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Message
Democrats Propose Bill to Neuter Militias
Posted on 1/12/24 at 10:56 am
Posted on 1/12/24 at 10:56 am
Link to article
Militias who like to spend their weekends training to overthrow the government could find themselves running afoul of federal law, under new legislation being proposed in the House and Senate Thursday that seeks to curtail paramilitary activity.
The “Preventing Private Paramilitary Activity Act” is being introduced by Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts, and Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, both Democrats.
The legislation would prohibit publicly patrolling, drilling or engaging in harmful or deadly paramilitary activities, interfering with or interrupting government proceedings, interfering with someone else exercising their constitutional rights, falsely assuming the role of law enforcement, and “training to engage in such behavior.”
The lawmakers propose different tiers of criminal penalties, depending on whether violations result in injury or property damage. The bill would establish harsher penalties for repeat offenders, and probationary sentences for first-time offenders. It would also create paths for the DOJ and private individuals to seek civil federal lawsuits against paramilitary activity.
This legislation comes almost exactly three years after Jan. 6, 2021, when thousands of Trump supporters—many dressed for war—stormed the U.S. Capitol over conspiracy theories about the presidential election results. Leading the charge were members and leaders of the Oath Keepers, a militia, and Proud Boys, a quasi-paramilitary group often described as a far-right street-fighting gang. Top brass of those organizations have since caught seditious conspiracy charges.
News
Headed Into Election Year, Proud Boys Appear to Be on Decline
TESS OWEN
01.05.24
“Private paramilitary actors, such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, pose a serious threat to democracy and the rule of law,” Sen. Markey said in a statement. “We must create new prohibitions on their unauthorized activities that interfere with the exercise of people's constitutional rights. The forces of bigotry, hatred, and violent extremism must be stopped for the sake of our democracy.”
The Capitol riot was the culmination of surging anti-government sentiment and paramilitary activity seen throughout 2020. That year, armed paramilitary groups swarmed government buildings to protest COVID-19 restrictions, plotted to kidnap Michigan’s governor over those restrictions, conducted armed neighborhood patrols in response to racial justice protests, and killed law enforcement officers.
The modern paramilitary movement surged in the 1990s, galvanized by new federal gun laws, and by armed FBI raids on extremist compounds such as Waco and Ruby Ridge. The movement has waxed and waned in the decades since. And as the dust settled from the Capitol riot, many asked why these heavily armed, organized groups had seemingly been able to operate with impunity for so long.
Gun rights organizations and anti-government groups have typically argued that paramilitary activity is constitutionally protected by the Second Amendment’s language about “a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State.”
But constitutional experts hold that it is not protected. After the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017, a team with Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) sought to examine the legality of the kind of brazen paramilitary activity on display that weekend. They found that all 50 states had some kind of laws on the books, but were rarely enforced.
The team, led by Mary McCord, former acting assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice’s national security division, also found that the historical context of “militia” did not mean a private paramilitary group that was answerable only to themselves, but an armed group that predated the National Guard, was first established in the colonies in the 1600s and was meant to be deployed at the behest of the governor. Additionally, McCord told The Trace in an interview two years ago, Supreme Court decisions in 1886 and 2008 found that the Second Amendment did not prohibit states from banning private paramilitary groups.
“Our legislation makes the obvious but essential clarification that these domestic extremists’ paramilitary operations are in no way protected by our Constitution,” Rep Raskin said in a statement regarding Thursday’s bill.
How the proposed legislation is received by hardline conservatives in Congress and by Trump voters will remain to be seen. Grievances against the federal government, particularly the FBI and DOJ, have continued to mount since 2021, amid the slew of indictments against Trump and the massive prosecution effort against Capitol rioters. A recent poll found that a quarter of American voters believe the baseless “Fedsurrection” conspiracy theory that the FBI instigated the Capitol attack. These grievances and conspiracies have established the false narrative that the Biden Administration is hellbent on persecuting its ideological or political opponents.
Militias who like to spend their weekends training to overthrow the government could find themselves running afoul of federal law, under new legislation being proposed in the House and Senate Thursday that seeks to curtail paramilitary activity.
The “Preventing Private Paramilitary Activity Act” is being introduced by Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts, and Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, both Democrats.
The legislation would prohibit publicly patrolling, drilling or engaging in harmful or deadly paramilitary activities, interfering with or interrupting government proceedings, interfering with someone else exercising their constitutional rights, falsely assuming the role of law enforcement, and “training to engage in such behavior.”
The lawmakers propose different tiers of criminal penalties, depending on whether violations result in injury or property damage. The bill would establish harsher penalties for repeat offenders, and probationary sentences for first-time offenders. It would also create paths for the DOJ and private individuals to seek civil federal lawsuits against paramilitary activity.
This legislation comes almost exactly three years after Jan. 6, 2021, when thousands of Trump supporters—many dressed for war—stormed the U.S. Capitol over conspiracy theories about the presidential election results. Leading the charge were members and leaders of the Oath Keepers, a militia, and Proud Boys, a quasi-paramilitary group often described as a far-right street-fighting gang. Top brass of those organizations have since caught seditious conspiracy charges.
News
Headed Into Election Year, Proud Boys Appear to Be on Decline
TESS OWEN
01.05.24
“Private paramilitary actors, such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, pose a serious threat to democracy and the rule of law,” Sen. Markey said in a statement. “We must create new prohibitions on their unauthorized activities that interfere with the exercise of people's constitutional rights. The forces of bigotry, hatred, and violent extremism must be stopped for the sake of our democracy.”
The Capitol riot was the culmination of surging anti-government sentiment and paramilitary activity seen throughout 2020. That year, armed paramilitary groups swarmed government buildings to protest COVID-19 restrictions, plotted to kidnap Michigan’s governor over those restrictions, conducted armed neighborhood patrols in response to racial justice protests, and killed law enforcement officers.
The modern paramilitary movement surged in the 1990s, galvanized by new federal gun laws, and by armed FBI raids on extremist compounds such as Waco and Ruby Ridge. The movement has waxed and waned in the decades since. And as the dust settled from the Capitol riot, many asked why these heavily armed, organized groups had seemingly been able to operate with impunity for so long.
Gun rights organizations and anti-government groups have typically argued that paramilitary activity is constitutionally protected by the Second Amendment’s language about “a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State.”
But constitutional experts hold that it is not protected. After the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017, a team with Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) sought to examine the legality of the kind of brazen paramilitary activity on display that weekend. They found that all 50 states had some kind of laws on the books, but were rarely enforced.
The team, led by Mary McCord, former acting assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice’s national security division, also found that the historical context of “militia” did not mean a private paramilitary group that was answerable only to themselves, but an armed group that predated the National Guard, was first established in the colonies in the 1600s and was meant to be deployed at the behest of the governor. Additionally, McCord told The Trace in an interview two years ago, Supreme Court decisions in 1886 and 2008 found that the Second Amendment did not prohibit states from banning private paramilitary groups.
“Our legislation makes the obvious but essential clarification that these domestic extremists’ paramilitary operations are in no way protected by our Constitution,” Rep Raskin said in a statement regarding Thursday’s bill.
How the proposed legislation is received by hardline conservatives in Congress and by Trump voters will remain to be seen. Grievances against the federal government, particularly the FBI and DOJ, have continued to mount since 2021, amid the slew of indictments against Trump and the massive prosecution effort against Capitol rioters. A recent poll found that a quarter of American voters believe the baseless “Fedsurrection” conspiracy theory that the FBI instigated the Capitol attack. These grievances and conspiracies have established the false narrative that the Biden Administration is hellbent on persecuting its ideological or political opponents.
Posted on 1/12/24 at 10:58 am to Placekicker
quote:
“Preventing Private Paramilitary Activity Act” is being introduced by Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts
What a pussy.
Posted on 1/12/24 at 10:59 am to Placekicker
Why are they worried about militias?
Only corrupt people in power have anything to worry about
Only corrupt people in power have anything to worry about
Posted on 1/12/24 at 11:00 am to Placekicker
Unconstitutional
Posted on 1/12/24 at 11:00 am to Placekicker
Unconstitutional but when did that ever stop them
Posted on 1/12/24 at 11:02 am to Placekicker
quote:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State
Sounds unconstitutional.
Posted on 1/12/24 at 11:04 am to Placekicker
Doesn't have 60 Senate votes, and clearly cannot pass the House. Just a virtue signal.
Posted on 1/12/24 at 11:06 am to Placekicker
Would violate the First Amendment.
The legislation would prohibit publicly patrolling, drilling or engaging in harmful or deadly paramilitary activities, interfering with or interrupting government proceedings, interfering with someone else exercising their constitutional rights, falsely assuming the role of law enforcement, and “training to engage in such behavior.”
More of your rights being whittled away to establish a Dictatorship of one party rule.
The legislation would prohibit publicly patrolling, drilling or engaging in harmful or deadly paramilitary activities, interfering with or interrupting government proceedings, interfering with someone else exercising their constitutional rights, falsely assuming the role of law enforcement, and “training to engage in such behavior.”
More of your rights being whittled away to establish a Dictatorship of one party rule.
Posted on 1/12/24 at 11:08 am to Placekicker
How would this affect that black supremacist militia? The one who shot themselves while marching some time back?
Posted on 1/12/24 at 11:20 am to Placekicker
Posted on 1/12/24 at 11:31 am to Placekicker
quote:
Militias who like to spend their weekends training to overthrow the government
Stopped reading. What a stupid article.
Posted on 1/12/24 at 11:34 am to Placekicker
frick Markey.
Blatantly unconstitutional.
Blatantly unconstitutional.
Posted on 1/12/24 at 11:36 am to Placekicker
Mary McCord is a true POS human being. She is a Big Gov stooge, an authoritarian, and just a worthless bag of carbon.
All of this legislation is unconstitutional.
first amendment
arbitrary
arbitrary
laws already on the books for this
the People own the nation, the People are law enforcement, would run against other laws that require you to assist law enforcement, and would just subject you to arrest for a multitude of activities
arbitrary and will run afoul of scotus stuff where they say LE isn't obligated to protected you, yet you have a right to protect yourself, which obviously entails things usually associated with LE, thus it's impossible to "falsely" assume such a role
arbitrary and first amendment protected activity, this could be used to shut down paint ball, airsoft, kids playing cops and robbers and all sorts of stuff.
Wildly incorrect
It certainly does prohibit that, as do other amendments. McCord is a tyrannical piece of garbage.
One of the worst, most duplicitous human beings in Congress. Absolute scumbag, liar, and con man.
Oh, we have one of these people.
A true propaganda mouthpiece. Who is this loser?
All of this legislation is unconstitutional.
quote:
publicly patrolling, drilling
first amendment
quote:
engaging in harmful or deadly paramilitary activities
arbitrary
quote:
interrupting government proceedings
arbitrary
quote:
interfering with someone else exercising their constitutional rights
laws already on the books for this
quote:
falsely assuming the role of law enforcement
the People own the nation, the People are law enforcement, would run against other laws that require you to assist law enforcement, and would just subject you to arrest for a multitude of activities
arbitrary and will run afoul of scotus stuff where they say LE isn't obligated to protected you, yet you have a right to protect yourself, which obviously entails things usually associated with LE, thus it's impossible to "falsely" assume such a role
quote:
training to engage in such behavior
arbitrary and first amendment protected activity, this could be used to shut down paint ball, airsoft, kids playing cops and robbers and all sorts of stuff.
quote:
historical context of “militia” did not mean a private paramilitary group that was answerable only to themselves, but an armed group that predated the National Guard, was first established in the colonies in the 1600s and was meant to be deployed at the behest of the governor.
Wildly incorrect
quote:
McCord told The Trace in an interview two years ago, Supreme Court decisions in 1886 and 2008 found that the Second Amendment did not prohibit states from banning private paramilitary groups.
It certainly does prohibit that, as do other amendments. McCord is a tyrannical piece of garbage.
quote:
“Our legislation makes the obvious but essential clarification that these domestic extremists’ paramilitary operations are in no way protected by our Constitution,” Rep Raskin said in a statement regarding Thursday’s bill.
One of the worst, most duplicitous human beings in Congress. Absolute scumbag, liar, and con man.
quote:
A recent poll found that a quarter of American voters believe the baseless “Fedsurrection” conspiracy theory that the FBI instigated the Capitol attack.
Oh, we have one of these people.
quote:
These grievances and conspiracies have established the false narrative that the Biden Administration is hellbent on persecuting its ideological or political opponents.
A true propaganda mouthpiece. Who is this loser?
Posted on 1/12/24 at 11:53 am to Placekicker
quote:
The “Preventing Private Paramilitary Activity Act” is being introduced by Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts
Considering the history of militias in the states, and the key role Massachusetts played in their organization, this guy is an absolute disgrace to his state and our country’s history.
Posted on 1/12/24 at 12:13 pm to Placekicker
What’s the difference between an armed mob and a well regulated militia?
Posted on 1/12/24 at 12:18 pm to Placekicker
quote:
The legislation would prohibit ...interfering with someone else exercising their constitutional rights
A constitutional right like the right to peaceably assemble?
Posted on 1/12/24 at 12:33 pm to Placekicker
Finally, something to go after BLM and ANTIFA, right?
Posted on 1/12/24 at 12:34 pm to Placekicker
quote:
or engaging in harmful or deadly paramilitary activities,
Hey Dims? Arrest him.
Posted on 1/12/24 at 12:35 pm to Placekicker
All of the most despicable politicians and policies have their roots in New England something is seriously rotten up there. Guess what frickers? If we’re starting a militia we don’t care if it’s illegal or not
This post was edited on 1/12/24 at 12:36 pm
Posted on 1/12/24 at 1:46 pm to Placekicker
The government wants to outlaw the preparedness to overthrow the government should it become necessary? Say it isn’t so!
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