Michigan Militia still active 20 years after Oklahoma City bombing

Michigan Live/April 20, 2015

By Gary Ridley

Within days of the Oklahoma City bombing, eyes across the globe turned to empty farm fields and lonely expanses of woods in Michigan in an effort to better understand the men the U.S. government claimed were responsible for the death of 168 people.

Newspaper headlines and TV news crews pounded Michigan Militia members after it was discovered that the men responsible for the April 19, 1995, bombing -- Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols -- may have attended militia meetings before they blew up the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in downtown Oklahoma City.

It was a whirlwind of scrutiny that Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia Coordinator Lee Miracle remembers well.

The bombers never were members of the Militia, Miracle said. Militia members would have sacrificed their own lives to stop such a needless loss of life, he said.

But the connection, between the bombers and the Michigan Militia, no matter how tenuous, left the militia and its members tied in the public's consciousness to right-wing extremism and the nation's deadliest terrorist attack.

Miracle called the media attention the Militia's "baptism of fire."

A group that was largely often left alone and considered on the fringe was suddenly thrust into the limelight.

"It was devastating to us," Miracle said of the media's sudden attention and the spread of what he called misinformation.

Media reports in the days following the bombing described whispers between Decker-area residents who were discussing their neighbors' possible militia ties.

ABC News' Ted Koppel broadcast live from the town and the Associated Press had nearly daily headlines about the militia in the months after the attack. 

Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremism in the United States, said the Patriot movement and extreme-right-wing ideology associated with the Militia grew in the '90s, peaking with 858 militia-type groups nationwide in the year following the bombing.

Militia leaders rallied in the days following the bombing to distance themselves from the men who plotted the attack on an isolated farm in Michigan's Thumb region.

"If this country doesn't change, armed conflict is inevitable," then-Militia leader Norman Olson said during a recruitment meeting less than a year before the bombing, according to the Associated Press.

Olson's message softened as the questions continued after the bombing.

"These people were told to leave ... because that kind of talk of destruction and harm and terrorism," Olson said to the AP about Nichols and McVeigh in the days following the bombing.

Miracle, who said he is one of the few remaining Militia members who were active in 1995, said the backlash scared away nearly 80 percent of the group's membership and changed how the Militia interacted with the media, the community and law enforcement.

The Militia movement boasted 12,000 members and chapters in 70 of the state's 83 counties in the days following the bombing. Miracle said his group, which covers most of Southeast Michigan, now has just over 200 members.

Miracle said Militia members tried to tell people they were not connected to the killings, but few believed them. When the Militia was mentioned, a reference to Oklahoma City wasn't far behind. It was this correlation that drove members away.

After all, who would do business, Miracle asked, with a company owner connected to terrorism?

Even the Militia's brass, including Olson and Chief of Staff Ray Southwell, left the group in the weeks following the bombing after they were criticized for blaming the Japanese government for the attack.

Militia leaders rallied in the days following the bombing to distance themselves from the men who plotted the attack on an isolated farm in Michigan's Thumb region.

It was a stigma the Militia took years to shake off, but it solidified the resolve of members who remained.

Miracle said the Militia developed a uniform answer to questions from people about what they stood for, emphasizing its training for self-defense and individual reliance. It also created a more open relationship with the media to share its message, used social media sites to reach individuals and openly answered questions associated with the attack.

The Militia also encouraged its members to identify radicals who wanted to do more than train and told them to report them to authorities.

"After the Oklahoma City bombing, we learned to spot the bad guy," Miracle said.

While all the groups differ, Potok said they are largely organized around the belief that overreach of the federal government is threatening the liberty of ordinary Americans -- a thought that has found hold in some mainstream political ideologies.

So, it's not surprising to see the Militia movement grow so many years after the attack.

"Enough time has passed that most militias aren't tied to the murder of 168 people," Potok said.

But, while the vast majority of militia members nationwide have never blown up federal buildings or killed law enforcement officers, Potok said the groups still need to be watched because of the history of domestic terrorists who have originated from their ranks.

Michigan Militia groups don't spend their time finding ways to blow up buildings or bring about the apocalypse, Miracle said.

Militia members regularly meet for live fire drills and training, honing their skills in case they are ever needed to protect the American way of life.

Miracle said his group doesn't exist to help radicals blow things up, but recognized that they could be drawn to the Militia by its message. The Militia will continue welcoming those who share in its beliefs and Miracle said they will deal with those extremists if they come.

"We have to take that chance," Miracle said.

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