Chapter Twelve:

Notable Network Figures

Ammon’s Army: Inside the Far-Right People’s Rights Network

Chapter Twelve:

Notable Network Figures

Ammon Bundy has wrangled a wide array of significant far-right figures into the orbit of the People’s Rights Network–far-right paramilitary activists, anti-maskers, far-right street brawlers, conspiracy-mongers, Christian Dominionists, anti-vaxxers, “Constitutionalists,” Tea Partiers, and more. Below are links to detailed profiles of some of the more important figures to the People’s Rights network.

One: Introduction | Point of the Spear

Two: Uncovering the People’s Rights Network

Three: The Online Army

Four: A Den of Rattlesnakes

Five: The Posse Rides Again

Six: Middle American Neighborhood Nationalism

Seven: Conspiracies and Antisemitism Unbounded

Eight: Peoples Rights and Racism

Nine: Anti-Indigenous Activism

Ten: Political Power

Eleven: Prepping for the Future

Twelve: Notable Network Figures

Thirteen: Conclusion

The Founder

Ammon Bundy

Though he lacks an official title in the People’s Rights organization chart, Ammon Bundy is for all intents and purposes the head of the network. The 45-year-old truck repair company owner from Emmett, Idaho, is involved in virtually every facet of the People’s Rights network—from laying out the structure of the group to overseeing the technology used in the network, to promoting the group, to wrangling area assistants. People’s Rights is Ammon’s army.

Angela Clemons

Angela Clemons is a far-right conspiracy theorist, anti-masker, and an anti-vaxxer who has promoted the conspiracy that the “CoronaVirus is part of the forced vaccination” effort. Most notably, however, Clemons has been referred to as the “right-hand girl” of an imprisoned militia leader.

BJ Soper

BJ Soper is the People’s Rights assistant for most of the state of Oregon. Like many in the burgeoning People’s Rights network, Soper has a history of far-right paramilitary organizing, including armed mobilizations and organizing around the 2016 Malheur takeover.

Brand Thornton

Thornton’s involvement in Ammon Bundy’s networks extends back to at least the 2016 Malheur occupation when he blew a shofar as he accompanied the first men that undertook the armed seizure of the wildlife refuge. Thornton has a paramilitary-centered and violent vision for America. Brand Thornton has played an important role at People’s Rights events, opening an August 1 event in Nez Perce, Idaho by blowing a shofar appropriated from Jewish ceremonies for far-right purposes. Thornton is also a member of the Open Carry Utah-OCU Facebook group, an arm of PeoplesRights.org.

Casey Whalen

Casey Whalen plays an outsized role in promoting People’s Rights through his North Idaho Exposed YouTube outlet which boasts more than 14,000 subscribers – through which he serves as a regular videographer of the group’s events. In early June, People’s Rights of Washington listed Casey Whalen as an official assistant for Area 8 in eastern Washington. As of mid-August, Whalen was the sole individual listed as a “Team Member” on the “About” section of the People’s Rights public Facebook page. Whalen’s name was later removed.

Derrik Staheli

Derrik Staheli is an anti-masker and 2nd Amendment activist who doesn’t “buy the whole face covering thing.” In August, Staheli encouraged people with kids in public schools to “find the courage to send them to school...WITH OUT [sic] MASKS!!!” Staheli wrote that “If they get ‘expelled’ or ‘suspended’ etc then just contact me. I have a database of THOUSANDS of Patriots that will help and support you/us and raise HELL if we must” [capitals in original].

Diego Rodriguez

Diego Rodriguez is a frequent speaker at People’s Rights events, including early meetings that gave rise to the organization. He is pastor of the Boise Freedom Tabernacle Church in Boise, Idaho. The church promotes “Christian Dominion,” described as “the duty of taking dominion over the Earth.” Christian Dominionism is a form of Christian nationalism, arguing that Christians should take the reins of political and cultural power. Rodriguez’s Boise-based Dominion Books is dedicated to “equipping believers to take dominion in this world.” Rodriguez also serves as the Communications and Marketing Director for the Freedom Man Political Action.

Joey Gibson

Joey Gibson, leader of the violent far-right street-fighting group, Patriot Prayer, plays a substantial role in the People’s Rights network, acting as a bridge between the violent street fighters and the COVID-19 insurrectionists. Gibson formed Patriot Prayer in 2016, and the group has become well known for violent confrontations with anti-fascists and anti-racists.

Kelli Stewart

While Kelli Stewart is officially listed as a Washington State Area 4 Assistant in People’s Rights, she plays an outsized role in the region and has helped build southern Washington into one of the group’s strongest areas. Stewart’s activism has included organizing efforts in Idaho, Oregon, and Montana. Stewart’s involvement in Ammon Bundy’s networks extends back to shortly after he led the 2016 armed occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.

KrisAnne Hall

KrisAnne Hall is a Wellborn, Florida-based “constitutionalist” and a legal “theorist” frequently cited as an authority by People’s Rights leaders. Hall has a lengthy far-right resume, producing work that has won her a place amongst groups ranging from the Tea Party to paramilitary groups like Oath Keepers. Most notably, Hall promotes a radical assault on the Constitutional basis of federal civil rights and protections from race and sex-based discrimination in voting rights, referring to the 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments as “unlawful expansion[s] of federal power.”

Mark French

Mark French is a Tea Party activist who repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, has run for elected office in Montana. French said the Tea Party movement, along with his study of the Bible and the U.S. Constitution, inspired him to launch his campaign. French stated his candidacy was about protecting freedom and that “by definition freedom comes from bloodshed.”

Nick Ramlow

In April 2020, Nick Ramlow, a Kalispell contractor, began his militia organizing after Montana’s governor issued a statewide shelter-in-place order to slow the spread of COVID-19. Ramlow declared the governor’s actions illegal and said public officials should be treated as criminals. Ramlow began holding “People’s Meetings” and trying to get local owners to open their businesses in defiance of the governor’s directives.

Roger Roots

While not an official People’s Rights leader, Roger Roots has played a significant role in the group. Roger Roots is an attorney licensed to practice law in Rhode Island (but not in Montana where he lives) with a long history with so-called “patriots” and the white nationalist movements. Roots participated in the legal defenses of Bundy Family members when they faced charges from their armed standoffs in both Nevada and Oregon.

See Our Story

Idaho Three Percenter Paramilitaries

Sean and Sandra Anderson

Sean and Sandra Anderson have a history of far-right paramilitary activism and were quick to join the fight against COVID-19 health restrictions. The pair are Idaho Area 2 assistants for People’s Rights. After a July 18 shootout with police, Sean Anderson became a People’s Rights network cause célèbre.

Tony Pellegrino

Tony Pellegrino is an active promotor of a variety of conspiracy theories, including openly antisemitic versions, as well as COVID-19 conspiracies. He has been an ardent supporter of militias, sporting Three Percenter garb, traveling to Virginia to attend a January 2020 militia gathering in Richmond, and declaring that “militia and Liberty groups need to go out in force and perform citizens (sic) Arrest (sic).”

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Chapter Twelve:

Notable Network Figures

Chapter Twelve: