Antigovernment Militia Leader Organizing Nationwide Protests This Weekend
The head of one of the nation鈥檚 most well-known聽antigovernment militias, the Three Percent Security Force (IIISF), is taking a lead role in organizing far-right rallies in all 50 U.S. state capitals this Saturday, Feb. 23.
Chris Hill,聽IIISF鈥檚 leader, is trying to coordinate what he has titled 鈥淧rotest Your Redress of Grievances on All State Capitals鈥� events.
Hill鈥檚 idea to organize the state-level protests came from an upcoming rally in Washington, D.C., also scheduled for Feb. 23 and originally organized by a shadowy organization called the . ADF's D.C. event was the brainchild of far-right figure Marjorie Taylor Greene,聽who once claimed in a Facebook video聽posted four days after the 聽that the shooting was an act designed to justify mass gun confiscations and 鈥渃ontrol the people.鈥�
The D.C. event鈥檚 description included calls to 鈥淏uild the Wall!鈥� and 鈥淪top the illegal invasion and fix the broken immigration policies! End Catch and Release!鈥�
In recent days, according to a from Greene, the main sponsoring organization switched from the ADF to the American Border Foundation, which promotes President Trump鈥檚 vision of building a wall along the entire U.S.聽border with Mexico.
Hill, piggybacking off of Greene鈥檚 event, is attempting to take this message nationwide, along with his own antigovernment agenda, which he listed on an event flyer.
In addition to making demands such as 鈥�No ID = No Voting鈥� and 鈥�Make English the National Language,鈥� it also includes ending the Federal Reserve, the Internal Revenue Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 鈥� institutions often despised 聽by antigovernment extremists.
Most of his organizing has been online so far, creating a 聽that has 3,268 members at the time of this article鈥檚 publication. He has also created , and under his secondary account 鈥淪heldon Hill,鈥� he is to lead event planning on the ground, and appears to be personally assisting in .
The extremism of Chris Hill
Hill is one of the most well-known leaders within the Three Percenter movement.聽In a Feb. 19 on the Facebook page for his Feb. 23 event, he praised J.T. Ready, a deceased former member of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement. 鈥淚 echo JT Ready at every event,鈥� Hill wrote. After leaving the National Socialist Movement, Ready started up an armed nativist paramilitary group called the U.S. Border Guard. In May 2012, Ready murdered his girlfriend, his girlfriend's adult daughter, the daughter's fiance, and the daughter's 15-month-old child before killing himself. In the post he praised Ready's remarks, "I use the 2nd [Amendment] to protect the 1st [Amendment]," and linked to a聽video that suggested Ready's death was a conspiracy by the federal government.
Hill led an 聽against the construction of a local mosque in 2016. During the 2018 midterm elections, 聽Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia gubernatorial candidate and African American, calling her a 鈥渇lag burning, gun grabbing, socialist b----鈥� and saying 鈥渨e will defend our state from you, f--- you.鈥�
In a Facebook thread from May 4, 2018, an individual identifying himself as Justin Becker, a former IIISF supporter, claimed that IIISF conference calls facilitated by Hill frequently include discussions about 鈥渂lowing up federal buildings and mosques.鈥�
These extreme views have sometimes translated into violent action. Three men calling themselves 鈥淭he Crusaders鈥� became synonymous with the Kansas Security Force, a state affiliate of Hill鈥檚 group, and were arrested in 2016 for planning a terrorist attack against a local American Somali Muslim community. In 2017, former IIISF member , 35, was arrested in connection with the gang-style assault of DeAndre Harris, an African American who protested against the 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12, 2017. Ramos was 聽and given a six-year prison sentence.
Hill has managed to attract a variety of extremists for the Feb. 23 state events, many of whom 聽as a way of showing their support for the protests. Most of these are supporters of the antigovernment or 鈥淧atriot鈥� extremist movement. However, the group also contains a photo posted by John Camden, New Hampshire chapter vice president of the hate group American Guard.
The individuals interested in Hill鈥檚 rallies include people whose Facebook accounts feature a mix of antigovernment and hateful content.
Among them is a Facebook user named 鈥淩icky Wright鈥� whose two accounts are littered with antigovernment and anti-Muslim content. In addition to promoting the Feb. 23 rally in his home state of Nevada, Wright actively promotes a closed far-right Facebook group he belongs to, the , while posting anti-Muslim content.
In a Jan. 13 public post featuring the image of a handgun along with the caption 鈥�9mm.or :/ 45,鈥� he tagged a Facebook page called the 鈥淚slamic Center of Reno,鈥� which lists the address and phone number of a local congregation, the Northern Nevada Muslim Community Center.
In the discussion thread he stated, 鈥渞econ Map[p]ing all Islamic centers JOIN US..B.W.S.S.鈥� He later wrote in the same thread, 鈥淗ey if you guys got a f------ problem me doing infidel shit or doing recon at f------ Islam[ic] centers get the f--- off my f------ page.鈥�
Wright tagged the 鈥淚slamic Center of Reno鈥� Facebook page in anti-Muslim posts since Dec. 23, 2018.
Although Patriot and militia movements聽are primarily angered by what they perceive as government tyranny, their supporters also often express 聽such as African Americans, Jews, immigrants and, in more recent years, Muslims. The rhetoric Hill is using to recruit for this weekend鈥檚 events 鈥� and his involvement in general 鈥� reflects these broader trends currently animating the antigovernment militia movement.
Photo by Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
