Conspiracy propagandists, including the John Birch Society, found a niche audience with COVID-19 vaccine skeptics, using existing antigovernment mistrust and a historical relationship with the natural-health sector to push the conspiracies around population and government control. New Lexington In an August 10 post on his personal Facebook page which he often uses to campaign Moreno shared a photo of IC CRU leader Matt Wakulik and wrote, Well, thanks to those warriors. Wakulik is in military attire and has an assault rifle on his chest in the photo. Protest permits were not issued for any demonstrations, a Pittsburgh police spokesman said. January 13, 2023. Butler County Download the list notating non-profit antigovernment groups with non-profit EIN(tax ID) numbers. The John Birch Society, World Net Daily and InfoWars are crucial to the antigovernment extremist movement in that they help craft and nurture the very conspiracy theories that animate the movements activists, such as Oath Keepers and Three Percenters. Share news For example, on Feb. 11, a member of the California State Militia group shared a post about the groups logistical efforts: California State Militia 2nd Regiment, has established a support/ logistics base for the Freedom Truckers coming out of Northern and Central California. One member of the group went further, saying, US truckers should barricade the DC capital and all 50 state capital buildings until covid mandates are rescinded, and they pass a federal law stipulating term limits of no more than 12-years for all political positions within the United States.. pic.twitter.com/G42Rfd57Ar, Jamie Martines (@Jamie_Martines) April 20, 2020. The admin, whose profile photo features the Three Percenters logo, also shared a post on Feb. 20 calling on truckers to meet at the convoy staging area in Adelanto, California, and showed a map with the projected route to Washington. About a dozen members of the Iron City Citizens Response Unit, carrying rifles and pistols, lined the steps of the City-County Building. Grosse Pointe, Genesee County Volunteer Militia Moreno, who was originally running for mayor as a Democrat, has come under scrutiny for previous comments he made on social media in favor of former President Donald Trump. Tom Wolf to reopen Pennsylvania businesses during a rally in front of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh on Monday. We are just armed citizens, which is 100% legal under the Second Amendment. Tom Wolf to reopen Pennsylvania businesses during a rally in front of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh on Monday. Charleston, Republic for the united States of America We did not get paid. One member who declined to give his name said the group is a militia with members across Allegheny, Westmoreland and Washington counties. The 10 or so armed civilians identified as the Iron City Citizens Response Unit, and most of them wore patches with the group's insignia. People gather Monday in Downtown Pittsburgh to protest Gov. Part of that insignia includes a symbol of three interlocking triangles called the Valknot, or Valknut. DuPage County Naperville County, Constitution Party Demonstrators stand in front of the City-County building Monday, April 20, 2020 during a rally in protest of the lockdown along Grant Street in downtown Pittsburgh. The tour is organized by Robert David Steele who died from COVID-19 in fall 2021. Iron City Citizens Response Unit member Matt Wakulik of Pittsburgh said they were at the bar as a deterrent for antifa and other socialist groups. I unequivocally, without hesitation, denounce white supremacy, their organizations, their motives and their hate messages, Moreno said. There also needs to be more contact tracing tracking down people who may have been exposed to people who have tested positive for covid-19, she said. To see the 2021 groups broken down by state click here. Background The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) identified 334 militia groups at their peak in 2011. Sewickley Council votes 5 to 4 against motion to remove GOP state Senate candidate Jeff Neff as council president over a photo he took with an armed militia group. A demonstrator who only wanted to identify by her first name, Carol, stands atop her car with a sign Monday, April 20, 2020 as demonstrators rallied against the closure of business in Pennsylvania on Grant Street in Pittsburgh. Facebook has failed to remove U.S.-based militia groups from its platform. On Feb. 15, the Matt Wakulik for Governor Facebook page slammed Trudeaus use of the Emergencies Act to clear away the truckers in Ottawa, calling it a military action. The next day, the same page posted a promotion for the Iron City Citizen Response Unit, with a photo of two men in camouflage holding semiautomatic rifles. 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TTPs investigation found that American militia members are frequently using the Canadian crackdown against the Ottawa truckers to try to galvanize their movement. Resident Jessica Varone said many residents did not feel safe with the group in the borough, and noted the Southern Poverty Law Center identified IC CRU as an extreme anti-government militia. "Moreno has apparently taken his campaign to an even more extreme level after meeting with and praising a local far-right militia group called Iron City Citizens Response Unit, a group that sports . Jason Richey, a GOP government candidate, stepped down yesterday. Thats why our friends come with us all the time.. Everyone who was at my event last night was invited to attend for one purpose to support my campaign for mayor of Pittsburgh, not to provide any protective services. Bergen County A small but influential and foundational segment of the antigovernment movement is the constitutional sheriff movement. Tillson, Oath Keepers Sovereign citizen ideology is highly conspiratorial, and they are best known for clogging up the courts with indecipherable filings and liens targeting public officials. On Feb. 4, an admin of the group posted a map of proposed trucker convoy routes from northeastern states to D.C. and urged members to start canvasing these travel corridors to identify highway overpasses to hang signs, intercept points where smaller subgroups of trucks can join the convoy, and places to refuel. Last night about 100 people attended a fundraising campaign at LeMont in Mt. Pasadena, Faith Education Commerce (FEC United) Some concerning groups are part of a subset of sovereign citizens termed Moorish sovereign citizens. Red Pill Festivals in Montana and South Dakota, June and July 2021: Conspiracy theorists and lawmakers gather for regional events. Tom Wolf to reopen Pennsylvania businesses during a rally in front of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh on Monday. University of Pennsylvania health policy expert Alison Buttenheim said the state needs to do three to four times more testing than it has been doing. Weed out potential nazis Just don't hurt yourself contorting for that justification. Make sure the unit has been certified by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and has passed the safety tests of the American Gas Association (AGA) Contact your local government agency to see if you need any permits or if there are restrictions in place. 291 TELEPH O NE 332-4601 SALEM. Orange County Ruby Ridge Standoff, August 1992: An 11-day standoff with the Weaver family and law enforcement occurred in Boundary County, Idaho. Wakulik leads the Pittsburgh-based militia, Iron City Citizens Response Unit. Im not sure if he was with the group, but he was definitely someone who had their ideology walking around with a bulletproof vest on in our business for some reason, she said. But a new convoy plan quickly emerged, with the goal of bringing truckers from various parts of the U.S. to Washington, D.C., by early March, around the time of President Bidens State of the Union address to Congress. Statewide, Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia We showed up with only handguns on our duty belt. She said Verona police were notified of the rally and the Iron City Citizens Response Units presence. The other participants announced on the boat parade flyer, which features the IC CRU symbol and Valknot, are Moreno, Republican candidate for Lt. Gov. On Feb. 20, an admin for the Facebook group Mini-Cassia Patriots cited the Canadian police response to the trucker protests and the U.S. governments support for Trudeau as a warning for what could happen in America: I hope you all, my fellow Patriots, are following the absolute tyranny which is happening to our good neighbors to the north. In that vein, Moreno has apparently taken his campaign to an even more extreme level after meeting and praising a local far-right militia called the Iron City Citizens Response Unit, a group that sports and promotes a symbol related to anti government extremism and white nationalism. Members of the Iron City Citizen Response Unit at an anti-quarantine rally in downtown Pittsburgh in April 2020. In another group called Hug a Trucker 2022!, a member said Trudeau had declared civil war against innocent Canadians. The group hasamassed nearly152,000 members since it was created Jan. 21. The protests themselves present a problem of potentially increasing spread of the disease, those on the call said. Tom Wolf to reopen Pennsylvania businesses in front of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh on Monday. At a protest in Pittsburgh, several members of the Iron City Citizens Response Unit were wearing jackets with valknut patches, at least one valknut patch had a runic border on it. We did not ask for payment. This strongly suggests that Facebooknow part of Metais helping U.S. militia groups export extremist views beyond Americas borders. They will continue to capitalize on the current issues related to public health guidance, local school curriculum and practices, control of natural resources, claims of election fraud, immigration and national security. In the caption of a Facebook photo of IC CRU members at the Mont, Wakulik wrote that IC CRU has been invited to assist in the protection service of some prominent people in the city of Pittsburgh and then wrote that the Marxist Communist faction in our perimeter is strong and occupies high positions in the within corrupt county and city governments. Our freedoms are under attack by a tyrannical government here in the USA which supports Trudeaus crackdown on the ability to peacefully protest. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Light Foot Militia particularly founding member Matt Wakulik who also claims to be on the "command council" for that militia group. While online searches for the group revealed a Facebook page and a website, there were no overt references to Heathenry. [1] In 2016, the SPLC identified a total of 165 armed militia groups within the United States.[2][3]. In a statement subsequent to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, IC CRU said they were surprised by the way their logo portrayed them in a negative light and that they publicly denounce all forms of racism and will side with any minority group when needed., On his personal Facebook page, Wakulik often mocks communists and calls those with different ideologies tyrants and wicked and apparently supports violent vigilantism. SNOW 1 THE SALEM NEWS v\l \ I HI M Snow t inches IiOW tonight 15-20. Tom Wolf to reopen Pennsylvania businesses during a rally in front of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh on Monday. His followers replied with comments of support like Our time is coming! and Militia is EXACTLY the answer!! Find fireplace services, plus fireplace builders and fireplace installers, on . The militia movement engages in paramilitary training aimed at protecting citizens from this feared impending government crackdown. This is a list of active and armed militia organizations in the United States. Rather than get into what he termed a political food fight with Republicans, Bradford said state officials should work to expand testing and follow the recommendations of the state health department. Fresno Please show a lot of interest. After losing the Democratic nomination in the primary election for mayor of Pittsburgh, retired police officer Tony Moreno secured enough written votes on the Republican ballot and has since continued his campaign for mayor as a Republican . The Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) Rally in Richmond, January 2020: The event brought together extreme antigovernment militia groups alongside other Second Amendment absolutists. Such rhetoric about civil war echoes a central talking point of the so-called boogaloo movement, which TTP has been tracking on Facebook since 2020. Jamie Martines and Tom Davidson are Tribune-Review staff writers. Brothers William and Michael Null, members of the Wolverine Watchmen militia, were there. Fredericksburg Unlike many other militia groups that are local, geographically-based groups, Oath Keepers has a centralized hierarchical leadership and tiered structure at national, state and local levels. Three Percenter groups adhere to the dubious historical claim that only 3% of American colonists fought against the British during the War of Independence. There was a boat parade that day prior to the event. Quote Tweet Shane Dunlap @shanedunlap Apr 20, 2020 On Feb. 10, the administrator of the group shared a post that read: Please plan ahead and prepare your food pantries, water, gas and any other needs. There were no incidents whatsoever. Statewide, American Patriots Three Percent We really dont want people mixing across households and neighborhoods, let alone counties and regions, Buttenheim said. Statewide, Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association Lianos Battle Buddies now operates a backup Facebook group which, like its original incarnation, is called 2nd Amendment Protectors. A Feb. 15 post in that backup group promoted a Washington state fundraising event for the D.C. convoy, complete with donation boxes for the truckers. He also disagreed with some of the speakers as to what was worn by his group. CONCEPT The Cold War Continues 27 While groups associated with both segments still exist, their prevalence has diminished in recent years. 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