TheUnited Citizens' Alarm (UCA, formerly theUtah Citizens' Alarm) is an armed right-wingmilitia group[1] inUtah,United States. Founded in 2020 in opposition toBlack Lives Matter (BLM), the group has been considered a part of theU.S. extreme right, with some members being associated with thefar-rightProud Boys.[2]
The group's founder is Casey Robertson.[3][4] A formerDemocrat turnedpro-TrumpRepublican, Robertson's parents both work in U.S. law enforcement). He founded the group in opposition to a BLM counter-demonstration to a police protest, when a driver of an SUV drove through the crowd and was subsequently shot.[5][6] The group's main organization was its Facebook page[1] and members of the militia include former military and law enforcement individuals, and have faced no resistance from authorities or law enforcement.[7]
Robertson has pushedconspiracy theories relating to anti-fascist protesters (antifa) and BLM, claiming that they have both been funded by theIslamic State (ISIS) to destroyAmerican values asfifth columnists. UCA believes that there will be an upcomingcivil war instigated by underground militant forces, including BLM and antifa, and that it will be the job of UCA and themilitia movement to defend the U.S. from attack.[7]
The group's tactics are suppressive; UTA members go to rallies throughout Utah with 30–1,000 members, wearing military-style uniforms andbulletproof vests while they observe rallies. They claim that they are at these groups to prevent damage to property, and openly carry weapons with them, taking advantage of both theSecond Amendment and Utah'sopen carry laws.[1][7]
This has been seen bycivil rights groups as having achilling effect on canceling protests, as organizers fear that the presence of armed UTA members would lead to violence. Jason Stevens, ofAmerican Civil Liberties Union chapter in Utah, drew parallels between these tactics and intimidation tactics used against black protesters in thecivil rights movement of the 1960s.[7] Theirparamilitary tactics have been criticized by the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection atGeorgetown University Law Center, and has raised concerns overvoter intimidation in thepresidential election of 2020.[8]
In response, some groups and individuals – such as BLM activist andguns' rights proponentJohn Sullivan and his group, Insurgence USA – brought arms to protests for self-defence, and encouraged other protesters to do the same.[1]
On July 22, 20 armed UCA members confronted Sullivan at an armed protest.[9] On October 2, 2020, a UCA counter-protester was charged with assault at a BLM rally.[10]
In August 2020, Utah Citizen's Alarm group was on Facebook – which had nearly 20,000 members at the time – was banned for violating Facebook's new policy on groups, which aimed to "[take] action against Facebook pages, groups and Instagram accounts tied to offline anarchist groups that support violent acts amidst protests, U.S. based militia organizations and QAnon."[11] Robertson denied that UCA supported violence.[12]
