Does anyone recall how the Michigan Militia gained notoriety after it was learned that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, co-conspirators in the Oklahoma City bombing, flirted with the organization in the 1990's? Michigan has long been home to numerous paramilitary groups, many with anti-government leanings. In 2010, Michigan was second only to Texas in such groups.
The rise of these groups parallels the evolution of the NRA from a sporting and gun safety advocate into a gun rights organization increasingly focused on the threat of an overbearing government intent on robbing the people of their rights. It should come as no surprise that Michigan, which long had more licensed hunters than any state in the nation, would follow the one-time sporting and gun safety group down the extremist, anti-government path.
We are now witnessing the next step in that evolution, with the armed protesters taking up position within the halls of the Michigan Capitol Building. This is one more example of the normalization of the anti-government mindset that drove McVeigh to bomb the federal building in Oklahoma City. In the twenty-five years since, these para-military groups have continued to grow (some would say fester), building their ranks on a foundation of fear and mistrust. As is so often true, one sees what one seeks, and in the case of these groups, what they've been seeking - expecting - is government overreach. The demands of public health in the face of COVID-19 provides the ideal opportunity to find such overreach and put their decades of paramilitary practice to work.
To date, these protests have remained thankfully peaceful, but as happened when a similar showing of paramilitary groups in Charlottesville drove state police to refrain from confrontation for fear of provoking violence, they risk allowing anarchy to rule in ways that leads to violence regardless.
The well-worn phrase that the pen is mightier than the sword underlies the reason that freedom of speech, press, assembly and the right to petition government for redress of grievances are enshrined in the First Amendment, coming before the right to bear arms in the second. It is also the well-educated, thoughtful intellectualism of the men who put those rights into our Constitution that made both our revolution against Great Britain and the nation that resulted a model for the world, rather than the inflamed mob Alexander Hamilton warned his contemporaries might arise when passions are fanned.
These so-called patriots believe an America flag and an AR-15 makes them Patriots. They do not. It is the hard work of rational thought, reasonable debate and defense of democratic principles that make a true patriot. Armed reactionaries wearing masks meant to conceal identity rather than protect public health are not patriots. It is hard to see them as anything but weekend warriors looking for a chance to play patriot. Unfortunately, they don't know the meaning of the word. Thus, our increasing tolerance of their unpatriotic acts threatens the very foundation of our democracy, and quite ironically, the liberties found therein. Their evolution, allowed to continue, will not end well. This, I fear, is but a mere way station on the path to disaster.
