Militias' agenda far from mainstream
JOHN BARTLETT
Militias' agenda far from mainstream
Sun Apr 11, 2004 13:36
63.228.145.202

Militias' agenda far from mainstream
Crawford groups oppose government
By JOHN BARTLETT, Erie Times, PA
April 11, 2004
http://goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040411/FRONTPAGE/104110476

MEADVILLE - At the Plaza Barbershop here, where conversation can be as sharp as the scissors, Darrell Sivik, George Bilunka and the existence of local militias have been the topic of choice.

"People just seem to wonder about it," barber Ernie Brink said.

Sivik and Bilunka are charged with federal firearm violations. Their arrests the week of March 21 revealed the existence of two local militias and plans for armed resistance to government forces.

"I don't see it personally, but I guess those individuals see the government as out to get them," Brink said. "I don't know how they got to think that way."

Many have that same question, he said.

"What drives that thinking is a tough question," said Joe Morris, a political science professor at Mercyhurst College who became interested in so-called "patriot" and militia-type organizations while living in Idaho and Montana, where such movements are widespread.

"What you have here is what's going on out West. It's a phenomena that's been going on for 30 years," Morris said. "In general, for all the groups, government is perceived as too intrusive in terms of our individual rights."

Both Sivik and Bilunka were outspoken in their beliefs that many federal laws were unconstitutional and that government was trampling on the rights of citizens. The message resonated among the small group of people who coalesced around both men and became members of their militias.

"Conspiracy theory also is part of the foundation of such movements," Morris said.

"All the evidence showing the theory is false or contradicting it is incorporated into the conspiracy," he said.

Programs broadcast on Sivik's low-power Braveheart Radio, 88.3 FM, railed against some vast New World Order that threatened the nation's sovereignty and individual liberties, and the United Nations played a key role.

Sivik annually led an anti-United Nations rally in Meadville's Diamond Park, where the United Nations' flag would be burned. The events drew as many as 75 participants.

"These folks, like the small pocket of militia activists we see in Crawford County, believe they are protecting the U.S.," said Colleen Kelley, a Penn State Behrend professor who has studied and written on the rhetoric of militias and similar groups. "They believe they are saving Americans from various covert and political organizations that threaten our security."

Usually, religion is also a component, she said.

"Really, it's often a peculiar blend of secular nationalism and this tightly drawn view of what Christian should be. They play nicely to each other in their beliefs," Kelley said.

Both Sivik and Bilunka described themselves as "true Christians."

Bilunka believes the Biblical apocalypse looms, according to the information recounted by an undercover federal agent who infiltrated his Christian American Patriots Survivalists militia.

Bilunka's beliefs, as related by the agent, are that the years 2002-2009 constitute the era of the pre-war, which will be followed by the apocalyptic "Great War." Christ will return to earth in 2009 and in 2012 the world will end. His intent is to survive until then, fending off forces of the federal government.

Morris said that in the broadest sense Sivik, Bilunka and their followers have taken the seeds of beliefs - even resentments and fears - shared by many Americans, and allowed them to mutate into something that takes them far from the mainstream.

Part of that might well be that they see themselves as the true believers and part of a mass movement, even when none exists, said Robert Heibel, a former FBI agent and director of the Research/Intelligence Program at Mercyhurst College.

Failure to achieve the goals of a mass movement or even to get their message heard and accepted leads to further radicalization. Personal failures and frustrations only add to that, Heibel said.

"It's levels of frustration that become compounded," he said.

"So, am I surprised at what I hear about Mr. Sivik and Mr. Bilunka and the militia movement in Crawford County? No," Heibel said. "Am I concerned? Certainly when they turn to extremist tactics."

Federal officials said Sivik had a plan if a confrontation came with the government. His followers were to rendezvous at the Nebraska Bridge in Forest County and he would lead them to his nearby camp, where arms were stashed, and they could make a stand.

Sivik told followers it was "time for the ammo box rather than the ballot box," a federal agent testified at his detention hearing. Although charged with firearm violations relating to only a single machine gun, federal agents believed he illegally manufactured dozens, selling them to people who shared his beliefs.

Bilunka, who is accused of aiding in the transfer of one of Sivik's machine guns, prepared for a Waco-like standoff at his 27 acres in southern Crawford County near the village of Atlantic. Federal agents said he had built an underground bunker and stashed supplies, dug a trench on the property to fight from, had two homemade landmines and trained followers to kill federal agents by slashing their necks.

"This has always been the downfall of these organizations on the right, they cannot stay away from machine guns and explosives, Heibel said. "If the allegation against Sivik is correct, he deserves to face criminal charges."

And that is what most Plaza Barbershop customers are also saying, Brink said.

"People believe that if (Sivik and Bilunka) broke the law, they should be charged," he said.

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