Checkpoint: Left Vs. Right Militias, Protection or War?
Anadolu Agency / Moriah Ratner
Last week the Department of Justice brought charges against several men in relation to a plot to kidnap the Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. The men, commonly being referred to in the media as a “militia,” hoped to trigger a new Civil War through their efforts, which also included plans to attack law enforcement. Gov. Whitmer has been a regular target for criticism from President Donald Trump’s White House, notably over the State’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While Michigan is using the lockdown method to slow the spread of the virus, Trump has been riling up his supporters to demand the reopening of the economy with “LIBERATE MICHIGAN” tweets.
The Michigan “militia” are not the only armed group in America to take inspiration from the rhetoric of the President, though armed resistance is not solely a right-wing phenomenon. The Second Amendment to the US Constitution grants all citizens the right to bear arms, as decided by the Supreme Court in the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller case. The Court took an “individual rights theory” perspective on the Second Amendment rather than a “collective rights theory” perspective, which would limit firearm possession to those employed by individual states for the purpose of defense. Many groups in America have used their constitutional right to bear arms to form associations dedicated to the pursuit of political goals.
Those on the right of the political spectrum tend to come to mind more easily when discussions of armed groups and militias come up. Republicans, along with Libertarians, claim that any attempt by the Government to infringe on people’s right to own guns amounts to tyranny. The same kind of tyranny the Founding Fathers rebelled against during the War of Independence. The Southern Poverty Law Center’s 2018 figures list 612 anti-government groups nationally, including 216 active militias. Like the Michigan militia, many of these groups are hoping and preparing for a second Civil War, referred to in internet circles as the “boogaloo.”
The motives behind these militias are varied. Some simply wish to fight against what they perceive as government oppression, which is generally gun control laws and, more recently, COVID-19 restrictions. Others envision a white ethnostate, using their weapons to kill or expel minorities and ‘liberals’ from America. Many also take extreme conservative stances on social issues, positioning themselves against gay rights and women’s right while demanding a return to more traditional family values.
One of these armed right-wing groups, the Proud Boys, made headlines after the first 2020 Presidential Debate. When asked to condemn white supremacist groups like the Proud Boys, Trump told the Proud Boys to “Stand back and stand by.” Many, including the Proud Boys themselves, have taken this to be an endorsement by the President and a call to prepare for upcoming violence. While the group maintains it is not racist and simply wants to harken back to traditional “Western” values, its worldview incorporates elements of the “white genocide” conspiracy theory. Members are pro-gun rights, against feminism and gender equality, and take a libertarian stance on issues such as welfare.
On the other end of the political spectrum, there are those on the left who also believe that taking up arms is the only way to get their point across. Although many on the right use the term “Marxist plot” when referring to gun control (and a lot of other progressive viewpoints), they may be surprised to find that they have more in common than they think with the authors of The Communist Manifesto. In an 1850 speech titled Address of the Central Committee to the Communist League, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels stated that “Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary.” For Marx and Engels, the working class would need arms to fight the inevitable class war with the bourgeoisie and seize the means of production from the capitalists. However, armed left-wing groups in the modern world tend to be more focused on defending themselves and others than revolution.
The Black Panthers are possibly the most famous example of a left-wing militia in America. Founded in Oakland, California in 1966, the Black Panther Party was set up in response to the epidemic of police brutality against the African American community. Taking advantage of California’s generous open-carry laws, Panthers would go on patrol fully armed to monitor Oakland’s cops and deter them from open racial discrimination. “Copwatching” was so successful that then Governor Ronald Reagan repealed open-carry for all California citizens and stripped the Panthers of their legal right to own firearms.
Unlike right-wing militias, the Panthers main goal did not revolve around violence. Aside from protecting their communities from police racism, they also sought to combat poverty through programs that educated and fed children from poor neighborhoods. In Chicago, Fred Hampton tried to build an anti-racist and anti-capitalist coalition of Black, Hispanic, Native American and white working class communities to build a more equal society. As a result of these efforts, Hampton was assassinated under the FBI’s COINTELPRO program.
Today’s armed left-wing groups are not quite as ambitious in their efforts as the Panthers were. Groups like the John Brown Gun Club and the Socialist Rifle Association are mainly focused on protecting their communities and combating the growing threat of right-wing and neo-fascist militias. Members of the John Brown Gun Club have volunteered their services to protect LGBTQ+ Pride marches and Black Lives Matter rallies, events that often attract unwelcome and sometimes violent attention from groups like the Proud Boys.
While both left and right wing armed groups take advantage of America’s Second Amendment, their motives for doing so are clearly different. For the right-wing, the right to bear arms is a guarantee for their status as soldiers in a coming war, either against a tyrannical government putting limits on their freedoms or against the progressive society that allows multiculturalism, gay rights, and equality of the sexes. For the left-wing, their guns are insurance against fascist and racist violence that the State seems content to allow to fester in their communities.
One thing that is certain is that, while the President of the United States refuses to condemn white supremacist groups like the Proud Boys, neither side will be keen to lay down their arms any time soon.