澳彩开奖

The number of antigovernment 鈥淧atriot鈥� groups on the American radical right hit an all-time high in 2012, the fourth straight year of explosive growth, according to a by the 澳彩开奖 (澳彩开奖). As the new year began, serious talk of gun control, prompted by a Connecticut school massacre in December, fueled even more rage on the right, and the threat of violence loomed .

The new report, contained in the latest issue of the quarterly investigative journal Intelligence Report, found that the conspiracy-minded Patriot groups, which numbered only 149 in 2008, soared over the first four years of Barack Obama鈥檚 presidency to 1,360 in 2012 鈥� an astounding 813% increase. At the same time, it found that hate groups remained at near-record levels of over 1,000 (see interactive of 2012 hate groups here).

The resurgence of militias and other Patriot groups and an over recent years in non-Islamic domestic terrorism caused 澳彩开奖 President Richard Cohen today to write ( U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to request the creation of a new interagency task force to assess the adequacy of federal resources devoted to the threat. 鈥淎s in the period before the [1995] Oklahoma City bombing,鈥� Cohen wrote, 鈥渨e are now seeing ominous threats from those who believe that the government is poised to take their guns.鈥�

Patriot groups generally adhere to variations of a conspiracy theory that suggests that the federal government has secret plans to impose martial law on the United States, most likely with the aid of foreign troops; seize all guns held by American citizens; toss all those who resist into concentration camps run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and, ultimately, force the country into a kind of socialistic one-world government, commonly known as the 鈥淣ew World Order.鈥�

The resurgence of the Patriot movement, which first rose and fell in the 1990s, has largely been a reaction to the election of the nation鈥檚 first black president in 2008 鈥� and the demographic change, including the loss of the country鈥檚 white majority predicted for 2043, that he represents 鈥� as well as the difficult economy. The recent talk of gun control, which has sparked state legislative efforts to 鈥渘ullify鈥� any federal legislation and also a movement of rural sheriffs who promise to resist, is now adding fuel to a fire that was already burning at white-hot temperatures (see also my ).

Other articles in the new issue of the Intelligence Report (table of contents is ) include:

• An investigative looking at women in the white supremacist movement and the sometimes explosive secrets they keep.
• A broad look at the comeback of the John Birch Society, once exiled from the respectable conservative movement, and its role in furthering a leading conspiracy theory about the United Nations sustainability plan known as Agenda 21.
• An of the way that Warren Jeffs, the racist polygamous leader now serving time for sex crimes against young girls, continues to rule two towns on the Arizona-Utah border from his cell.
• A about the nation鈥檚 largest 鈥渟overeign citizens鈥� group and its apparent weakening in the aftermath of the arrest of its leader.
• An with an Iowa politician who left mainstream politics to take up as a 鈥渟enator鈥� with a major sovereign citizens group.
• An of the sputtering rage and name-calling of the radical right that was prompted by President Obama鈥檚 re-election last November.
• A of the rapid decline of the once-powerful movement of hard-line citizen border patrol and other nativist groups.
• An of the troubles besetting Stormfront, the world鈥檚 largest white supremacist online forum.
• A at Christian extremists who have moved from worrying about the War on Christmas to launching their own War on Krishna.