NIKISKI, Alaska — Norm Olson’s genial tone belies his reputation as a radical militiaman, yet here he is, at 63, an affable grandfather explaining why Americans should arm themselves against their government.
Walking stick in hand, clad in military fatigues, he strolls a trail in the woods near his home on 22 acres near Nikiski, a small, unincorporated community with no local government. The nearest state trooper post is two towns away.
A fellow militiaman, armed with an assault rifle, walks along as Olson discourses on the need for a paramilitary Alaska Citizens Militia.
He lays out his ideas about imminent economic collapse and social chaos incited by federal bailouts and other forms of intrusion by a tyrannical government.
Olson’s militia is minuscule, but there has been a resurgence of the militia movement nationwide, in part coinciding with the advent of the Obama administration. At least 50 right-wing militia groups have been identified by the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit civil-rights organization. All have formed within the past two years.
“It’s the response to fear,” Olson said. “The federal government can roll into your driveway in the middle of the night and snatch you up and take you away and you’ll never be seen again.”
A flashback to the 1990s
If the words sound familiar, there is good reason. It is rhetoric that was typical of the so-called patriot movement of the 1990s, amid similar circumstances: A Democrat, Bill Clinton, was in office. There was heightened interest in gun-control legislation. Veterans were returning from the first Gulf War. Elaborate conspiracy theories were spreading.
Today’s troubled economy and the perception that other countries are rising in influence also might be fueling activity among white supremacist and militia groups, according to an intelligence assessment by the federal Department of Homeland Security.
A significant difference this time, according to the April analysis, is that the nation has its first black president.
“Right-wing extremists,” the report says, “are harnessing this historical election as a recruitment tool.”
Lone wolves and small groups who are “embracing violent right-wing extremist ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat,” according to the report.
In the first five months of Obama’s presidency, racist, right-wing extremists killed at least nine people, said Chip Berlet, senior analyst with Political Research Associates, a Somerville, Mass., think tank.
Venting their anxiety
Such attacks vent racial anxiety and outrage at the government by people who feel powerless to reach political elites, Berlet said. Instead, they target those within reach.
But Jonathan White, a professor at Allendale, Mich.-based Grand Valley State University who has done research on violent extremism and terrorism, said most militia members are “rhetoric only.”
So far, Olson’s Alaska Citizens Militia has been slow in building its ranks. Only 20 people attended an introductory meeting in September, and no one signed on.
Obama’s race, Olson insisted, is not an issue. The militiaman carrying the assault rifle and accompanying him on this walk is, in fact, black. The ex-Marine did not want to be identified, saying it would undermine his role as a combat weapons trainer for any patriot who asks. He said his big gun guards against bears.
Olson said violent individuals aren’t welcome. Anyone who wants to blow up a bridge or kill a judge need not apply, he said. And he said there is no reason for anyone to be scared by his rhetoric.
“When I say we need to stand up and shake the gun in the face of the tyrants, we’re not against the American people,” he said. “We’re not even against the United States government. We’re against the tyrants inside the government.”
