where), where extremists view this as but a prelude to a complete ban on firearms own- ership in the country, setting the stage for Federal tyranny over the people. Another state linked to the militia move- ment is Idaho, which was the scene of th e Randy Weaver siege in 1992 . Samuel Sherwood has energetically recruited Idah o residents into his United States Militi a Association by portraying the Federal gov- ernment as the enemy of the American peo- ple. At a 1994 meeting in Blackfoot, ID, Sherwood reportedly spread the myth that President Clinton's crime bill authorized the government to hire 100,000 former Royal Hong Kong police to come to America to enforce gun control. Continued on page 5

4 FRONJLINE FOCUS ADL Report Focused on Militia...

Continued from page 4 Another Idaho activist is , whos e if the FBI looks at us, they'll end up saying though they may be — is inviolate under projects closely parallel the militia move- it's more trouble than it's worth." the Constitution . There is no right, howev- ment. Gritz, the 1992 Populist Party candi- Gritz was present at the Weaver standoff er, it goes on to say, to use force or violence date for President, conducts training and recently wrote in his newsletter : either to impose one's views on others or t o throughout the country in weapons and "The tyrants who ordered the assault on resist laws properly enacted . That is the survival techniques . Gritz is creating a the Weavers and Waco should be tried and crux of the problem presented by the rise o f community on a 200-acre site in central executed as traitors." In his book, Called to the militias . Idaho known as "Almost Heaven." He Serve, he peddles the anti-Semitic myth that Editor's note : Copies of the ADL report , plans to live in the armed community with Jewish families control the Federal Reserv e Armed & Dangerous: Militias Take Aim at the 30 other families, who, according to Gritz , System. Federal Government, may be obtained by will obey all laws "unless they go against, The conclusion of the ADL repor t using the order form on page 20. The report the laws of God or common sense." emphasizes that the right of the militias t o can also be accessed on Nexis/USNWR. ❑' Says Gritz: "I want a community where, promote their extremist views — loathsome ADL Urges States to Enact Anti-Paramilitary Training Statute s

DL has written to the to use these laws vigorously governors of the 26 state s against militias such as thos e Athat do not have anti- now under investigation in con- paramilitary training statutes on nection with the tragic bombing their books urging them to enact in Oklahoma City. such laws. Twenty-four states "These statutes typically pro- (see map) already have such leg- vide criminal sanctions for indi- islation based on or similar to viduals who teach, demonstrate ADL model legislation, which or assemble with others to was drafted more than a decade engage in paramilitary training ago by the League's Legal Affair s activities with the intent to cause Department. These laws woul d or further a civil disorder," said a prohibit systematic instruction in joint statement issued by David exercises comparable to military H. Strassler, ADL National training, including the use of Chairman, and Abraham H. advanced weaponry, for the pur- indicates states with anti-paramilitary training statutes. Foxman, the League's National pose of fostering civil disorder . Director. An ADL report, The ADL Anti-Paramilitary Training Statute: A The letters sent by ADL to the governors of the 26 states which Response to Domestic Terrorism, issued in the aftermath of the do not have such statutes, enclose the ADL model language an d Oklahoma bombing, provides a legal analysis of the ADL mode l urge prompt action. legislation and the full text of the state laws already enacted . Copies of the ADL report may be obtained by using the orde r The League has also called upon state law enforcement agencies form on page 20. It is also available on Nexis/USNWR. ❑ ADL Calls on Congress to Pass Counterterrorism Bil l n the aftermath of the devastating car bombing," the statement went on, "this are incompatible with military service ." bomb attack in Oklahoma City, ADL brutal act against a U .S. Federal building On several occasions over the past Icalled on Congress to swiftly pass th e brings home again the reality that Ameri- decade, ADL has provided information to currently pending Omnibus Counter- cans are not immune from terrorist attack s the Defense Department concerning the terrorism Act of 1995 with appropriat e on our shores. Terrorists have the will and participation of military personnel in orga- constitutional safeguards . capability to strike anywhere at any time ." nized hate groups . In 1986, in the face of "A tragedy such as this reinforces the ADL also commended Defens e evidence that military personnel based at need for expanded legislation to combat Secretary William Perry's decision to reis- Camp Lejeune, NC, had participated in the growing terrorist threat on American sue regulations forbidding members of the paramilitary training exercises with a racist soil," said a joint statement released by armed forces from participating in groups extremist group, the While Patriot Party, David;H. Strassler, ADL National that "espouse supremacist causes." the Defense Department dismissed thre e Chairman, and Abraham H. Foxman, the "Your action," said a letter from Mr . members of the U.S. Marine Corps . ❑ League's National Director . Strassler and Mr . Foxman, "demonstrate s "Reminiscent of the World Trade Center once again that prejudice and intolerance