.jpg)
In the United States, thepatriot movement is a conglomeration of non-unifiedright wing populist andnationalistpolitical movements, most notablyright-wing armedmilitias,sovereign citizens, andtax protesters.[1][2][3] Ideologies held by patriot movement groups often focus on anti-government conspiracy theories, with theSPLC describing a common belief that "despise the federal government and/or question its legitimacy."[3] The movement first emerged in 1994 in response to what members saw as "violent government repression" of dissenting groups, along with increased gun control and theClinton administration.[4]
Several groups within the patriot movement have committed or endorsed violence, with U.S. law enforcement agencies labeling some groups "dangerous, delusional and sometimes violent."[5][6][7] The ADL andThe American Scientific Affiliation has noted that groups often have connections towhite supremacy, however, their connections to it have shrunk over time due to their recent inclusion of non-white members.[8][1] Major events in America which alarm or inspire the patriot movement include the 1992Ruby Ridge siege, the 1993Waco siege and the 1995Oklahoma City Bombing.[9] TheSouthern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) found that the economic decline and nomination ofBarack Obama in 2008 caused the movement to "come roaring back", after declining from 800 groups in 1996 to less than 150 groups in 2000.[4][10]
Historians of the patriot movement identify its origins in the1980s American farm crisis.[11][12][13] As various policies combined to drive farmers deeply into debt, groups on the margins of American politics engaged rural communities with a range ofconspiracy theory literature that drew on existing traditions ofantisemitism,nativism andpaleoconservatism.[14] ThePosse Comitatus, theLiberty Lobby andLyndon LaRouche were prominent in these campaigns[13][15] which informed and shaped the ideology of the movement that emerged.[11] In the early 1990s, the patriot movement saw a surge of growth spurred by the confrontations at Ruby Ridge and Waco.[5] The 1995Oklahoma City bombing was carried out by two patriot movement members,Timothy McVeigh andTerry Nichols.[10][16] During the 1990s the movement organized using "gun shows and the Internet".[17] The movement was highly active in the mid-1990s and at a peak in 1996, contained around 800 separate groups.[10] It saw decline in the late 1990s.[9][18][19]
In 2009, the SPLC expressed concern about a resurgent patriot movement,[20][21] and theDepartment of Homeland Security issued a report warning of heightened "Rightwing Extremism".[22] The SPLC attributed this growth to "an angry backlash againstnon-white immigration and ... theeconomic meltdown and thePresidency of Barack Obama."[23] It reported the growth of patriot groups with an increase from 149 in 2008, to 824 in 2010, to 1,274 in 2011[24] and 1,360 in 2012.[25] According to the SPLC, the "explosive growth seems to have been driven by the election of our first black president and the approaching loss of a white majority in the U.S. that he represents. Another driver is the crash of the economy, which coincided neatly with the rise to national power of President Obama."[25]
The SPLC found that while "there are many people" in the patriot movement "that aren't engaged in illegal activity," the "normalizing of conspiracy theories"—such as the belief that theFederal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is buildingconcentration camps; rumors of covert plans by Mexico toreconquer theAmerican Southwest; and the anxietySharia law might become part of the U.S. court system—has played into the growth of the groups.[24] An extremist member of the patriot movement carried out the 2009 anti-abortionmurder of George Tiller,[26][27] and some extremists within the movement also have expressed support for Joseph Stack's2010 plane crash into anInternal Revenue Service office.[28] The movement was connected to and received a boost in profile from the 2014Bundy standoff and 2016occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Two members of the movement,Jerad Miller andAmanda Miller, killed two police officers and a civilian during a violent shooting rampage inLas Vegas after leaving the Bundy standoff; they pinned a note to one of their victims saying "This is the beginning of the revolution."[7]
| Part ofa series on |
| American nationalism |
|---|
 |
Parties |
Literature
|
Organizations |
Various patriot movement aligned groups have frequently been described asracist,xenophobic,extremist,antisemitic,anti-Islam,anti-immigrant, andviolent by groups such as the SPLC,[29][30] ADL,[31] and theFBI.[32]
Descriptions of the patriot movement include:
Additionally, the patriot movement has been associated with the following views:
Elements of the patriot movement have expressed support for variousconspiracy theories:
In addition to the militia movement, which is said to have come out of the patriot movement, the patriot movement is often associated with thesovereign citizen movement, whose adherents believe that most US laws are illegitimate and do not apply to them.[8][24]
Groups identifying with the movement include:
