Insurrectionism Goes "Mainstream"
For years, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) has warned Americans about the dangers of insurrectionist ideology: the idea that individuals have the "right," in the words of National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre, "to take whatever measures necessary, including force, to abolish oppressive government." CSGV has argued that not only does insurrectionism degrade the democratic values and institutions that protect the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans; it also poses a direct threat to the very existence of our constitutional democracy.
13 years after the Oklahoma City bombing, insurrectionism was in the national headlines again this month. On April 4, 23 year-old Neo-Nazi gun enthusiast Richard Poplawski shot and killed three police officers who were responding to a 911 call at his home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Poplawski was equipped with an AK-47-style assault rifle and a bulletproof vest and ambushed the officers as they entered the house.
Details about Poplawski's extreme political beliefs emerged quickly. His self-professed "best friend" Edward Perkovic told reporters that Poplawski feared "the Obama gun ban that's on its way" and "didn't like our rights being infringed upon." Perkovic also commented that Poplawski carried out the shooting because "if anyone tried to take his firearms, he was gonna' stand by what his forefathers told him to do." Like the central character in The Turner Diaries, Poplawski blended overt racism with his gun rights activism. In posts on the Neo-Nazi website Stormfront, he stated his belief that "Evil Zionists" controlled the U.S. government and described African Americans as "vile." Poplawski felt those of like mind were running out of time to "[take] back the nation" and noted that "a revolutionary is always regarded as a nutcase at first."
It might be tempting to see Poplawski's views as simply the ravings of a lone madman, but the truth is far more disturbing. Poplawski's insurrectionist ideology--once the sole province of militia and hate groups in the United States--has now found its way into the highest levels of government and media, creating serious concerns about the violence that could result.
For starters, the philosophy has been embraced by the Supreme Court. In the recent case of District of Columbia v. Heller, the NRA argued in an amicus brief that "the Second Amendment refers to the utility of an armed population in preventing government tyranny." The 5-4 majority opinion by the Court not only endorsed the NRA's "individual right" interpretation of the amendment; it also affirmed "the existence of a 'citizens' militia' as a safeguard against tyranny.
The politics of violence soon spread to the legislative branch. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) recently stated that she wants residents of her state to be "armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us 'having a revolution every now and then is a good thing,' and the people--we the people--are going to have to fight back hard if we're not going to lose our country." Apparently, voting against President Barack Obama's plan to reduce global warming isn't sufficient.
Insurrectionism has also reared its head on major Conservative media outlets like Fox News. Not long before the Pittsburgh shooting, Richard Poplawski posted a clip of Glenn Beck talking about "FEMA concentration camps" on the Stormfront website. Undoubtedly, other content on "The Glenn Beck Program" would have appealed to Poplawski. In February, Beck hosted an hour-long special on Fox called "We Surround Them" and a program that gamed a 2014 civil war scenario that Beck called "The Bubba Effect." On March 3, Beck interviewed NRA celebrity spokesman Chuck Norris. During the interview, Beck stated that, "Somebody asked me this morning, they said, 'you really believe that there's going to be trouble in the future?' And I said, 'if this country starts to spiral out of control and, you know, and Mexico melts down or whatever, if it really starts to spiral out of control, before America allows a country to become a totalitarian country ... Americans will, they just, they won't stand for it. There
will be parts of the country that will rise up.' And they said, 'where's that going to come from?' And I said, 'Texas, it's going to come from Texas.'" Six days later, Norris wrote in an editorial: "How much more will Americans take? When will enough be enough? And, when that time comes, will our leaders finally listen or will history need to record a second American Revolution?"
Beck also sponsors a website called www.the912project.com that has been overrun with insurrectionist commentators.
The Supreme Court made it clear last June that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense in the home. The notion that our Constitution empowers individuals to start shooting and killing local, state and federal officials when they personally believe our government has become "tyrannical," however, is one that was rejected entirely by our Founding Fathers--as witnessed during incidents like Shay's Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion. The NRA seems to think that Timothy McVeigh had a point. Only violent anti-government extremists are likely to agree...
Far from protecting liberty, insurrectionism deprives American citizens of their freedom. While grieving for officers Paul Sciullo III, Stephen J. Mayhle and Eric Kelly, who were lost in the recent Pittsburgh shooting, the local Post-Gazette said it best:
On Fairfield Street, no rights of gun ownership or free speech were vindicated. The police were just doing their thankless duty, answering a domestic disturbance call, for which they were caught in a coward's ambush and murdered. It was their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that were lost.
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Ohio9, DennisQ's specific question to you guys was the following:
And just who will this "well armed populace" use their weapons against? The police? The FBI? The National Guard? The President? Congress?
None of you have had the nerve to answer it.
As for Poplawski, we don't have to read his mind. He told us thoughts openly and directly on the Stormfront and Pennyslvania Firearm Owners Association websites. He openly fantasized about violent insurrection against our government and was preoccupied by gun lobby propaganda that our President was going to confiscate all firearms.
"None of you have had the nerve to answer it."
That's probably because no one can predict the future.
That's no different than asking what type of collision you expect your seat belts to protect your from.
"He openly fantasized about violent insurrection against our government and was preoccupied by gun lobby propaganda that our President was going to confiscate all firearms."
Which gun lobby said the president was going to confiscate all firearms?
The NRA's "Gun Ban Obama" website is a good place to start.
Grits:"And just who will this "well armed populace" use their weapons against? The police? The FBI? The National Guard? The President? Congress?
None of you have had the nerve to answer it."
First you pretend to be a mind reader, and now you want us to be fortune tellers.
No one can answer that, because that would require the ability to predict the future.
Grits: "As for Poplawski, we don't have to read his mind. He told us thoughts openly and directly on the Stormfront and Pennyslvania Firearm Owners Association websites. He openly fantasized about violent insurrection against our government and was preoccupied by gun lobby propaganda that our President was going to confiscate all firearms."
Who said Obama was going to confiscate all firearms?
Anyway, we still don't know if any of that had anything to do with his killing spree. Regardless of how much you want to be one, you simply are not a mind reader, and thus like the rest of us, you have no way of knowing exactly what his motivation was on that fateful day. We probably won't know until he goes to trial. And if he avoids a trial with a plea, we may never know.
Those of who read his publicly available postings will know Poplawski's motivations.
Those who refuse to do so (because they don't like what they have to say about their agenda) will not.
Well, you believe in the value of a well-armed populace, and you believe that the Second Amendment provides this right to check "tyranny" with your guns.
So who are your guns intended for on D-Day? I'm asking you personally.
Or are you simply reserving the right to kill any federal, state and/or local official that needs to be killed when it's "go time" for your revolution?
We, as a people and a nation, are all about armed citizens defending our selves against government tyranny, whatever guise it assumes.
This is what makes us great, Josh.
BTW, views like yours *really* hurt the Dems! They just can't seem to shed you, like a bad case of lice!
Cool. You can be just like the Black Panthers or the Weather Underground. They thought they were fighting government tyranny too.
"We, as a people and a nation, are all about armed citizens defending our selves against government tyranny, whatever guise it assumes."
That was the position the South took during the Civil War. Lincoln took the position that no state or citizen had a right to rebel againt the government with arms; the proper way to overthrow the government is through the ballot box.
I also disagree that Josh's views hurt Dems.
I do agree the South was wrong in trying to win with violence what they lost in a fair election
But if you believe revolution is wrong under any circumstance, then you would have to deny the legitimacy of our own revolution! For some reason, I don't hear anyone who rails against so called "insurrectionism" doing that. If they had any principles, they would.
This thinking amuses me. You are going to defend yourself against potential tyranny by the U.S. Government with arms?
Remember "shock and awe"? Saddam had an entire army of folks with AKs. And tanks. And rockets. And missiles. His defense didn't turn out too good, did it?
Same can be said about Poplawski (I happen to live one neighborhood over from the Stanton Heights neighborhood he terrorized). With his body armor, AK, and satchel of guns, what tyranny was he really going to defeat?
The so-called "revolution" that right wing gun nuts fantasize about would never happen unless U.S. armed forces turned on the government. Your so called right to possess assault weapons is totally irrelevant.
Yeah, guys like Richard Poplawski, Jim Adkisson and Daniel Hayden really hurt the Dems. Keep thinking that, Rep.
"The NRA seems to think that Timothy McVeigh had a point.....
More lies from the gun control fanatics.
If there is any evidence of the NRA applauding the destruction of the Federal building in Oklahoma or expressing support for McVeigh's actions in any way, let's see it.
He'll trot out the old line of "McVeigh was a member of the NRA", while completely excluding the fact that McVeigh quit the NRA because they were extreme enough.
Great piece. Far from "patriots," guys like Glenn Beck and Norris are in fact traitors who are openly advocating treason against our constitutional democracy. Our Founding Fathers spoke clearly about the dangers of factions. They also suppressed insurrections with force both before and after the Constitution was ratified.
The U S has never been a democracy--it is a constitutional republic with an individual RKBA--if you do not approve--tough
Now we just need to get the U.S. Congress and state Governments to agree with you Josh!
For the last eight years we have listened to the left say the same kind of krap, but now when the right says it it is somehow all the right's fault? Puhleeze! Both sides need to man up and shoulder some responsibility here, but the real perps are the Poplawskis of this world.
Oh, and the firearm used by Poplawski - it was NOT AN ASSAULT RIFLE. Claims that it was are just more fearmongering from the left.
Ask the police who were pinned down by constant fire from Poplawski's AK-47 whether or not the gun is an assault rifle. Officers on the scene have stated repeatedly that the only reason the casualty toll that day wasn't higher was because Poplawski's AK-47 jammed for a time.
No AK-47 was used. To say so is intentionally dishonest.
Would it make you feel better if he used a semi-auto in .308?
I am not for armed insurrection. I do not own or posess a firearm of any kind. I do not believe in the "black helicopters" and everything associated with them. I do believe that the SCOTUS decided "Heller" correctly. And I also agree with the quote "When government fears the people, that is democracy, when the people fear the government that is tyranny." The rising fear of the govt. did not begin on 1/20/09. The Left has posited it fears as much as the right, for as long as I remember. (50+ y.o.) But to deny that indivdual liberties have been and are being lost in the USA at an alarming rate is wilfull blindness. For crying out loud, the govt. decides how much water can be used to flush a folking toilet! Whoever sits in the Oval Office, which ever party controls Congress, must be told in the bluntest, plainest way possible that this sheeat has got to stop. And if the mere idea that a well armed populace may be growing more than antsy about the way govt. continues to proscribe behavior, makes their collective sphincters pucker a bit, well I'm all for it.
And just who will this "well armed populace" use their weapons against? The police? The FBI? The National Guard? The President? Congress?
When you really try to imagine a scenario where armed citizens "defend themselves" against the government, it's hard to come up with one where the outcome is anything but a disaster.
What about our own revolution? Have you forgotten that?
Just keep beating that drum Josh.
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