League of the South Announces Formation of 鈥楽outhern Defense Force鈥�
Edging closer to militancy, the neo-Confederate League of the South says it's forming a force to combat the 'leftist menace to our historic Christian civilization.'聽
In a military-styled order titled 鈥淒irective 02022017,鈥� Michael Hill, president of the neo-Confederate League of the South (LOS), announced Friday the formation of a new vigilante 鈥渄efense force.鈥�
[T]he League of the South is calling for all able-bodied, traditionalist Southern men to join our organization鈥檚 Southern Defense Force for the purpose of helping our State and local magistrates across Dixie combat this growing leftist menace to our historic Christian civilization. As private citizens in a private organization, we will stand ready to protect our own families and friends, our property, and our liberty from leftist chaos. Moreover, we will be ready to assist our local and State authorities in keeping the peace should they find it necessary to 鈥渄eputize鈥� private citizens for that purpose.
It remains to be seen what actions the new 鈥淪outhern Defense Force鈥� [SDF] will take to 鈥減lan for contingencies 鈥� natural or man-made 鈥撯�� that might affect the Southern people.鈥� But announcements of plans to militarize the League are not new.
In 2014, the group began developing and training a paramilitary unit called the 鈥淚ndomitables鈥� to advance a second secession, though such efforts fizzled quickly.
Promising increased LOS militancy has cost the group and led to faltering membership. Since Dylann Roof鈥檚 massacre of nine congregants at Charleston鈥檚 Emanuel AME Church in 2015, Hatewatch has documented a string of high-profile departures.
All of that has not stopped Hill from adopting the posture of a military commander, albeit one who has demonstrated a repeated and remarkable inability to maintain a clear chain of command and restrain more impulsive League members. At last year鈥檚 LOS national conference, younger members broke away for an unsanctioned protest of a Montgomery, Alabama, LGBT Pride parade and shouted 鈥淕od hates f---鈥� at demonstrators.
Hill鈥檚 militancy also comes as President Trump signs a litany of executive orders to make good on campaign promises on mass immigration and Islamic extremism. Hill wagered hard on a former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's victory in the 2016 election and has since struggled聽with the realization that Trump's聽rhetoric has sapped support in the Deep South for causes historically championed by the League.
Hill鈥檚 announcement closes by directing recruits to contact the League using a web form reserved for normal members. 鈥淎re you ready to be a man among men?鈥� Hill asks. 鈥淛oin the League and its Southern Defense Force today!鈥�
The phrase 鈥渕an among men鈥� is a reference to propaganda posters for the Rhodesian Army during the Rhodesian Bush War, a civil war from 1964-79 in the unrecognized country of Rhodesia that remains a popular reference for white nationalists. The conflict inspired Dylann Roof, who named his blog 鈥淭he Last Rhodesian鈥� and posed for pictures on social media with the Confederate Battle Flag while wearing a jacket patched with a Rhodesian flag.
It seems to have inspired Hill, too. He聽has echoed the Rhodesian mythos in a series of social media posts聽and on the LOS website, typifying the loss of political hegemony by whites in that聽war as tantamount to racial genocide.
While Hill is just one voice in a growing chorus contributing to an escalation of violent rhetoric across the South and the United States, the formation of the SDF represents something else, too 鈥撯�� a desperate promise of armed resistance from an aging radical on the fringe of a movement he once dominated.
