Loons on Parade

By John Sarvay

Banners, posters, even flaming effigies of unpopular public figures (odd how Nixon and Reagan figures were torched more often than, say, Carter)—these are the traditional weapons of protesters who gather in Washington to vent on bad policy decisions or lousy politicians. Come September, if the members of the, ahem, Unorganized Militia of the United States (UMUS) have their way, you can add automatic weapons, shotguns and handguns to that list.

UMUS, organized under the Indianapolis-based American Justice Federation, has planned a September march on our nation’s capital to fight for the freedoms they say they hold close to their patriotic hearts. In addition to presenting signed petitions supporting the right of all American citizens to bear arms, UMUS officials say the group will arrest certain congressman and charge them with high treason.

If that sounds a little far-fetched, consider an arrest made in late July in Roanoke, Virginia.

Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms recently arrested a Roanoke man accused of organizing a paramilitary group to combat gun control with warfare and terrorism. In a statement submitted to the federal court in Roanoke, James Roy Mullins was charged with “organizing a group of confederates, to be armed and trained in paramilitary fashion, in preparation for armed conflict with government authorities, should firearms legislation become too restrictive.”

But, according to the ATF’s Roanoke agent-in-charge, Jim Silvey, Mullins is not connected with UMUS.

“Mullins’ people might have been planning a similar march, but they are not connected to that group, as far as I know,’ Silvey says. If one unorganized gun fanatic can incite an ATF raid, imagine what tens or hundreds of thousands of gun freaks could do during an armed weekend jaunt to D.C.

“There are all types of fringe groups out there and I just don’t see any need to comment on them for the media,” says one unconcerned public relations official with the ATF in Washington. Hello? Remember Waco, Mr. PR Guru?

However, Charlie Peterson, agent-in-charge in the ATF’s Indianapolis office, says the group is “as serious as a heart attack.” The group’s leader, Linda Thompson, has a lot of support around the country, Peterson says, not to mention her own radio show. In an effort to appear even more subversive than AM-band junkies, Thompson’s show is on shortwave.

“She was just arrested in Indianapolis last Saturday [July 30],” says Peterson. She parked her van in front of the Clinton Health Care bus steaming through town on its way to Washington. After arresting Thompson for obstructing traffic, the ATF and local police discovered a 45 caliber handgun in her glove compartment. Oops.

But Thompson has a track record with the ATF.

“She did the same thing during Waco,” says Peterson. “She was going to go down and liberate the people at Waco. She told her people to show up with their vehicles armored and tracked.”

Of course, in the spirit of much talk, little action, only a handful of people showed at the compound on the appointed day.

Among the statements UMUS has made available to its members are fashion suggestions: “Militia units [marching on DC] must wear identifying insignia and be armed. If you are armed and wear a military insignia identifying you as a member of a military unit, if captured, you must be treated as a Prisoner of War, not as a criminal arrestee, by law.”

The group’s ultimatum to Congress also demands the repeal of the 14th, 16th and 17th amendments, as well as the Brady Bill and NAFTA.

The UMUS’s Declaration of Independence of 1994 notes that “the federal government…has sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance.” As a result, the signees of the document have declared themselves “Free and Independent Sovereign Citi-zens…with the full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which an Independent Sovereign may of right do.”

To learn more about the establishment of anarchy in the guise of freedom or to become a sovereign citizen, call the American Justice Federation at 317-780-5200. (Use your own quarter, of course.)