Welcome to the Militia Watchdog Archives.  The Militia Watchdog website was created in the summer of 1995, following the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols the previous spring.

The bombing shocked the nation and created an intense interest in the so-called "militia movement" in the United States (even though McVeigh and Nichols were not part of that particular movement.  They were originally thought to be; thus the interest).  The Militia Watchdog website was originally designed simply to provide information and resources regarding the militia movement, but quickly expanded to cover many areas of the extreme right, including the sovereign citizen, tax protest, and white supremacist movements, among others.  For a long time, it was one of the only substantial resources for examining right-wing extremism available on the World Wide Web.

The extreme right in the United States poses a clear threat to peace and safety; many of its adherents commit criminal acts that range from minor incidents of harassment to major acts of terrorism.  Other adherents, though eschewing criminal activity, may contribute to an atmosphere or intolerance or hate, thus damaging communities in more subtle ways.  Though every individual in the United States has the right to believe anything he or she wishes, the community has an equal right to respond when those beliefs are translated by the individual into actions.  When the actions are criminal, society has the right and obligation to step in to stop such activity.  When the actions merely constitute free speech, the community can respond in kind, shining the light of truth on such actions and demonstrating that a healthy community has no room for intolerance and hate.

It should be noted that right-wing extremism is not the only form of extremism that poses a threat to society.  The fact that the focus of this website is on extremism from the right should not be taken as support for or tolerance of other forms of extremism that result in criminal or other unwelcome activity.  The animal rights movement, for example, is a movement that has very frequently used violence as a means of achieving its goals.  Such tactics are unconscionable.  However, both because of the resurgence of right-wing extremism in the past decade as well as because of the expertise of the website's creator, the Militia Watchdog website largely concentrates on right-wing extremism.

The materials in the Militia Watchdog Archives generally stem from the period 1995-2000.  The main purpose of the website is now to act as an archive for past reports and research projects.  The Mailing List is still active.  The website will also update its Extremist-Related Links page occasionally.  

Copyright, all rights reserved.  Contents of this website may be used only with permission from the Anti-Defamation League.