3 Percenters

3 Percenters
Formation 2008 (2008)
Type Paramilitary group
Legal status Active
Purpose Gun rights advocacy
Location
  • United States
Region
Nationwide
Leader Mike Vanderboegh
Website www.thethreepercenters.org

The Three Percenters (also styled 3%ers and III%ers) is an American Militia group whose members pledge protestation and armed resistance against attempts to curtail constitutional rights, namely the Second Amendment.[1][2] The organization's credo cautions against a potentially tyrannical US Federal Government, and has been characterized as being ideologically similar to the Oath Keepers.[3]

The group's name is derived from the claim that only three percent of the population of the Thirteen Colonies fought against the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolution.[3] Approximately 375,000 people out of the 2.5 million colonists—or fifteen percent—served in either the Continental Army or state militias, a participation rate higher than in most United States military conflicts.[4]

Foundation and aims

The movement was started on December 17, 2008. The movement was co-founded by Mike Vanderboegh[5] from Alabama, a member of the Oath Keepers, a group with whom the Three Percenters remain loosely allied and are often compared to.[6][1] Vanderboegh claims to have formerly been a member of Students for a Democratic Society and the Socialist Workers Party, but abandoned left-wing politics and politics in general in 1977 after being introduced to libertarianism.[7] Beginning in November 2008, Vanderboegh began promoting the movement on his blog "Sipsey Street Irregulars".

Activities and reception

Vanderboegh self-published a serial novel online, Absolved, in 2008, which he called "a cautionary tale for the out-of-control gun cops of the ATF".[8]

Vanderboegh and his novel Absolved first received wider media attention in 2011, when four suspected militia members in Georgia were arrested for an alleged plan for a biological attack that had supposedly been inspired by the novel.[9][10] Vanderboegh distanced himself from the alleged plot.[11]

In 2013, Christian Allen Kerodin and associates were working on construction of a walled compound in Benewah County, Idaho "for Three Percenters", designed to house 7,000 people following a major disaster, an initiative which local law enforcement has described as a "scam".[12]

In April 2013, a group of Jersey City police officers were disciplined for wearing patches reading "ONE OF THE 3%".[13][14]

Following the 2015 Chattanooga shootings at a strip mall military recruitment center and a Navy Operational Support Center in Tennessee, Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, and other militia groups began organizing armed gatherings outside of recruiting centers in several states, with the stated objective of providing protection to service members, who were barred from carrying weapons while on duty in civilian recruitment centers.[15] In response, the Army Command Operations Center Security Division issued a letter ordering soldiers not to interact with or acknowledge armed civilians outside of recruitment centers, and that "If questioned by these alleged concerned citizens, be polite, professional and terminate the conversation immediately and report the incident to local law enforcement", noting that the issuing officer is "sure the citizens mean well, but we cannot assume this in every case and we do not want to advocate this behavior".[15]

On January 8, 2016, the "3 Percenters of Idaho" group announced it was sending some of its members in support of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, allegedly in order to "secure the perimeter" and to prevent a "Waco-style situation".[16] They left several hours later after being told their assistance was not needed.[17] Two days previously, Vanderboegh had described the occupiers as "a collection of fruits and nuts".[18] "What Bundy and this collection of fruits and nuts has done is give the feds the perfect opportunity to advance their agenda to discredit us", he said.[18] They have provided security for the Patriot Prayer rally, "Rally for Trump and Freedom".[19][20] Several III%ers were also present and providing security for the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally in August 2017.[21] After the events at Charlottesville, the National Three Percenters Council issued a "stand down order" for 3 Percenters, asking them to refrain from participating in marches or protests with white nationalist or Neo-Nazi groups. The statement also asked members to refrain from protesting against Black Lives Matters and Antifa events over concerns that the media would associate them with white nationalist groups.[22]

References

  1. 1 2 Spencer Sunshine (5 January 2016). "Profiles on the Right: Three Percenters". Political Research Associates. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018. The Three Percenters (aka 3%ers, III%ers, or “Threepers”) are a Patriot movement paramilitary group that pledges armed resistance against attempts to restrict private gun ownership. Adherents and supporters have been associated with threats and acts of violence.
  2. ↑ "Patriot Groups Have Presence in Idaho". NBC KPVI News 6. Archived from the original on 16 August 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2017. 'Our goal and our mission statement as an organization is to make sure that everybody’s constitutional rights are being defended.' [Chris McIntire, 3 Percenters of Idaho]
  3. 1 2 Spencer Sunshine (5 January 2016). "Profiles on the Right: Three Percenters". Political Research Associates. Archived from the original on 5 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017. Like other Patriot groups, they depict the federal government as tyrannical. Their name refers to the (disputed) percentage of American colonialists who took up arms against the British during the Revolutionary War.
  4. ↑ Allison, Robert (2011). The American Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 79.
  5. ↑ "Longtime militia and 'Patriot' leader Mike Vanderboegh dies at 64". 10 August 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  6. ↑ Avlon, John (March 31, 2010). "Anti-government hate militias on the rise". CNN. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  7. ↑ Mencimer, Stephanie (December 14, 2011). "Meet the Former Militiaman Behind the Fast and Furious Scandal". Mother Jones. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  8. ↑ Bill Morlin (May 16, 2013). "Michael Brian Vanderboegh". splcenter.org. Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  9. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (February 11, 2011). "Georgia Militia Plot: Feds Arrest Four Suspected Group Members For Alleged Biological Attack Plan". The Huffington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  10. ↑ Kellogg, Carolyn (November 3, 2011). "'Online novel' allegedly inspired Georgia terrorism suspects". Los Angeles Times. Jacket Copy blog. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  11. ↑ Gertz, Matt (November 2, 2011). "Fox "Authority" Vanderboegh On His Book Allegedly Inspiring Terrorism: "Did I Mention It Is Fiction?"". Media Matters for America. Retrieved January 14, 2016. Absolved is fiction. I hope it is a 'useful dire warning.' However, I am as much to blame for the Georgia Geriatric Terrorist Gang as Tom Clancy is for Nine Eleven.
  12. ↑ Morlin, Bill (May 16, 2013). "Behind the Walls". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved January 14, 2016. But there's no sign that the latest fantastic plans from antigovernment extremists will ever come to much. Dave Resser, the sheriff of sparsely populated Benewah County, calls the whole thing a 'scam'.
  13. ↑ Conte, Michaelangelo (April 29, 2013). "Jersey City police brass identify a pro-militia clique in the department and say they've been stopped". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  14. ↑ Zeitlinger, Ron (April 29, 2013). "'Three Percenters' founder: Wrong to discipline Jersey City police officers". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  15. 1 2 Tritten, Travis (22 July 2015). "Army to recruiters: Treat armed citizens as security threat". Stars & Stripes. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  16. ↑ Hammill, Luke (January 8, 2016). "Oregon standoff: Idaho group arrives to 'secure perimeter, prevent Waco-style situation'". The Oregonian. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  17. ↑ "More armed men visit site of Oregon wildlife refuge standoff". San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. January 9, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  18. 1 2 Judy Thomas (January 6, 2016). "Experts: Oregon standoff may be small, but it's tip of militia iceberg". McClatchy News Service. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  19. ↑ Hawkass, Johnathan (April 4, 2017). "Clark County Trump rally disrupted by anarchists". The Reflector.
  20. ↑ Brown, Doug (April 2, 2017). "Photos & Video: Protesters Arrested at a Donald Trump Rally in Vancouver". The Portland Mercury.
  21. ↑ "How Militias Became the Private Police for White Supremacists". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  22. ↑ "The Three Percenters - Original". The Three Percenters - Original. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
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