The legislators described in this report have been members of 789 different far-right Facebook groups. As discussed in detail in the Categories section, these groups fall into thirteen distinct far-right categories and fourteen subcategories, ranging from militia and sovereign citizen groups, antisemitic conspiracy groups, militant COVID Denial groups, Stop the Steal groups, and more.

These 789 groups were joined 2,115 times by the 875 legislators identified in this report, an average of 2.4 groups per legislator. Some legislators are members of as many as 24 different groups. Many of these far-right groups are “private” groups, meaning that non-members can’t see the content or group members. Absent the work of the IREHR researchers, much of this information would remain hidden.

Of the 2,115 far-right groups joined, state legislators used their personal Facebook accounts to join 2,069 groups, campaign accounts to join 36 groups, and “official” accounts to join ten groups.

The groups described in this report, on the whole, exhibit two broad ideological features that define much of the modern anti-democratic far-right in the United States: they are animated by a Middle American nationalism and far-right political ideologies and goals.

Middle American Nationalism is a set of ideas descended from Middle American Radicalism (MAR), first described by sociologist Donald L. Warren in his 1976 book The Radical Center. It focused on a distinct constituency Warren found in the George Wallace campaigns. Warren defined this MAR ideology as individuals who viewed themselves squeezed from two directions: one, economic and political elites whose influence and access to wealth favors give them an advantage; two, people of color and poor people.[121]

In addition to finding evidence of the MAR constituency as a part of the George Wallace voter base, Warren tracked its involvement in Ross Perot and Pat Buchanan’s 1992 campaigns.[122]

In Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to the Mainstream, IREHR founder Leonard Zeskind explored the transformation from Middle American Radicalism to the emergence of Middle American Nationalism.

Today variations on the Middle American Nationalist ideology can be seen in organizations and movements ranging from the Tea Party, to far-right militias, to racist groups like the Proud Boys, to white nationalists.

The groups described in this report can also be broadly understood as far-right. That is, the political right can be broadly understood as working to preserve certain traditional features of society and their related institutions – for instance, the central place of religion and classical liberalism. This becomes politically relevant because these traditions tend to be attached to institutionalized hierarchies variably rooted in class, race, and gender. At the very least, conservatives support limiting the use of government and public institutions to address the inequality entrenched in economic and civil society institutions.

In this light, the far-right can be understood as groups and individuals advocating changes in the organizational structure of the state (Constitutional structure) or public policy(ies) that would significantly undermine political, social and/or economic equality along such lines as class, race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, immigration status, and religion. This can encompass groups and individuals who aim to significantly undermine the capacity of government to address broad issues of public health and safety, workplace safety, environmental protection and environmental justice, and other critical public goods.

This includes a variety of Constitutional or policy changes that would significantly (1) undermine the capacity of national, state and/or local governments to address inequality; (2) interfere with or stop public policies or practices aimed at raising and addressing inequality; (3) enhance the capacity of national, state and/or local governments to suppress groups and individuals seeking to address inequality; (4) undermine the capacity/ability of members of marginalized/oppressed groups to participate in the political process; (5) undermine government capacities to carry out programs and policies important for public health and safety, workplace safety, environmental health and justice, and other public good; (6) support or increase the capacity of private far-right actors to impose anti-democratic and discriminatory policies through civil society and economic institutions.

Given the specific context of U.S. political history, examples include efforts that would significantly undermine major equality-centered institutional features such as the 13^th, 14^th, 15^th, 16^th, 17^th, and 19^th Amendments; efforts to overturn key victories won in the Reconstruction era, as well as New Deal and Great Society programs; and abolishing or significantly undermining civil-rights and workers’ rights as embodied in Brown v. Board of Education, 1965 Voting Rights Act, 1964 Civil Rights Act, 1968 Immigration Act, and major labor-protective laws, and rights to privacy embodied in cases such as Roe v. Wade.

This also includes action at the state and local level, including voter suppression and anti-immigrant legislation, COVID Denial bills and laws, attacks on abortion rights, and efforts to enact right-to-work-style laws. At the local level, this includes efforts to disrupt diversity and inclusion programs in schools and government under the guise of opposing “critical race theory,” attacks on teachers’ unions, efforts to surveil teachers, and attempts to derail factual education about racism in our society.

In the American settler-colonial context, this also includes efforts to overturn policies, practices, and court cases that uphold tribal national rights, including political sovereignty and the enforcement of treaty rights. This would include supporting explicit or effective Termination policies. It also encompasses groups that mobilize against tribal government projects initiatives alongside promoting hostility toward and misinformation about tribes.

The change sought by far-right groups can range from deeply reformist proposals to equality-related public policies (e.g., the Voting Rights Act, 1968 Immigration Act) to revolutionary action vis-à-vis national, state, and local governments.

As bigotry and false information do not occur in a vacuum but are often tied to frameworks to advance power, such groups can promote bigotry or false ideas about groups marginalized by class, race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, and immigration status.

The following categories are used to classify different Facebook groups in this report. Some categories are based on the issue-focus of organizations and others on specific kinds of ideologies and politics promoted by the group. These categories are not mutually exclusive. The doctrines of some members of issue-centered groups, for instance, often fall into the ideological categories included in the report or into the broad definitions of Middle American nationalism and far-right described at the outset.

COVID Denial describes the broad range of issue-centered groups that developed across successive waves of the COVID-19 pandemic from early 2020 to the present. These groups focus on denying the severity, threat, or even the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of these groups broadly oppose policies designed to impede the spread of the virus and protect people through vaccination and measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing, distance learning, and temporary business shutdowns.

In Facebook and COVID Denial, IREHR divided such groups into seven major categories: Anti-Mask, Anti-Mandate, Hoaxer, Re-Open, Anti-Vaxx, Multidimensional, and Anti-Lockdown.[123] These subcategories are used in this report.

COVID Denial groups are fertile ground for far-right radicalization. This takes place along several radicalization paths, including, variably across groups, through leaders and members of such groups promoting COVID-19 conspiracies and misinformation, including antisemitism and spurious comparisons between COVID-19 related policies and the Holocaust; racism denial and participation in the mobilization against addressing institutional racism under the moniker of opposing “Critical Race Theory;” anti-Asian and anti-Muslim bigotry; attacks on the sovereignty of Indian Nations; bigotry directed at the LQBTQIA+ community; and hostility toward trade unions, particularly teachers’ unions.

Some members of far-right groups and their supporters are members of Facebook COVID Denial groups. Far-right groups and leaders with supporters in COVID Denial groups include Ammon Bundy’s People’s Rights network, KrisAnne Hall, the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, the Proud Boys, Patriot Prayer, the John Birch Society, the Oath Keepers, militias, and more.

The South Carolina Citizens for God-given Rights and Against Shelter-In-Place (15 legislators, 2,737 members) is a case in point. The group describes itself as,

“Citizens and residents of the state of South Carolina, or those who own and operate a business in the state, or those employed by a SC business who are affected by the recent unconstitutional government restrictions on those who live, work, or are citizens of the state of South Carolina.”[124]

One group administrator is Evan Mulch, whose Facebook page describes him as the Spartanburg, South Carolina-based Executive Field Coordinator, Eastern Regional Field Director, and Field Coordinator for the John Birch Society.[125] Mulch is also a member of the private Facebook group Monarchists, whose “About” page declares,

“This forum exists for the purpose of civil discussion between monarchists and those interested in monarchy as the ideal form of human governance…[W]e have, in common, an abiding belief that monarchy offers the best form of government known to mankind…All are welcome, save those who advocate republicanism and the abolition of monarchies.”[126]

In addition to promoting COVID Denial and circulating John Birch Society material in the group, Mulch, unsurprisingly, promoted conspiratorial language about COVID-19, such as a meme calling for people to attend a county council meeting under the heading, “OPERATION EXPOSE COVID-19 PLANDEMIC FOR SPARTANBURG COUNTY CITIZENS.”[127] The term “plandemic” is common in COVID Denial groups, flagging that its users view COVID-19 related policies, or the virus itself, as part of a planned government conspiracy aimed at some broader and nefarious end.

In JBS style, Mulch also alleged that “the Council on Foreign Relations is …behind the government shutdown and the unconstitutional measures being taken by our federal and state government.”[128] Mulch’s Facebook page also includes John Birch Society material (The New American) alleging the common far-right refrain that “CRT [critical race theory]…pit(s) people against each other on the basis of race in an effort ‘to dismantle America.’” Mulch declares, “We are exposing Critical Race Theory all over America!”[129] On his own Facebook page, Mulch writes,

“The American empire will soon be crushed and we will soon have the opportunity to rebuild and recreate what America was supposed to be…Anybody can prepare to win now by participating in The John Birch Society.”[130]

Take Back Missouri Schools/Education (22 legislators, 2,987 members) illustrates another aspect of COVID Denial groups—incorporating themes like “anti-CRT” as they shift to becoming more akin to the “School-Centered” far-right groups outlined in this report.

While formed as Open Missouri Schools in July 2020 amidst the first wave of COVID Denial activism, the group adopted its current name in July 2021. The group also offers a broader self-definition than implied by its earlier name:

“Parents/taxpayers have less and less voice in the education and even the health of their kids, in Missouri schools. Much of education in Missouri has been usurped by the hard left, bent on politicizing K-12 kids (gaslighting parents) rather than educating and preparing kids for their future and benefit.”[131]

Group administrator Mary Hill has also used the group to support the anti-“critical race theory” mobilization, declaring, “Glad teachers are fighting back,” in response to an article she posted about a lawsuit by school employees to stop school equity training.[132]

As is common in COVID Denial groups, some Take Back Missouri Schools/Education members have posted material promoting the antisemitic comparison between COVID-19-related vaccination and mask policies and the German Nazis and the Holocaust.[133]

This refers to groups descended from the Tea Party mobilization that emerged in 2009 following the election of Barrack Obama to the presidency. It includes groups that continue to use the name Tea Party and those known to have originated as Tea Party groups but have since changed their names. This includes national Tea Party factions, local groups associated with those factions, and Tea Party groups that developed more independently.

While Tea Party groups also overlap with COVID Denial, anti-immigrant, Stop the Steal, Constitutionally-Construction Nationalisms, and anti-CRT mobilizations, the groups included in this category have clear links to the Tea Party legacy.

The Friends of the TEA Party in Arkansas (14 legislators, 1,165 members) demonstrates the overlap in the categories used here, ultimately because many of the groups here share similar ideologies.

For example, while included in the Tea Party category by virtue of its name and 2011 founding, group administrator Randy Alexander is listed as “Works at Convention of States Arkansas, Legislative Liaison.”[134] (See Constitutionally-Constructed Nationalism, Constitutional Convention). In addition, administrator Joanne Fileatreau heavily promotes events featuring David Barton, the head of WallBuilders, a group well known for producing Christian nationalist-oriented histories of the United States (See Christian Right).[135]

Montana Shrugged, TEA Party Patriots (17 legislators, 1,391 members) demonstrates the mix of issues that have long animated Tea Party activists. On the one hand, Montana Shrugged, TEA Party Patriots cast itself as,

“committed to educating citizens about economic and constitutional issues which affect all citizens’ abilities to pursue their inalienable rights for the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness…Montana Shrugged is committed to educating citizens about a return of the federal government to its original Constitutional limits. Montana Shrugged is also committed to empowering the States to take back the power granted to them under the United States Constitution.”[136]

Policy-wise, this includes working to “Reduce taxes and government spending on federal, state and local arena” and “promote entrepreneurship and opportunity by increasing citizen involvement in the regulatory process to reduce red tape.”[137]

Alongside this emphasis on fiscal conservatism, deregulation, states’ rights, lower taxes, and entrepreneurship, group administrator Jennifer Olsen also demonstrated the anti-immigrant politics that have been central to the Tea Party from the beginning–including posting material from the John Birch Society and far-right U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene to bolster her positions. For example, one anti-immigrant screed from Greene posted by Olsen stated:

“There are hundreds of thousands of people headed to the border. We must close the border! The open border is a national security crisis. We should be tripling the size of CBP and funding all security measures like the wall and technology to keep our country safe…We are on the verge of a critical supply chain crisis & being flooded with illegals. Hundreds of thousands are coming & aren’t forced to get vaxxed, but our own people are being fired for no vax…Drugs, criminals, and terrorists are coming in. No President and Vice President in United States history has betrayed the American people like Biden and Harris have. The border is so out of control and creating such problems that there are rumors that people are organizing to secure the border themselves.”[138]

This set of groups in this report is defined by their political ideology and a varied collection of far-right institutional or policy commitments. The cornerstone of this constellation of groups is a nationalist political identity built around the idea that the U.S. Constitution has been degraded by broadly left-wing changes perceived as undermining or overturning the original, intended, and “optimal” form. In the end, such groups tend to publicly cast themselves as defenders of the “real” Constitution.

The particular Constitutional changes advocated and how they are to be brought about partly define the sub-categories in this group. For instance, such groups can advocate quasi-governmental schemes spuriously alleged to exempt adherents from federal jurisdiction, call for overturning Reconstruction-era Constitutional Amendments or Amendments such as the 16^th or 17^th Amendment or promote secession or the wholesale overturn of the national government through various “constitutionalist” schemes.

Often obfuscated behind the ubiquity of the U.S. Constitution in American political ideology and rhetoric, the groups in the category of Constitutionally-Constructed Nationalism tend to build a narrative national identity through a distorted telling of U.S. and Constitutional history that underplays the centrality of racism to our history and advances a reinterpretation and de facto (or de jure) restructuring of the U.S. Constitution that would radically undermine equality and government capacity to address issues of public good. This general ideology can support restructuring government without formally changing the Constitution; it can also support calls to formally change the Constitution, as with the Convention of the States.

A prominent member of the first sub-category is that segment of the far-right frequently referred to by such names as “patriot,” “constitutionalist,” or “anti-government.”

While these terms call attention to aspects of these movements, they fail to adequately capture that the core ideology at work is a far-right nationalism, often even misconstruing this decidedly un-populist movement as “populist.” While “patriot,” “constitutionalist,” and “sovereign citizen” at least have the benefit of calling attention to movement leaders’ self-referential categories and can point toward a national identity at work, the term anti-government is the least helpful – obfuscating that it is this movement’s nationalism, not a theoretical rejection of government itself, that brings it into conflict with the existing political system. The “anti-government” moniker also fails to illuminate that these groups and individuals often seek to become the government in the process of remaking its underlying structure.

The category of Posse-Influence Groups refers to that segment of the American far right that has been substantially influenced by the ideas of the Posse Comitatus (Latin for “power of the county”), a violent far-right paramilitary group that pushed the core idea that the county sheriff is the “highest law of the land,” and that the sheriff, or individuals in a Posse, could arrest and put on trial in a “citizens’ jury” any individuals or government officials attempting to enforce policies or practices they deemed “unconstitutional.” Rooted in the virulently racist and antisemitic Christian Identity “religion,” the Posse Comitatus was also known for promoting conspiracy theories, often openly antisemitic, positing an “internationalist” or “global” entity that has conspired to overturn the original and intended meaning of the U.S. Constitution.[139]

Today, Posse-Influenced Groups espouse the Posse idea that the county sheriff is the “highest law of the land” and can effectively nullify federal authority. Such groups often set their sights on overturning or pressing the invalidity of Reconstruction-era Constitutional Amendments, particularly the 14^th and 15^th—including a call to return to a government based on the original Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Modern Posse Comitatus-inspired groups have also jumped beyond the bounds of Christian Identity, generally espousing some brand of Christian libertarian nationalism wedded to racism denial. This ideology can contain important contradictory elements –seen, for instance, in the Peoples Rights network and other groups that champion property rights alongside advancing an individualistic nationalism that leads them to attempt to block private business owners from requiring masks or vaccines to protect employees and customers from the pandemic.

The closely-related subcategory, Sovereign Citizen, finds its roots in the Posse Comitatus creation of spurious notions of original state versus 14^th Amendment citizenship – the latter deemed under federal jurisdiction, the former not. Rooted in such ideas, these groups promote the creation of pseudo-governmental institutions and/or “legal” authority for their political actions – including creating common law courts, townships, or assemblies and using such ideas to justify their political activity. Based on such concepts, members of these groups at times declare their “sovereign citizens” status by filing bogus paperwork or spurious legal complaints and liens against public officials they deem to have violated their Constitutional rights.[140]

Several Posse-Influenced groups in this report stand out for their direct relationship to significant movement leaders and organizations. These include Friends of KrisAnne Hall (2 legislators, 425 members), Sheriff Richard Mack (4 legislators, 2,506 members), C.S.P.O.A.-Constitutional Sheriffs Peace Officers Association (1 legislator, 1,923 members), the Constitution Study Group & Discussion Forum (7 legislators, 2,685 members), and First State IOTC (1 legislator, 210 members), the latter two connected to the Institute on the Constitution (IOTC).

This also includes member groups of Ammon Bundy’s far-right and paramilitary People’s Right network, including People’s Rights IDAHO Group (3 legislators, 1,345 members*), Open Carry UTAH-OCU (An arm of PeoplesRights.org) (2 legislators, 2,213 members*), People’s Rights Washington Group (1 legislator, 1,833 members*), Area 1 People’s Rights Washington (1 legislator, 80 members*), Montana District 1 People’s Rights (1 legislator, 419 members*).[141]

Ammon Bundy is best known for leading the 2016 armed takeover of the Malheur wildlife refuge in southern Oregon and building the People’s Rights network into a national insurrectionist far-right group.[142]

These groups play outsized roles in the movement, spreading core Posse Comitatus ideas and promoting substantial assaults on federal civil rights enforcement and other capacities. They have also worked together. Both KrisAnne Hall and leaders of the Institute on the Constitution, for instance, have been trainers at events hosted by Richard Mack’s CSPOA. KrisAnne Hall is also a favored legal “theorist” of the People’s Rights network.

Richard Mack and his CSPOA are national leaders in spreading the Posse Comitatus idea of sheriff’s power and recruiting law enforcement officers into the far right. Mack has also espoused far-right conspiracy theories, endorsed the use of far-right “posses” against the federal government, rejected the separation of church and state, and spewed racism denial by absurdly alleging that “the Reverend Jesse Jackson types and the NAACP have done more to enslave Afro-Americans than all the southern plantation owners put together.” In addition, Mack teamed up with the late Robert David Steele, a vitriolic antisemite, to mount a national “Arise USA” tour.[143]

Such ideas and activities have garnered Mack fans from the Tea Party to the nationalist paramilitary Oath Keepers, on whose board Mack once served, and a group that has seen several members arrested in connection to the Capitol insurrection.[144]

KrisAnne Hall, based in Wellborn, Florida, is a leading “legal” theorist in the movement. In addition to serving as a trainer for Mack’s CSPOA and influencing the People’s Rights network, Hall has appeared at Tea Party events, and the Oath Keepers have promoted her work. In addition to boosting Posse Comitatus-like ideas about sheriffs’ power, KrisAnne Hall has spuriously claimed that “The 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment, the 19th Amendment were not necessary. As a matter of fact, they were an unlawful expansion of federal power.”[145]

Such radical assaults on civil rights allow Hall’s ideas to potentially bridge the gap between her brand of far-right nationalism and white nationalism. In 2019, Hall spoke at a meeting of a Florida chapter of the League of the South, a white nationalist organization that seeks a whites-only ethnostate in the U.S. south, peddles antisemitism, and has forged alliances with national socialists. Hall also consulted with the Trump administration on immigration policies and holds that Barrack Obama, Kamala Harris, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz are not “natural born citizens” and therefore have never been eligible to run for president.[146]

Both Michael Peroutka and David Whitney of the Institute on the Constitution have been instructors at CSPOA training sessions. Both also served as Maryland leaders of the white nationalist League of the South. In addition to distributing videos of Mack and boosting the Posse idea of sheriff’s power, the IOTC promotes Christian nationalism, anti-Muslim bigotry, and state nullification and has circulated material stating that “We see no reason why men should not discriminate on the grounds of religion, race, or nationality if they wish.”[147]

In addition to groups directly dedicated to or linked to these far-right leaders and organizations, other groups in this category are led by administrators and/or moderators who support them or circulate their material in the group. Among these are HAC & SAC (18 legislators, 3,168 members), whose administrators, Pamela Goode and James Squyres, are members of the IOTC-administered Constitution Study Group & Discussion Forum; the Constitutional Grassroots Movement (14 legislators, 7,029 members), whose administrator, the Constitutional Grassroots Movement Facebook page, frequently posts material from KrisAnne Hall; and the Montana Liberty Coalition (10 legislators, 2,897 members), whose administrator, Ken Gardner, frequently posts material from Ammon Bundy and KrisAnne Hall to the group.[148]

As for Sovereign Citizen groups in this report, the most disturbing case comes from New Hampshire, where six legislators are members of two groups: State Citizens Re-establishing The States (SCRETS) (4 legislators, 396 members) and Common Law Jury of new-Hampshire (2 legislators, 403 members).

State Citizens Re-establishing The States (SCRETS) demonstrates the features that set such groups apart and warrant their inclusion in the Sovereign Citizen group. The group describes,

“On March 2, 2019 following in the footsteps of the North Carolina American Republic (NCAR), a small contingency of Texans, desiring to be free from the tyranny of DC, re-established our de jure (lawful) sovereign state, Texas American Republic. We HAVE NOT seceded from the American union, in fact in pledging our allegiance to Texas we also pledged allegiance to the original confederation of nation states pre 1861. Please note that Virginia is now working towards their re-establishment as well as Pennsylvania, Florida and Wisconsin. They need people with the desire to be free from DC’s tyranny to join them in developing a body politic for their States.”[149]

One administrator of the group is The Texas American Republic, a Facebook page that states its purpose as “Texas State Re-establishment. Individual freedom under the de jure form of government. The Texas American Republic. This page is generally for Texas folks, though others may be admitted for educational purposes.”

The Facebook page directs those interested to The New Texas Nationals website, where they can find the Posse Comitatus conception of citizenship:

“A citizen of a State, under…the Fourteenth Amendment, is a citizen of the United States. Privileges and immunities of a citizen of the United States are not the same as privileges and immunities of a citizen of the several States…A citizen of a State…only has to aver that he or she is a citizen of a State of the Union…A citizen of a State, under…the Fourteenth Amendment, is to aver that he or she is a citizen of the United States AND a citizen of a State of the Union.”[150]

The New Texas Nationals website declares, “The New Texas Nationals is about reclaiming Texas sovereignty under original intent.”[151]

The State Citizens Re-establishing The States (SCRETS) Facebook group also provides resources for individuals seeking to assert their “state citizen” status. For instance, the group provides a link to America’s Remedy, a project headed by North Carolina-based far-rightist John Ainsworth.[152] America’s Remedy describes that,

“America’s Remedy is a non-partisan educational think tank focused on re-establishing America and her demi-sovereign states on a free and Constitutional foundation…Our goal is, through education, to ignite a peaceful Counter-Revolution amongst the American people; and to reclaim our lawful states (body politics) which were annulled by the second American revolution, also known as the Reconstruction Acts.”[153]

The group’s website elaborates that,

“Prior to Reconstruction (1867–1868), the several states retained their sovereignty with the exception of certain enumerated powers delegated to Congress…At this time the federal government’s authority over the citizens of each state was virtually nonexistent…The Reconstruction Acts, and the coerced passage of the 14th Amendment, annulled pre-existing states in the south AND in the north, peopling them over again with nationalized U.S. citizens, having drastically limited rights…Reconstruction and the 14th Amendment placed all Americans under the indefinite supremacy of Congress, and eliminated State sovereignty, and state-rights…Our current government isn’t broken, to simply be mended with a vote. Rather, its enforcement, and our OBEDIENCE, and PARTICIPATION in it, represents a usurpation of power—a REVOLUTION. Let’s focus on THE PEOPLE to initiate a reversal—a COUNTER-REVOLUTION…

The States created by Reconstruction were not a party to the U.S. Constitution. Constitutional violations do not injure them. In law, by re-establishing our states, Constitutional violations now have an ‘injured party’—a legal foundation on which to mount a peaceful resistance to Reconstruction and its wide-reaching effects. Therefore, it is our right and duty to reclaim our state citizenship and re-establish our lawful state constitutions. Individuals on the front lines would begin removing themselves personally from things which are required or restricted of U.S. citizens — but are not required or restricted under the laws of their re-established state. Just like our founders, we begin standing up for our own liberty.”[Bold, capitals and underline in original][154]

America’s Remedy’s John Ainsworth has been involved in a similar effort in North Carolina—a project called The North Carolina-American Republic (NCAR) that describes itself as “The re-established de jure State of North-Carolina.”[155] The NCAR website provides a link to America’s Remedy and instructions on “How to Become a State Citizen.”[156]

The Common Law Jury of new (sic)-Hampshire (2 legislators, 403 members) promotes far-right conspiracy theories and a version of the Posse Comitatus idea of citizenship. On the first count, the group describes,

“The intended purpose of this Facebook page is to assemble lawful common law juries for each county. These juries of the inhabitants on the land called New Hampshire shall serve the common good of the people and to direct the public servants…There is rampant corruption in the corporate courts, which are merely agents of the INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, run by the B.A.R. ASSOCIATION. Their oaths are to a foreign bank…The people have been indoctrinated by their Guardians, the controllers of the foreign UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 4 CORPORATION and distanced from any resemblance of personal responsibility. Almost no one comprehends the difference between the law for man and the statutes and codes for commerce and public servants. This lack of knowledge is key for the occupiers to control the people…[the] United States is a Federal Corporation and not a government, including the Judicial Procedural Section.”[157]

Common Law Jury of new-Hampshire administrator David Johnson posted to the group his articulation of the Posse Comitatus-style state versus 14^th Amendment citizen distinction, again including a conspiracy theory:

“[T]he term ‘citizen’ is critical here. A lower case ‘c’ citizen demonstrates a class of ‘status’ that you might not wish to own. A ‘14th Amendment’ ‘U.S. citizen’ is a construct by a foreign, defacto U.S. corporation, a RES-IDENT ALIEN of the District of Columbia, which we are not, except by deception on paper only, not created by us but attached to us by a fraud and deception otherwise known as implied tacit consent, resulting in criminal conversion, identity fraud, and breach of trust…Second, a ‘citizen’ that has no rights compared to an upper case ‘C’ Citizen, or more accurately, a State Citizen, who has all their rights, not just limited ‘civil rights.’ Third and as important as the previous points combined, those foreign Crown Temple B.A.R. Agents inappropriately known as Judges are really Bankruptcy Administrators enforcing Commercial Codes and Statutes upon people by coercing them into the OFFICE OF THE PERSON so they can rob and salvage ‘vessels’ that are not actually DEAD entities. They do so with the assistance of low I.Q., poorly trained, uninformed Cops. Fourth, ‘our [upper case ‘S’] State Government…’ has been displaced by a foreign Coup D’Etat, overlay, corporate, lower case ‘s’ state, a statutory construct making everything subject to the foreign U.S. corporation, an insolvent, now post liquidation, defunct zombie corporation, so they can reap the salvage from it’s (sic) subsidiary corporations, assets, and civilly DEAD U.S. citizens. This is trafficking, impressment, treason, breach of trust, and plenty more…The B.A.R. Agents are sneaky ‘sewer rats.’ If you wish, we can discuss why they’re known as sewer rats.”[158]

In 2019 Johnson posted an article to the group titled “The 14^th Amendment is Unconstitutional.”[159] Johnson is also a member of the Posse-Influenced Facebook groups LaVoy Finicum; One Cowboy’s Witness #LibertyRising, and Sheriff Richard Mack.[160] In 2016, David Johnson posted a video to the group that alleged judicial misconduct by a judge, responding that “This will end when Americans start shooting these treasonous ass scumbag felons off their fucking thrones.”[161]

Common Law Jury of new-Hampshire administrator Francesco Saverio Martiniello is also a member of American State National, a group associated with the Assembly of American States, another Posse-style “Sovereign Citizen” organization.[162] Group administrator Dawn Johnson is a member of Friends of “Sovereign not-a citizen”[163]

Groups in this category are included because they emphasize the 2^nd Amendment and gun rights and because administrator(s) or moderator(s) in the group have criticized the National Rifle Association from the right (advocating stronger positions against gun regulations); rely, in part, on material from gun-rights groups to the right of the NRA, such as Gun Owners of America (GOA); or have expressed some affinity with other far-right groups.

While a strong case could be made that the NRA is, at this point, a far-right organization, those Facebook groups with leaders who relied mainly on NRA literature, or acted in some self-reported official category with the NRA, were omitted.

For instance, the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL), an administrator for the VCDL Group (Virginia Citizens Defense League) (3 legislators, 17,866 members), frequently posts GOA action alerts and, in 2020, “Joined Gun Owners of America in lawsuit against the federal government’s bump-stock ban,” according to the group’s website.[164] In 2018, the Shoals Second Amendment (1 legislator, 2,332 members) administrator and “Group Expert” Jeff Hopper wrote, “I just bought a life membership to GOA, they seem to be more interested in actually defending our 2nd amendment rights than the NRA has been lately.”[165] Americans for the 2nd Amendment (1 legislator, 942 members) Administrator Manuel Mello states that he is a member of the NRA and GOA.[166] Ryan Banks, an administrator of Alabama Second Amendment (1 legislator, 993 members), posted to the group that,

“If you support the 2nd Amendment you need to send the NRA packing. The NRA is negotiating our gun rights away. The NRA lost my support several years ago. I personally support Gun Owners of America. They are a no compromise gun rights group.”[167]

Gun Owners of America Executive Director Emeritus Larry Pratt is a long-time advocate of far-right militias, and his organization is a force pushing the NRA to adopt policy positions ever further to the right.[168] Pratt is notorious for his appearance at a 1992 meeting in Estes Park, Colorado, where he gathered with Aryan Nations leaders, former Ku Klux Klansmen, and adherents of “Christian Identity,” a pseudo-religion that holds Jews to be Satanic and refers to people of color as “mud people.”[169] At the event, Pratt advocated the 2^nd Amendment necessity of citizen-formed militias and told the hardcore racists gathered that “The Second Amendment is not about duck hunting.” After his views and associations became public in 1996, Pratt had to resign as Pat Buchanan’s Republican Party campaign co-chair.

This refers to groups that promote or engage in the formation of far-right paramilitaries as a political project. Such activity is most prominently associated with Posse-descended “constitutionalist”-style far-right nationalism, but here is reserved for those groups that focus on supporting paramilitary activism.

This category includes groups that call themselves militias along with those that refer to themselves as Three Percenters, a far-right paramilitary movement that developed alongside the rise of the Tea Party and claimed to be akin to the 3% of American colonists they claim, with little to no evidence, took up arms against the British in the Revolutionary War. It also includes groups with “militia” in their title and/or known to promote paramilitary organizations.

Other such groups with broader political projects also support paramilitary politics, such as the People’s Rights network. However, the Far-Right Paramilitaries subcategory is reserved for groups centered on those themes.

Far-Right Paramilitary groups in this report include national groups such as the U.S. Militia Northern Command – America’s Militia (4 legislators, 3,275 members*) and state-level groups such as LFA III% Washington (6 legislators, 1,373 members*) and New Mexico Patriots (8 legislators, 3,578 members*).

Groups in this category have the goal of holding a Constitutional Convention to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The most prominent among these groups are associated with the Houston, Texas-based Convention of States, whose President and co-founder is Mark Meckler. Meckler was also a co-founder and early leader of the Tea Party Patriots, with current TPP leader Jenny Beth Martin and Amy Kremer, a leader in the “Stop the Steal” effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.[170]

The Convention of States defines its mission as seeking,

“a national effort to call a convention under Article V of the United States Constitution, restricted to proposing amendments that will impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit its power and jurisdiction, and impose term limits on its officials and members of Congress.”

The reason for advocating an Article V Constitutional Convention, the group describes, is “to bring power back to the states and the people, where it belongs.”[171]

While the group offers little in the way of concrete information about the Amendments it supports, save for term limits, any such convention would certainly turn into a free-for-all aiming to remake the Constitution in the image of Tea Party-style politics.

The official Convention of the States Facebook page serves as administrator for the Convention of States Top Fans Group (5 legislators, 13,105 members). Other groups in this report connected to Meckler’s organization, or whose leader(s) or numerous members have promoted COS, include Article V Convention of States-Fredericksburg area (1 legislator, 127 members),  Carolina Constitutional Conservatives (4 legislators, 757 members), Convention of States (2 legislators, 3,385 members), Convention of States – Ohio Region 2 (1 legislator, 319 legislators), Convention of States Conversations (WA) (3 legislators, 2,515 members), Convention Of States Texas HD-61 Parker/Wise County (1 legislator, 95 members), WI/IL Convention of the States Supporters (1 legislator, 175 members) and The 17th Amendment Project (5 legislators, 163 members).[172]

This refers to groups in the Constitutionally-Constructed Nationalism category connected to far-right political parties. The most common are those related to the Pennsylvania-based Constitution Party. For instance, the Constitution Party-Open Forum (1 legislator, 31,503 members) is the “unofficial group is for Constitution Party members, supporters, and interested parties” and provides a link to the Constitution Party’s website and platform.[173]  Administrators of this Facebook group include the Constitution Party of Missouri-St Charles County, the Constitution Party-Midwestern Region, and Doug Enyart, who “Works at Constitution Party of Missouri.” Group moderator Doug Alden is “State Chairman at American Constitution Party.”[174]

The national Constitution Party’s Platform confirms that it is a far-right Christian nationalist organization that builds a political identity through Constitutional narratives. First, the platform declares, “This great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions but on a foundation of Christian principles and values…The goal of the Constitution Party is to restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations and to limit the federal government to its Constitutional boundaries.”[175]

The party’s platform opposes abortion rights; advocates the repeal of the 16^th and 17^th Amendments; declares that “Education as a whole…cannot be separated from religious faith,” and calls for an end to a federal role in education; supports the repeal of the Voting Rights Act; opposes “hate crimes” statutes; opposes federal trust support for tribal casinos; rejects “civil government” authority to pass minimum wage or social welfare laws; and supports an immigration moratorium, an end to the 14^th Amendment’s birthright citizenship provisions, English as the official language of the U.S. and declares “We call for the use of U.S. troops to protect the states against invasion.”[176]

Groups claiming a connection to the national Constitution Party, administered by a Constitution Party state or regional Facebook page, or that use its logo, official or otherwise, include Constitution Party – Unofficial Group (1 legislator, 485 members), Constitution Party of Massachusetts (1 legislator, 442 members), Constitution Party of North Dakota (1 legislator, 90 members), Constitution Party of Washington (1 legislator, 406 members), and US Taxpayers Party of Michigan (1 legislator, 281 members), the latter the Michigan affiliate of the national Constitution Party.[177]

This refers to far-right groups that seek to secede states or regions of the country from federal and/or state government jurisdiction or transfer jurisdiction of areas of existing states to adjacent states deemed more compatible with their politics.

Secessionist ideas are also found among white nationalists and Posse-descended groups. However, groups that include the idea of secession but organize around a broader political project are not included here. Groups included in the Secessionist category particularly emphasize secession as the main feature of their political project.

For instance, Americans for State Sovereignty (1 legislator, 178 members) describes,

“This group is for we the people that would like to see their State reclaim its tenth amendment sovereignty or secede from the union. For we the people that is fed up with Washington D.C.”[178]

Ward Lawrence, the sole administrator for the group, is also a member of the Facebook group STOP Illegal Immigration & Secure OUR Borders NOW! and posts material from the Tenth Amendment Center, Infowars, and the John Birch Society to the Americans for State Sovereignty group.[179]

In a variation on such calls for secession, East & South Oregonians for Greater Idaho (1 legislator, 1,145 members) describes,

“This Facebook group is for citizens of eastern, central, and southern Oregon, plus all our sympathizers, as well as residents of counties in California and Washington that might join Idaho.”[180]

Citizens for Greater Idaho, the group’s sole administrator, answers the question “WHY SHOULD COUNTIES WANT TO BECOME A PART OF IDAHO?” by making clear it also belongs in the far right category:

“1. American Values: Oregon will continue to violate more and more American values and American freedoms because northwestern Oregon has 79% of Oregon’s population. Fortunately, Boise is only 13% of Idaho. 2. Law and Order: Oregon refuses to protect citizens from criminals, rioters, wildfire arsonists, illegals, and the homeless, but then infringes your right to defend your family with firearms.  Idaho enforces the law. 3. Low Tax: Idaho is the state with the 8th smallest tax burden…5. Thriving Economy: Idaho has less regulation than any other state.”[Bold in original].[181]

These groups focus on affecting public education-related policies and the practices of local schools and school districts. This includes groups that focus on opposing some combination of COVID Denial, anti-“critical race theory,” and anti-“comprehensive sex education” policies. These groups can also press for school privatization policies. Organizations that focus on COVID Denial are included in that category. Groups in this category tend to display a more integrated opposition to a combination of school-related policies that support racial and gender equality as well as public safety.

The national organization, Moms for Liberty, is significant in this category, represented here by ten separate chapters with 13 state legislator members. As of January 2022, Moms for Liberty had some 160 chapters in 30 states with over 68,000 members.

Moms for Liberty has been active, blending COVID Denial with anti-CRT, anti-sex education, and anti-LGBTQIA efforts, including Florida’s infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill.[182]

Moms for Liberty-Williamson County, TN (3 legislators, 3,346 members) illustrates the nature of the attack on efforts to address well-documented and persistent institutional racism in American schools and society.

In June 2021, Moms for Liberty Williamson County filed a complaint with the Tennessee Department of Education alleging that Williamson County Schools violated state anti-discrimination laws. The complaint targeted the district’s curriculum about the Civil Rights movement, particularly the teaching of four books about the period. The complaint alleged an “Anti-American, Anti-White, and Anti-Mexican” bias and a “high level of manipulation” by its focus on “very dark and divisive slivers of American history” and a “narrow and slanted obsession on historical mistakes.”[183]

While the group exhibits a strong racism denial in its dismissal of American racism and white supremacy as a “sliver” of our history, it also clarifies that what caught the group’s animus and apparently needs suppressing are simple facts about the history of the Civil Rights era. For instance, the Moms for Liberty complaint against the books Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington and Ruby Bridges Goes to School includes as “evidence” photographs of pro-segregation rallies at which attendees wielded racist signs, segregated water fountains, and “white firemen blasting black children to the point of ‘bruising their bodies and ripping off their clothes.’.”

As promoted by Moms for Liberty, at least part of the “threat” of the myth of “critical race theory” is that class instruction might include factual information about racism in American history and society.

Another example of far-right School-Centered fusion is the group Parents Rights in Education. ALASKA Parents’ Rights In Education (6 legislators, 1,820 members) is administered by, and a state chapter of, the Tigard, Oregon-based Parents Rights in Education (PRIE). Casting itself as dedicated to the “sharing of information, and taking action to protect and preserve parents’ rights,” Alaska chapter administrators Suzanne Gallagher (Executive Director of Parents Rights in Education), Sherry Smith, and Leigh Sloan are also members of COVID Denial groups. In addition, administrator Dawn Bockelman is a member of Stop Critical Race Theory.[184]

The national group’s Facebook page fittingly posted a video by racist Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson and declared, “Critical Race Theory! This is causing the division and chaos in our nation and indoctrinating students.”[185] In addition, a speech given by PRIE Executive Director Suzanne Gallagher at an August 2020 COVID Denial rally in Salem, Oregon, and posted on the national group’s Facebook page, demonstrates the mix of COVID Denial, anti-CSE, anti-CRT, and calls for un-enrolling from public schools common among groups in this category:

“Parents’ Rights In Education has worked hard over the last several years to build our base, informing parents and motivating them to action. Something new is in the air, now…The Chinese Virus in many ways has been a shot in the arm…But…Tiny Tony and Katie Brown have wakened a Sleeping Giant… PARENTS! They just ‘WOKE!’…Public Schools are self-destructing! Yes, it’s mostly about the un-opening of the schools for person-to-person instruction, and mandatory all-day masks…but now, the last straw is NO school but virtual school. It’s not clinically necessary, and it’s doesn’t work, academically…Comprehensive Sexuality Education Curriculum (CSE) is mandatory, K-12, and has been since it became OREGON law in 2009. They are teaching our children to not just respect every other lifestyle, but to ACCEPT EVERY lifestyle! That’s indoctrination, isn’t it? We have a Washington state, Parents’ Rights In Education group. They collected signatures placing a Referendum on the November ballot to repeal their dangerous CSE bill!…We also caught them teaching something new to 4th graders (9 year-olds). It was categorized as SEL but qualifies for Critical Race Theory, teaching students to analyze culture (What’s a family?), perspective and stereotypes. Social Emotional Learning is the term sold to public schools…Instead of internalizing the truths proposed by their faith and their families, children are trained to rely on themselves, their peers, and the progressive culture. Progressive social norms become their moral authority. See our website for more info…What began as a push against inappropriate sexuality courses, has now become a fight to stop Marxist indoctrination and recruitment of student militants activists!…Is it tyranny to teach respect for God, country, the US Constitution, and family? Even more compelling, I ask you, is it treason for public schools to teach students to overthrow their government using militant force?… You will make your voice heard by Un-Enrolling your child! Hey, teachers strike, right? Why not parents? Show the bureaucrats we will not take this! By doing so, local districts will lose funding. SEND THE MOST POWERFUL MESSAGE, YOU CAN! UN-ENROLL! When you Un-ENROLL…YOU are in control. Choose Homeschooling.”[186]

This category encompasses groups broadly dedicated to restricting access to the vote and undermining the efficacy of the vote as a means of determining who holds political power in the country. The groups in this category take two broad and overlapping forms, Voter Suppression and “Stop the Steal.”

On the one hand, Voter Suppression groups press for changes to voting laws and practices that would have the effect of suppressing access to the vote. These groups tend to advocate for laws that would disproportionately affect communities of color, low-income voters, seniors, people with disabilities, and students, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.[187] Such actions include, but are not limited to, seeking strict voter identification requirements, curtailing available voting times and locations, seeking to purge voter rolls, blocking mail-in voting, removing ballot drop-boxes, and door-to-door campaigns to question the validity of voters.

This also includes seeking increased penalties on public officials and citizens who engage in actions that make voting easier for more people, including returning ballots to individuals who need assistance, providing water and food to people in voting lines, or penalizing election officials who advocate mail-in ballots or regulate the conduct of poll watchers.

These groups also tend to promote conspiracy theories, or at least incipient conspiracy theories, centered on the unsubstantiated claim that voter fraud is rampant in the United States.

On the other hand, Stop the Steal groups promote the idea that the 2020 election was stolen, fraudulent, or illegitimate and/or engage in efforts to overturn the election. In addition, such groups often espouse far-reaching conspiracy “theories” that mirror long-standing forms of antisemitism and place a malevolent force behind a plot to steal the election. Groups in this category specifically had “Stop the Steal” in their title and were removed from Facebook in 2021.

Such ideas have also been promoted by Tea Party groups, bandied in COVID Denial groups, and espoused by other segments of the far right. Those groups in this category focus specifically on this issue.

While these categories are conceptually distinct, on the ground, a mix of both Voter Suppression and Stop the Steal themes often co-mingle in them. In the most dramatic case, the New Hampshire Voter Integrity Group (5,400 members) has 37 member legislators and combines both voter suppression efforts and Stop the Steal themes. In one mobilization, the group went door-to-door to find examples of voter fraud or irregularity, seeking to produce affidavits of malfeasance to pass along to state legislators. According to a report in BuzzFeedNews, the group started its canvassing in areas that voted “overwhelmingly for Biden” and in which the family of Republican Gov. Chris Sununu owns a resort. Sununu rejected Trump’s claims of voter fraud and became a target of the group’s animus.[188]

Among other things, group administrator and NH Voter Integrity Group founder, Marylyn Todd, opposed the use of machines in voting.[189] In 2022, Marylyn Todd continued to press the claim that the 2020 election was invalid and took part in an effort to push for a forensic audit in New Hampshire.[190] In this endeavor, Todd has worked with Trump sycophant and election conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell and promoted his Frank Speech TV outlet.[191] In addition, Marylyn Todd posted a link to a National Review article chronicling the exploits of James O’Keefe of Project Veritas and concludes that “Undercover Video Shows Why New Hampshire Needs Stronger Voter-ID Laws.”[192]

The administrators and moderators for the group show the mix of politics apparently at work in the group. For example, administrator A.j. (sic) Todd is a member of the COVID Denial group, Granite State Stone Skippers. As for moderators, Populist Revolt is also a member of Parents against Critical Race Theory; Chet Wizboski Jr. is a member of Mask Free Michigan; Saige Russo, Alicia Houston, and Robin Brooks Saba are members of the COVID Denial group Granite Stone Skippers.[193]

Groups in this category are dedicated to ending women’s rights to legal and safe abortions. While these groups often possess broader ideologies, particularly those related to the Christian Right, their openly stated purpose is ending abortion rights.

Some such groups operate at a national level, such as Fridays for Life (Join Us-Click HERE) (11 legislators, 3,016 members). Calling itself “the national movement to change the culture of death, specifically through social media,” including “those infamous Planned Parenthood undercover videos,” the group declares, “Let’s change the culture of death to a culture of life in the United States, and let’s overturn Roe vs. Wade!”[194]

Other such groups operate at the state and/or local level. Examples include Maryland Right to Life-Greater Baltimore Chapter (8 legislators, 460 members), Right to Life of Central Kentucky (8 legislators, 988 members), and Tennessee Right to Life (10 legislators, 2,738 members).[195]

Telling the Truth About Abortion (TtTAA) (1 legislator, 501 members), a group that declares, “It’s time to DO something, to make a difference in the fight to end abortion,” also evidences ties to a broader attack on human and civil rights.[196]  One of the two administrators for this group is the Facebook page Knights of St. Michael the Archangel, a far-right Catholic group dedicated to,

“Promoting a view of history, culture, politics, economics based on traditional Catholic beliefs and morals…Promoting Catholic tradition and orthodoxy against modernism in matters theological, liturgical, and moral…Combating moral relativism, secularization, Communism and all forms of Marxism, feminism, multiculturalism, Neo-Paganism/occultism, abortion, the LGBT movement, and the Islamization of the West…Promoting Western Civilization and the restoration of Christendom based on faith, marriage, family, patriarchy, hierarchy, close collaboration between ecclesial and secular authorities.”[197]

This includes groups that promote far-right politics and policies as an outgrowth of a Christian framework. At times, they can also be classified as Christian nationalists for promoting the idea that Christians constitute a core of the American citizenry and/or that government and public policies should be re-shaped to reflect that. These groups have historically been associated with anti-LGBTQIA politics, seeking to curtail abortion rights, and promoting prayer in schools, among other policies.

Christian nationalism is also found among Constitutionally-constructed far-right nationalists, the Tea Party, and others. However, groups included here specifically focus on the issues associated with the historic Christian Right.

This category includes groups at both the national and state level. For example, at the national level, the WallBuilders Group (3 legislators, 10,167 members) promotes the work of the group of the same name headed by David Barton.[198] The group describes its mission as “Preserving America’s forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our moral, religious, and constitutional foundation.”[199]

Translated, David Barton and WallBuilders are well known for producing Christian nationalist American histories that undermine the separation of church and state.[200]

The state-level Ohio Christian Alliance (12 legislators, 2,708 members) describes itself as,

“public policy, voter education organization, representing Christian interests before the Ohio Legislature and members of Congress… OCA Mission: To inform Christians about timely issues and pending legislation…To train Christian leaders for effective social and political action. To defend the legal rights of Christians against an anti Christian bias. ‘Advocating for Life, Faith and Freedom in the public square.’”[201]

For the OCA, this means opposing civil rights for members of the LGBTQIA community. For instance, the group opposed the Ohio Fairness Act (HB 369), which would bar anti-LGBTQIA discrimination in Employment, Housing, Education, Credit, and Public Accommodations.[202] The group declared that,

“The so-called ‘Ohio Fairness Act’…will push the radical LGBTQ agenda in every Ohio community…-It provides for special rights, not equal rights. It presents a real threat to religious liberty for churches, synagogues, and houses of worship statewide…LGBTQ special-rights groups are pushing these ordinances at some city councils across the state, and citizens are fighting back with referendums, charter amendments and lawsuits to express their objections to these newly-defined ordinances. The concerns that we have outlined here are the same concerns that parents of school children in those communities have expressed concerning public accommodation enforcement of transgender individuals.”[203]

On March 12, Ohio Christian Alliance President Chris Long, also an Administrator for the Facebook group, wrote,

“At the Bringing America Back to Life Dinner with Milo Yiannopoulos. Powerful evening for the cause of Life! Milo shared his testimony of coming out of the homosexual lifestyle and dedicating his life to Christ. Continue to pray for him as he begins his Christian journey. Also, congratulations to Molly Smith for her years of service at Cleveland Right to Life.”[204]

Milo Yiannopoulous is the crass anti-Muslim bigot and misogynist who defended white nationalists during his time as an editor at Breitbart. Yiannopoulos was most recently a special guest at the February 25 white nationalist America First Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida.[205]

A number of the groups included in this report espouse far-right conspiracies whose nationalism is evidenced by the fact that the “conspirator” in their ideologies is generally “globalist” or international in character and its “machinations” directed against the American nation. However, groups in this category are so classed because they are specifically dedicated to promoting a particular far-right conspiracy or set of conspiracies. This is generally evident in both their name and “about” information.

Expose Soros & Other Far-Left Financiers (2 legislators, 2,891 members), for instance, is describes its mission:

“This group is NOT JUST ABOUT GEORGE SOROS!! But is also about other far-left financiers and networks as well, let them all be revealed. We will also be talking about other far-left organizers and groups that you should be made aware of. But make no mistake, Soros is the largest of the financiers. His wealth, and the wealth of those like him, allows them to pour money into far-left causes that hurt our culture, and damage our country, we need to become aware of WHO the puppetmasters are behind the scenes…Mr. Soros is one of the biggest. Do not forget his name…Obama won the Presidential election in part to his impressive online social media marketing campaign. This is where he raised most of his huge campaign financing from, George Soros. Key agendas of Soros and his groups: promoting the view that America is institutionally an oppressive nation…promoting the election of leftist political candidates throughout the United States…promoting social welfare benefits and amnesty for illegal aliens..defending the civil rights and liberties of suspected anti-American terrorists and their abetters…promoting the tenets of radical environmentalism, whose ultimate goal, as writer Michael Berliner has explained, is ‘not clean air and clean water, [but] rather … the demolition of technological/industrial civilization’…bringing American foreign policy under the control of the United Nations…promoting racial and ethnic preferences in academia and the business world alike…promoting taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand…advocating stricter gun-control measures.”[206]

An emphasis on liberal Jewish philanthropist George Soros as the force behind a litany of “evils” is a common form of antisemitism amongst far-right conspiracists. Expose Soros & Other Far-Left Financiers administrator Todd Glick demonstrated his own affinity for antisemitism by posting a “very good and pithy note about the psyche of George Soros,” promoting the debunked claim that “Soros collaborated with the Nazis in seizing Jewish property in Budapest in 1944.”[207]

This refers to groups that defend “Southern Heritage” in the form of venerating the Confederate flag, using Confederate flag iconography, defending Confederate monuments and/or rejecting the centrality of racism and slavery to the Confederacy and Civil War.

These groups could embrace a southern political identity informed by the long history of multi-racial abolitionism, civil rights struggle, and labor and farmer organizing that challenged economic and white domination in the American south. These groups do not do this. Instead, they defend a Confederate past inseparable from chattel slavery and a government built on explicit white supremacy.

The group SAVE SOUTHERN HERITAGE (1 legislator, 5,783 members) points to a feature of some such groups—providing a haven for hardcore racists to spread their message on Facebook.[208] One administrator for the group is Kirk David Lyons, Chief Trial Counsel at the Southern Legal Resource Center.[209]

As IREHR founder Leonard Zeskind describes in some detail in Blood and Politics, Kirk Lyons has been involved in a segment of the white nationalist movement that included neo-Nazis and violent racists. A one-time member of national socialist William Pierce’s National Alliance, Lyons was married at the Aryan Nations compound by neo-Nazi and Christian Identity leader Richard Butler. Pierce authored The Turner Diaries, the racist pulp fiction tract depicting a violent and genocidal white revolution that helped inspire the terrorist underground The Order from an amalgam of Aryan Nations and National Alliance members and supporters. Lyons’ best man was Louis Beam, the one-time Texas leader of David Duke’s Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Beam’s Texas Emergency Reserve paramilitary organization harassed Vietnamese fishers in Galveston Bay. In addition to Aryan Nations events, over the years, Lyons participated in Populist Party events, a party initially led by Mississippi Klansman Robert Weems, and was a guest speaker at a conference of the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review.[210]

This category includes groups that promote politics that would undermine or overturn the political sovereignty of Indian Nations and/or promote ideas at odds with full tribal self-governance and nationhood. This can include supporting termination-style policies to overturn tribal governments, wholesale or in part, and coerce assimilation; seeking to abrogate treaties with tribes, in whole or in part; or working towards an effective end to tribal nations with a distinct set of political rights and relationships with the federal government. It also includes groups that support known organized anti-Indian groups or whose members espouse misinformation and hostility toward Indian Nations in the context of opposing projects carried out by sovereign tribal governments.

As anti-Indian mobilizations tend to target specific tribes, such groups are often organized at the local or regional level. For example, the Klamath Basin Crisis (KBC) (2 legislators, 965 members) is a Tulelake, California-centered group active in Klamath Basin water issues since 2001.

Describing itself as supporting Klamath Basin resource users and “upholding rural Americans’ rights to grow food, own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources,” the group has promoted anti-Indian ideas and leaders whose goals pose a threat to the sovereignty and fishing rights of Indian Nations up and down the Klamath Basin.[211]

For instance, to address tribal issues, the group’s website includes a page titled, “Elaine Willman-Tribal information and Tribal corruption Citizens for Equal Rights/CERA.”[212] Both Elaine Willman and CERA have long engaged in activism aimed at terminating tribal governments and abrogating all treaties signed with the United States. In addition, Klamath Basin Crisis Facebook group administrator Debbie Bacigalupi is a far-right conspiracy theorist who has also espoused anti-tribal ideas and shared a stage with Elaine Willman.[213]

The group’s website also includes a page dedicated to the “Bundys and Hammonds and LeVoy Finicum.” In addition, it includes material from Ammon Bundy, the leader of the 2016 armed takeover of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in southern Oregon.[214] In 2021 Ammon Bundy and the People’s Rights network inserted themselves into the Klamath Basin water conflict, including dismissing tribal rights and threatening actions that would, in turn, threaten those inherent rights.[215]

Anti-immigrant groups focus on some combination of significant restrictions on immigration to the United States; curtailment of the civil and human rights of undocumented and/or documented immigrants, including those already present in the U.S.; misinformation about immigrants, generally alleging an extensive threat to U.S. citizens from their presence in the country; and bigotry and hostility directed at immigrants.[216]

These groups also frequently promote significant revisions to the U.S. Constitution, in particular calling for the overturn of or “reinterpretation” of the section of the 14^th Amendment that establishes birthright citizenship. Such groups also tend to presume a racially and/or culturally homogeneous population in the United States that immigrants allegedly threaten. At times this includes white nationalism, an ideology that plays an outsized role in this wing of far-right nationalism.

While anti-immigrant politics and ideas can be found in many categories in this report, it is reserved here for those specifically focused on immigration. The sole group reported here is the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (3 legislators, 4,905 members), headed by President William Gheen, also an administrator of the Facebook group.[217] The group describes its mission as,

“ALIPAC is a national organization in the fight against illegal immigration and against Amnesty for illegal aliens. We stand for immigration enforcement and secured borders!… Founded on 9/11 2004, ALIPAC has defeated state and federal legislation designed to provide amnesty, taxpayer benefits, and voting rights for illegal aliens. We have also helped pass enforcement legislation in the states designed to stop illegal immigration. ALIPAC maintains the largest online archive of information in existence on the topic of illegal immigration and Globalism.”[218]

For his part, William Gheen is known for pushing anti-immigrant politics in the Tea Party base.[219] As such, Gheen staked out a staunch opposition to President Barrack Obama, including accusing him of being a dictator who planned to plans use undocumented immigrants to wage war on “White America.” Gheen stated,

“if you’re looking for a peaceful, political resource there really isn’t one that we can think of, and I’m not sure what to tell people out there than I guess they need to make decisions soon to just accept what comes next or some type of extra-political activities that I can’t really talk about because they’re all illegal and violent.”[220]

Continuing his practice of venturing beyond immigration as an issue, in late February, Gheen declared, “I OPPOSE BIDEN & SOROS’S WAR AGAINST RUSSIA!”[221]

Groups in this category promote anti-Muslim conspiracy theories or stereotypes about Muslims as a threat to America. While other groups also support anti-Muslim bigotry, groups in this category make this their core mission.

These groups’ animus is often direct and open, as with the Idaho G416 Patriots (5 legislators, 722 members):

“Our Mission: Tell the truth about Islam. We are committed to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America AND its Bill of Rights from all enemies, foreign and domestic. We promote informed and coordinated civic action leading to public policies that ensure America’s national security against ideological Islamic economic, `cultural, political, and legal systems that are being forced upon unwilling citizens. Islamic ideology / Sharia Law if implemented denies US citizens their individual rights as granted by God and guaranteed in our Constitution and the bill of rights.”[222]

Groups in this category are ones that express far-right ideology but do not fall into any of the previously listed categories.

The category of white nationalist is not included in this report because most open white nationalist groups were removed by Facebook after the murderous events in Charlottesville or in subsequent crackdowns by the platform.[223] However, it is described here because some included groups have relationships with white nationalists:

• Friends of Kaitlin Bennett and Grassroots for Wendy Rogers—both Rogers and Bennett being allies of white nationalist Nick Fuentes
• The Institute on the Constitution-affiliated Constitution Study Group & Discussion Forum and First State IOTC, whose parent organization is led by two former Maryland leaders of the white nationalist, and pro-national socialist, League of the South
• The Neo-Confederate group, SAVE SOUTHERN HERITAGE, which features as an administrator Kirk Lyons, a one-time member of the national socialist National Alliance whose wedding was held at the compound of the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations and officiated by its leader, Richard Butler.
• And Friends of KrisAnne Hall, named for the far-right nationalist who has spoken at a meeting of a Florida chapter of the white nationalist League of the South and who promotes the white-nationalist-compatible idea that the 14^th and 15^th Amendments to the Constitution are unconstitutional.

White nationalism refers to groups and individuals holding that people deemed to be “white” constitute the core of the American “nation” and that government institutions and policies should be changed to reflect this idea. These groups view a shared race to be the essential ingredient in maintaining a successful nation. Some such groups advocate policies to maintain a white majority or white domination of society (akin to classic white supremacy), while others promote the idea that a whites-only ethnostate should be created.

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NOTES

[121] For Warren, the essence of the ideological construct was found in the idea that “The rich give into the demands of the poor, and the middle-income people have to pay the bill.” (Warren, Donald I. 1976. The Radical Center: Middle Americans and the Politics of Alienation. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, p. 21.) MAR adherents found race problems a top concern and agreed at a higher rate than any other group surveyed that whites held no responsibility for addressing “wrongs done to blacks in the past.” As Warren describes, the MAR constituency,

“Consistently sees an unholy alliance between the liberal and minority establishment at his expense. White efforts to end racism have forced him to carry out good deeds, through his taxes, that he never felt compelled to institute. The burden falls on his shoulders to carry out the ‘social experiment’ rather than on the affluent suburbanite or the welfare poor. The Middle American Radical sees the government – local to national – allied simultaneously with minority and idealistic doctrines against his own interests and social survival…[And has] the sense that blacks, the poor and the wealthy are in some ways sources of threat and have undue access to political favoritism” [italics in original].( Warren, Donald I. 1976. The Radical Center: Middle Americans and the Politics of Alienation. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, p. 3, 30.)

In a national opinion poll, Warren found that 29% of whites rated high on this measure. Moreover, he saw that those holding these ideas supported George C. Wallace’s 1968 segregationist presidential bid at a higher rate than other constituencies. (Warren, Donald I. 1976. The Radical Center: Middle Americans and the Politics of Alienation. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, p. 21.)

Warren continued to watch this MARs constituency as it developed in Ross Perot’s and Pat Buchanan’s 1992 campaigns. “Despite being highly individualistic, more and more whites see themselves as a new minority,” he wrote in an article for Telos in 1995. (Warren, Donald I. White Americans as a Minority. Telos. Summer 1995 (104), p.127).

When Warren was writing, he saw the individualism of the MARSians as an impediment to collective action. But he also regarded their status as a new minority to push them towards increasingly collective “minority” public action.

“Those who share the ‘displaced majority’ perspective see themselves as constituting a new ethnic group: sharing a sense of past indignities, yet also celebrating a common heritage seen in danger of ‘assimilation’.” (Warren, Donald I. White Americans as a Minority. Telos. Summer 1995 (104), p.131). In the mid-1990s, Warren saw, “A critical dimension in the displaced majority’s new minority status is the lack of institutional representation…Given this state of social isolation and anomie, they have begun to build new organizational bases to defend their interests,” as they see them. Warren wrote,

“There is a specter haunting America: fear of the destruction of the majority culture embodied in the individualism and dominance of the white middle class. …with the core majority becoming an embattled and increasingly powerless minority.” (Warren, Donald I. White Americans as a Minority. Telos. Summer 1995 (104), p. 127.)

[122] Warren, Donald I. White Americans as a Minority. Telos. Summer 1995 (104).

[123] Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. Facebook and COVID Denial. https://irehr.org/reports/facebook-and-covid-denial/chapter-1-covid-denial-as-culture-war/. These categories were defined as follows:  REOPEN. Shortly after California’s March 18, 2020, stay-at-home order, which was quickly followed by other states, Facebook groups started forming with “reopen” as a theme. These groups focus(ed) on propaganda and agitation at workplaces, schools, and government offices. At times these protests involved violence. Some groups in this category centered on primarily reopening subsets of the country, such as schools and churches. Though active groups maintained the Reopen brand, many have shifted to a more multidimensional version of COVID Denial. Common themes among these groups are economic liberty and personal choice, among other libertarian-oriented motifs. ANTI-MASK. Following the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic that spread with ferocity in early 2020, hundreds of Facebook groups sprouted up in opposition to laws and practices designed to slow the spread of COVID-19, including social distancing and, where possible, sheltering at home. Unfortunately, the patchwork of policies was often contradictory across overlapping jurisdictions (a city may have a loose interpretation of a mask law in contravention to the state or county). As a result, the dye was set for opposition. These Facebook groups oppose laws that require masks to slow the spread of COVID-19. Anti-mask activism focused on challenging and often flouting recommendations, regulations, and laws governing wearing masks indoors and outdoors. MULTIDIMENSIONAL. Multidimensional Facebook groups incorporate multiple strains of COVID Denialism, COVID-19 conspiracy theories, anti-COVID-vaccine, anti-mask mandates, etc., into powerful narratives of far-right origin. For example, attacks on so-called “critical race theory,” anti-Chinese political agendas, alternative medicines and “homeopathic” treatments, anti-Black Lives Matter material, and far-right activism have been found in these groups. ANTI-MANDATE The Facebook groups that fall under this category focus on opposing employer and government “mandates,” which refers to imposing a consequence for vaccine, mask, or social distancing refusal. The consequence may be a fine or denial of access to a service, job, or venue. Many such groups focus on health care workers and teachers, two constituencies regarded as “front line workers.” ANTI-VAXX. “Anti-Vaxx” Facebook groups target their invective at COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness, cost, distribution, and ingredients. Groups in this category focus explicitly on opposition to COVID-19 vaccines. It does not include previously established anti-vaxxer groups that pivoted to opposition to COVID-19 vaccines, nor does it include general anti-vaccine groups. The groups included in this report operate autonomously. However, misinformation in the groups is often imported from pre-existing anti-vaxx networks, such as those around Joseph Kennedy Jr. and others in the so-called “Dirty-dozen.” ANTI-LOCKDOWN. Far-right groups immediately began to mobilize against lockdowns in April 2020. With the fourth wave of the pandemic now in full swing throughout Southern and Western states, a familiar (and depressing) patchwork of conflicting policies on the part of government at all levels has ensued. In those states where lockdowns were fully or partially implemented, protests followed. The term was most popular during the first few waves of the pandemic; as vaccines became available, the focus of ire turned there. HOAXER. Hoaxers believe in one or multiple varieties of conspiracy theories regarding the virus’s origins and policies intended to prevent the coronavirus pandemic. Such narratives may focus on the “lab leak” hypothesis (itself not a conspiracy theory) and reach launch capacity when they attribute nefarious and unsubstantiated intent on the part of the Chinese government or other corporate or governmental entities. During the first waves of the pandemic, these conspiracy theories often dovetailed with an anti-Chinese political agenda. However, other groups regard the virus and, therefore, the vaccines designed to thwart it as wholly concocted, the central belief that informs their activism. While this category refers to groups specifically named for and engaged in promoting these ideas, hoaxer ideas often appear in the other types of COVID Denial Facebook groups. 

[124] South Carolina Citizens for God-given Rights and Against Shelter-In-Place. Facebook. About. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1352395478268950/about. Accessed March 17, 2022.

[125] South Carolina Citizens for God-given Rights and Against Shelter-In-Place. Facebook. Members. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1352395478268950/members/admins; Mulch, Evan. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/evanmulch/. Accessed March 17, 2022.

[126] Monarchists. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/monarchists/about; Mulch, Evan. Facebook. In South Carolina Citizens for God-given Rights and Against Shelter-In-Place . https://www.facebook.com/groups/1352395478268950/user/58801400/. Both Accessed March 17, 2022.

[127] Mulch, Evan. Facebook. Posted in South Carolina Citizens for God-given Rights and Against Shelter-In-Place. Accessed March 17, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1352395478268950/user/58801400/; Mulch, Evan. Facebook. Posted in South Carolina Citizens for God-given Rights and Against Shelter-In-Place. July 16, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1352395478268950/posts/1440278552813975/

[128] Mulch, Evan. Facebook. Posted in South Carolina Citizens for God-given Rights and Against Shelter-In-Place. May 14, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1352395478268950/posts/1388403784668119/.

[129] Mulch, Evan. Facebook. July 22, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/evanmulch/posts/10101745285391469/; Mulch, Evan. Facebook. August 24, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/evanmulch/posts/10101767502752699; Tennant, Michael. “Let Racism Die the Death It Deserves,” Black Father Tells School Board in Speech Against Critical Race Theory. The New American. August 24, 2021. https://thenewamerican.com/let-racism-die-the-death-it-deserves-black-father-tells-school-board-in-speech-against-critical-race-theory/

[130] Mulch, Evan. Facebook. March 17, 2022.  https://www.facebook.com/evanmulch/posts/10101865616781399.

[131] Take Back Missouri Schools/Education. Facebook. About. https://www.facebook.com/groups/412499443001005/about. Accessed March 17, 2022.

[132] Hill, Mary. Facebook. Posted in Take Back Missouri Schools/Education. August 18, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/groups/412499443001005/posts/632645087653105/; Dorman, Sam. Missouri school district employees sue over allegedly unconstitutional ‘equity’ training. Fox News. August 18, 2021. https://www.foxnews.com/us/missouri-school-district-critical-race-theory-lawsuit?fbclid=IwAR2-FZN2Ct0d6yi-n7IGMxXj-TSY8OvEsgeqjeqcK1D655wMKgyp_VI1stY

[133] Veres, Donna. Facebook. Posted in Take Back Missouri Schools/Education. July 29, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/groups/412499443001005/posts/621355985448682/; Richmond, Krissi. Facebook. Posted in Take Back Missouri Schools/Education. August 22, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/groups/412499443001005/posts/634931997424414/; Tucker, TJ. Facebook. Posted in Take Back Missouri Schools/Education. https://www.facebook.com/groups/412499443001005/posts/625187465065534/; Sager, Jessica. Facebook. Posted in Take Back Missouri Schools/Education. August 18, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/groups/412499443001005/posts/632453857672228/

[134] Friends of the TEA Party in Arkansas. Facebook. Members. https://www.facebook.com/groups/129058253829215/members/admins. Accessed March 15, 2022.

[135] Friends of the TEA Party in Arkansas. Facebook. Members. https://www.facebook.com/groups/129058253829215/members/admins. Accessed March 15, 2022; Friends of the Tea Party in Arkansas. Facebook. Search no “barton” conducted on March 15, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/groups/129058253829215/search?q=barton.

[136] Montana Shrugged, TEA Party Patriots. Facebook. About. https://www.facebook.com/groups/83892898804/about/

[137] Montana Shrugged, TEA Party Patriots. Facebook. About. https://www.facebook.com/groups/83892898804/about/

[138] Ólsen, Jennifer. Facebook. Posted Montana Shrugged, TEA Party Patriots. October 3, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/groups/83892898804/posts/10159527449523805/; Olsen, Jennifer. Facebook. Posted Montana Shrugged, TEA Party Patriots. July 13, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/groups/83892898804/posts/10159380412628805/; Montana Shrugged, TEA Party Patriots. Facebook. Members. https://www.facebook.com/groups/83892898804/members/. Accessed March 22, 2022.

[139] For background on the Posse Comitatus, see Zeskind, Leonard. 2009. Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to the Mainstream. New York: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux; and Levitas, Daniel. 2002. The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. As Daniel Levitas explained in The Terrorist Next Door, the Posse Comitatus promoted the core idea that the county sheriff, or individuals in a Posse, could arrest and put on trial in a “citizens’ jury,” any individuals or government officials who attempted to enforce “unlawful” legislation the deemed “unconstitutional.” The Posse Comitatus and its offspring would become known for creating pseudo-government bodies, such as “townships” and “courts,” issuing pseudo-legal edicts and threating to back their aims up with paramilitary activism.

The Posse Comitatus was originally rooted in the vicious racism and antisemitism of Christian Identity, conspiracy theories that saw a takeover of America—generally found in Reconstruction-era Constitutional Amendments—and spurious notions of an original state versus 14^th Amendment citizenship. The movement spread like wildfire during the farm crisis of the 1970s and 1980s, as IREHR’s Leonard Zeskind described in Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to the Mainstream. Christian Identity adherents hold that white, northern Europeans are the true Israelites of the Bible, Jews are satanic imposters, and people of color are a pre-Adamic and inferior “mud people” or the Book of Genesis’ “beasts of the field.” Such racists also held “original” white state citizens exempt from federal jurisdiction, while inferior 14^th Amendment citizens were subjects of the national government.

The Posse Comitatus shaped the emergence of so-called “Christian Patriotism” in the 1980s – a movement dedicated to making the U.S. a white Christian Republic under the original Constitution (minus the Reconstruction-era 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th Amendments). Its ideas would shape militia and common law court movements of the 1990s, producing a spate of far right activists filing spurious “legal” claims from the movement’s “courts” and touting the militia as the paramilitary arm to back them up. These far rightists would become known for filing “sovereign citizen” documents, spuriously claiming them exempt from federal jurisdiction and returned to the state of being a “state citizen.” They would also file bogus liens to harass those they deemed had violated their skewed version of the Constitution.

Untethered from its roots in Christian Identity, and often mingling with ideas drawn from libertarianism and Christian nationalism, the Posse framework is today seen in organizations and individuals espousing narrow national identities built on truncated versions of the U.S. Constitution, far right conspiracism and paramilitarism. This still radically anti-democratic ideology can be seen groups like the People’s Rights network, the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, the Constitutional Law Group and The American States Assembly.

[140] See Zeskind, Leonard. 2009. Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to the Mainstream. New York: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux; and Levitas, Daniel. 2002. The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right. New York: Thomas Dunne Books.

[141] Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. Ammon’s Army: Inside the Far-Right People’s Rights Network. https://irehr.org/reports/peoples-rights-report/peoples-rights-florida/.

[142] Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. Ammon’s Army: Inside the Far-Right People’s Rights Network. https://irehr.org/reports/peoples-rights-report/peoples-rights-florida/; Tanner, Chuck. THE PEOPLE’S RIGHTS OREGON INSURRECTION BLUEPRINT. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. June 3, 2021. https://irehr.org/2021/06/03/peoples-rights-oregon-insurrection-blueprint/.

[143] Tanner, Chuck and Burghart, Devint. TWO TEXAS SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENTS CO-SPONSOR EVENTS WITH FAR-RIGHT POSSE PROPONENTS. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. July 7, 2021. https://irehr.org/2021/07/07/texas-sheriffs-departments-and-cspoa/; Tanner, Chuck and Devin Burghart. “CONSTITUTIONAL SHERIFFS” GROUP TEAMS UP WITH ANTISEMITIC CONSPIRACIST. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. https://irehr.org/2021/07/02/constitutional-sheriffs-group-antisemitism/.

[144] Tanner, Chuck. KRISANNE HALL ON THE ROAD, BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN FAR-RIGHT AND WHITE NATIONALISM. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. February 16, 2021. https://irehr.org/2021/02/16/krisanne-hall-on-the-road-bridging-the-gap-between-far-right-and-white-nationalism/.

[145] Hall, KrisAnne. Facebook. January 29, 2014. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=684721071578912&set=a.115319045185787; Tanner, Chuck. KRISANNE HALL ON THE ROAD, BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN FAR-RIGHT AND WHITE NATIONALISM. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. February 16, 2021. https://irehr.org/2021/02/16/krisanne-hall-on-the-road-bridging-the-gap-between-far-right-and-white-nationalism/; Tanner, Chuck. KRISANNE HALL TOUTS HER ANTI-RACISM, CALLS FOR GUTTING THE 14TH AMENDMENT. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. August 24, 2019. https://irehr.org/2019/08/24/krisanne-hall-touts-her-anti-racism-calls-for-gutting-the-14th-amendment/.

[146] Tanner, Chuck. KRISANNE HALL ON THE ROAD, BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN FAR-RIGHT AND WHITE NATIONALISM. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. February 16, 2021. https://irehr.org/2021/02/16/krisanne-hall-on-the-road-bridging-the-gap-between-far-right-and-white-nationalism/; Tanner, Chuck. KRISANNE HALL TOUTS HER ANTI-RACISM, CALLS FOR GUTTING THE 14TH AMENDMENT. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. August 24, 2019. https://irehr.org/2019/08/24/krisanne-hall-touts-her-anti-racism-calls-for-gutting-the-14th-amendment/; Tanner, Chuck. “CONSTITUTIONALIST” KRISANNE HALL TO SPEAK AT WHITE NATIONALIST EVENT. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. August 7, 2019. https://irehr.org/2019/08/07/constitutionalist-krisanne-hall-to-speak-at-white-nationalist-event/; Tanner, Chuck. STRATEGIC SHIFTS FOR LEAGUE OF THE SOUTH AS NATIONAL CONFERENCE APPROACHES. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. June 23, 2018. https://irehr.org/2018/06/23/strategic-shifts-for-league-of-the-south-as-national-conference-approaches/; Tanner, Chuck. KRISANNE HALL CONFERS WITH TRUMP OFFICIAL ON IMMIGRATION POLICY. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. October 23, 2019. https://irehr.org/2019/10/23/krisanne-hall-confers-with-trump-official-on-immigration-policy/.

[147] Tanner, Chuck and Burghart, Devin. TWO TEXAS SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENTS CO-SPONSOR EVENTS WITH FAR-RIGHT POSSE PROPONENTS. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. July 7, 2021. https://irehr.org/2021/07/07/texas-sheriffs-departments-and-cspoa/

[148] Constitution Study Group & Discussion Forum. Facebook. Members. https://www.facebook.com/groups/constitutionstudygroup/members/admins; Goode, Pamela. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1617128385183698/user/100007875196986/; Squyres, James. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1617128385183698/user/100007747267064/; Constitutional Grassroots Movement. Facebook. Search for “krisanne”. https://www.facebook.com/profile/100064601685763/search/?q=krisanne; Gardner, Ken. Facebook. Posted to Montana Liberty Coalition. https://www.facebook.com/groups/654836485297267/user/100000919011857/; Gardner, Ken. Facebook. Posted in Montana Liberty Coalition. https://www.facebook.com/groups/654836485297267/search/?q=krisanne. All accessed March 21, 2022.

[149] State Citizens Re-establishing The States (SCRETS). Facebook. About. https://www.facebook.com/groups/reestablishingthestates/about.  Accessed March 14, 2022.

[150] THE NEW TEXAS NATIONALS. Two Distinct State Citizens for Purposes of Diversity of Citizenship. https://vkapaul.wixsite.com/tntn/single-post/2018/01/08/two-distinct-state-citizens-for-purposes-of-diversity-of-citizenship. Accessed March 14, 2022.

[151] The New Texas Nationals. https://vkapaul.wixsite.com/tntn. Accessed March 14, 2022.

[152] America’s Remedy. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/americasremedy/. Accessed March 14, 2022.

[153] America’s Remedy. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/americasremedy/. Accessed March 14, 2022.

[154] America’s Remedy. The Remedy. Our Foundational Union of Sovereign States. http://www.americasremedy.com/remedy1-foundation.php; America’s Remedy. The Remedy. Reconstruction: Overthrow of America’s Foundation. http://www.americasremedy.com/remedy2-revolution.php; America’s Remedy. The Remedy. Peaceful Resistance with a Legal Foundation. http://www.americasremedy.com/remedy3-counterrevolution.php. The America’s Remedy website explains,

“Prior to Reconstruction (1867–1868), the several states retained their sovereignty with the exception of certain enumerated powers delegated to Congress. Our founders believed that we needed to limit the scope of power in Washington, and—as stated in the tenth amendment—“..powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

At this time the federal government’s authority over the citizens of each state was virtually nonexistent. Our States were composed of free people ruled by local self-government. Originally, American Citizenship came from our State Citizenship. The American Union was a federal union between several different and distinct States.

The Reconstruction Acts, and the coerced passage of the 14th Amendment, annulled pre-existing states in the south AND in the north, peopling them over again with nationalized U.S. citizens, having drastically limited rights.

James Madison explained the dangers of nationalized citizenship when he stated; “The idea of a national government involves in it, not only an authority over the individual citizens, but an indefinite supremacy over all persons and things…” Reconstruction and the 14th Amendment placed all Americans under the indefinite supremacy of Congress, and eliminated State sovereignty, and state-rights. Regardless of which president is in office, the nefarious actions of the 39th Congress authorized the federal government to make decisions for ALL states on important, and often controversial issues like abortion, gay rights, prayer in schools, health care, gun laws, and more.

The Reconstruction Acts violated no fewer than 9 clauses of the Constitution, and the 14th Amendment remains the only congressionally coerced amendment in our history. Our current government isn’t broken, to simply be mended with a vote. Rather, its enforcement, and our OBEDIENCE, and PARTICIPATION in it, represents a usurpation of power—a REVOLUTION.

Let’s focus on THE PEOPLE to initiate a reversal—a COUNTER-REVOLUTION. The U.S. Supreme Court has said, “an unconstitutional act is not a law” (Norton v. Shelby County, 6 S.Ct. 1121). In other words, we owe no obedience to unconstitutional acts.

The States created by Reconstruction were not a party to the U.S. Constitution. Constitutional violations do not injure them. In law, by re-establishing our states, Constitutional violations now have an “injured party”—a legal foundation on which to mount a peaceful resistance to Reconstruction and its wide-reaching effects. Therefore, it is our right and duty to reclaim our state citizenship and re-establish our lawful state constitutions.

Individuals on the front lines would begin removing themselves personally from things which are required or restricted of U.S. citizens—but are not required or restricted under the laws of their re-established state. Just like our founders, we begin standing up for our own liberty.

As our numbers grow, the original states shine through, becoming the lawfully recognized body politics. America once again has state citizens and demi-sovereign states, and the federal government is again limited. Not only would this system result in liberty for all of the states as originally founded, it also opens the door for free market competition between the states, resulting in an economic boom throughout America.”

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[175] Constitution Party. Platform. https://constitutionparty.com/principles/platform-preamble/. Accessed March 14, 2022. The Constitution Party Platform includes the following:

“This great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions but on a foundation of Christian principles and values…The goal of the Constitution Party is to restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations and to limit the federal government to its Constitutional boundaries. The U.S. Constitution established a Republic rooted in Biblical principles of governance, administered by representatives who are constitutionally elected by the citizens. In such a Republic all Life, Liberty and property must be protected as unalienable rights from our Creator…“No level of civil government may legalize or fund the taking of life without justification. Legalizing the termination of innocent life of the born or unborn, whether by abortion, infanticide, euthanasia or suicide, is a direct violation of their unalienable right to life. As to matters of rape and incest, we empathize with those abused and assert the need to provide immediate protection and care in a safe environment. Instead of the further violence of abortion, the mother and the child should be provided with compassionate care…We oppose the distribution and use of all abortifacients. We oppose the use of third-party assisted reproduction that harms pre-born persons created in the process, involves surrogacy, or involves egg or sperm from donors other than the spouse. All funding, statutes, and regulations authorizing biomedical research involving human embryos for cloning and human enhancement must be repealed. In office, we shall only appoint to the judiciary, and to other positions of judicial and executive authority, qualified individuals who publicly acknowledge and commit themselves to the legal personhood of all human beings…

[I]t is also vital that we repeal the Seventeenth Amendment and return to state legislatures the function of electing the Senate…We believe that over a protracted period the Social Security system may be privatized without disadvantage to the beneficiaries of the system…We are opposed to all “hate crime” legislation at all levels of government, and to enhanced penalties for so-called hate crimes…

We reject the policies and practices that permit women to train for or participate in combat. Because of the radical feminization of the military over the past two decades, it must be recognized that these “advances” undermine the integrity, morale, and performance of our military organizations by dual qualification standards and forced integration. We fully support well-regulated militias organized at the state level. Further, we fully support and encourage the restoration of unorganized militia at the county and community level in compliance with our patriotic and legal responsibilities as free citizens of the United States…

All teaching is related to basic assumptions about God and man. Education as a whole, therefore, cannot be separated from religious faith. The law of our Creator assigns the authority and responsibility of educating children to their parents. Education should be free from all federal government subsidies, including vouchers, tax incentives, and loans, except with respect to veterans…WE CALL FOR THE ELIMINATION OF THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION…WE OPPOSE ANY FEDERAL CONTROL OVER THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN…

The Voting Rights Act should be repealed. The Federal Election Campaign Act, including its 1974 amendments, and the Federal Election Commission should be abolished…We call for a repeal of all federal campaign finance laws (i.e. McCain-Feingold) due to their violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution…

We also call for repeal of federal wetlands legislation and the federal Endangered Species Act…We call for an end to United States participation in UN programs such as UNESCO, Man and the Biosphere, and the UN Council on Sustainable Development. We oppose environmental treaties and conventions such as the Biodiversity Treaty, the Convention on Climate Control, and Agenda 21, which destroy our sovereignty and right to private property…

The law of our Creator defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman. The marriage covenant is the foundation of the family and the family is fundamental in the maintenance of a stable, healthy and prosperous social order. No government may legitimately authorize or define marriage or family relations contrary to what God has instituted…We reject the notion that homosexuals, transgenders or those who are sexually deviant are deserving of legal favor or special protection, and affirm the rights of states and localities to proscribe offensive sexual behavior. We oppose all efforts to impose a new sexual legal order through any courts or legislatures. We stand against so-called “sexual orientation” and “hate crime” statutes that attempt to legitimize inappropriate sexual behavior or stifle public opposition to its expression. We oppose government funding of “partner” benefits for unmarried individuals. Finally, we oppose any legal recognition of homosexual or civil unions…

We are opposed to government sponsorship, involvement in or promotion of gambling such as lotteries, casinos or subsidization of Native American casinos. We call for the repeal of federal legislation that usurps state and local authority regarding authorization and regulation of tribal casinos in the states…

The right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution; it may not properly be infringed upon or denied…We call for the repeal of all federal firearms legislation, beginning with Federal Firearms Act of 1968…

The federal government has no Constitutional provision to regulate or restrict the freedom of the people to have access to medical care, supplies or treatments. We advocate, therefore, the elimination of the federal Food and Drug Administration…

We favor a moratorium on immigration to the United States, except in extreme hardship cases or in other individual special circumstances…We oppose the provision of welfare subsidies and other taxpayer-supported benefits to illegal aliens, and reject the practice of bestowing U.S. citizenship on children born to illegal alien parents while in this country. We oppose any extension of amnesty to illegal aliens. We call for the use of U.S. troops to protect the states against invasion. We oppose bilingual ballots. We insist that those who wish to take part in the electoral process and governance of this nation be required to read and comprehend basic English as a precondition of citizenship. We support English as the official language for all governmental business by the United States…

We commend Former Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court for his defense of the display of the Ten Commandments and condemn those who persecuted him and removed him from office for his morally and legally just stand…

The Constitution grants no authority to the federal government to administrate a Social Security system. The Constitution Party advocates phasing out the entire Social Security program, while continuing to meet the obligations already incurred under the system…

We call upon the states to reclaim their legitimate role in federal affairs and legislation (See Amendment 10 United States Constitution) and thus cause the federal government to divest itself of operations not authorized by the Constitution and extract the federal government from such enterprises, whether or not they compete with private enterprise…

Since 1913, our Constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property have been abridged and diminished by the imposition on each of us of Federal income, payroll and estate taxes. This is an unconstitutional Federal assumption of direct taxing authority…We propose legislation to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and will veto any authorization, appropriation or continuing resolution which contains any funding whatsoever for that illicit and unconstitutional agency…There is substantial evidence that the 16th Amendment was never legally ratified. When elected, we will act to cease collection of direct Federal personal income taxes. We also support ratification of the Liberty Amendment which would repeal the Sixteenth Amendment and provide that ‘Congress shall not levy taxes on personal incomes, estates and/or gifts.’… We deny that civil government has the authority to set wages and prices; so doing is inconsistent with principles of individual liberty and the free market…Providing Individual Welfare is not authorized in the Constitution…Charity, and provision of welfare to those in need, is not a Constitutional responsibility of the federal government. Under no circumstances should the taxpayers of the United States be obligated, under penalty of law through forced taxation, to assume the cost of providing welfare for other citizens. Neither should taxpayers be indentured to subsidize welfare for persons who enter the United States illegally…Such redistribution is contrary to the Biblical command against theft.”

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[216]Other terms are also frequently used to characterize these groups. For instance, Nativism, and its associated adjective nativist, are well-established scholarly usage, particularly with reference to nineteenth century movements. They communicate the goals of the larger movement clearly to those familiar with the historical literature on American immigration, but at the cost of considerable cognitive dissonance for less scholarly readers. These terms date from the mid-1800s (OED) and reflect an unexamined chauvinism by which the descendants of European settlers who had been in North America less than 200 years at the utmost could be described as “natives.” In the contemporary period this smacks of appropriation and an unexamined, and obviously spurious, equivalency between the claims of white nativists for privilege and Indigenous Nations’ political sovereignty. It is also important to recognize that in the American context, nativist movements have always been bigoted in orientation, promoting not just fear of foreigners (xenophobia), but the superior qualities of specifically white and usually Protestant Americans. The most neutral term for the groups considered herein is restrictionist, for example as used by New York University historian David M. Reimers in his excellent book Unwelcome Strangers: American Identity and the Turn Against Immigration (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998). But as one of our major purposes is to demonstrate that many, in fact most, of the groups we discuss promote policies and use rhetoric that do far more than call for restricting the flow of immigrants to the U.S., this usage is counterproductive. We make use of it only when referring to those few groups, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), for example, that are focused almost exclusively on research and changing federal immigration policy.

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[219] Burghart, Devin and Leonard Zeskind. Beyond FAIR: The Decline of the Established Anti-Immigrant Organizations and the Rise of Tea Party Nativism. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. 2012. https://irehr.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/www.IREHR.org_images_pdf_BeyondFAIRreport.pdf.

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[223] After repeated pleas for action, Facebook reluctantly removed some white nationalist groups in the days after the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville. See Wong, Queenie. “How Facebook is tackling hate speech after the Charlottesville rally.” The Mercury News. August 15, 2021. https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/08/15/how-facebook-is-tackling-hate-speech-after-the-charlottesville-rally/.

In 2018, Facebook removed accounts affiliated with the Proud Boys after a violent attack in New York. Statt, Nick. “Facebook bans accounts affiliated with the far-right group the Proud Boys and Gavin McInnnes.” The Verge. October 30, 2018. https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/30/18045410/facebook-bans-proud-boys-far-right-extremist-group-gavin-mcinnes.

In 2019, Facebook announced a new policy to address white nationalism after a racist gunman killed 50 people at two mosques in New Zealand and streamed his attack on the platform. Stack, Liam. “Facebook Announces New Policy to Ban White Nationalist Content.” New York Times. March 27, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/27/business/facebook-white-nationalist-supremacist.html.