I was inspired by a column in today’s New York Times by CHARLES M. BLOW-

Pitchforks and Pistols; “Lately I’ve been consuming as much conservative media as possible (interspersed with shots of Pepto-Bismol) to get a better sense of the mind and mood of the right. My read: They’re apocalyptic. They feel isolated, angry, betrayed and besieged. And some of their “leaders” seem to be trying to mold them into militias.”
More at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/opinion/04blow.html

We had a fellow named Pat Sellers in our small city. He ran for PA 6th Congressional District Congress in 96 and picked up Larry Pratt as a speaker for a fundraiser. (See: Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster, PA Thursday April 11, 1996 House hopeful charged in fight with teenager) That was after Presidential Candidate Pat Buchanan dropped Pratt because of his alleged KKK connections. Pratt (Gun Owners of America) is partly known as the person who revived the modern day militias. Sellers stated that “he sought Pratt’s support because of his expertise on gun issues.”

“In 1990, Pratt wrote a book, Armed People Victorious, based on his study of "citizen defense patrols" used in Guatemala and the Philippines against Communist rebels — patrols that came to be known as death squads for their murderous brutality. Picturing these groups in rosy terms, Pratt advocated similar militias in the United States — an idea that finally caught on when he was invited for a meeting of 160 extremists, including many famous white supremacists, in 1992.

It was at that meeting, hosted in Colorado by white supremacist minister Pete Peters that the contours of the militia movement were laid out.”
From- Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Report- Summer 2001 False Patriots- http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=365

There was an election here in the City of Coatesville PA in 2005. Pat Sellers was a campaign manager who helped to elect 4 Coatesville City Council members who became known as “the bloc of four”. There were alleged threats of “men with rifles in the bushes” on a local radio call in show in the lead up to the election. Coatesville Police could not determine the identity of the caller.

I believe that “bloc of four” city council that led us to a malfunctioning city government in Coatesville and contributed to the 70 plus record breaking arsons and runaway crime here.

Coatesville is in the center of Chester County Pennsylvania it is in the top ten wealthiest counties in the USA in the Main Line Philadelphia area. Princess Grace Kelly grew up nearby. We have regular Fox Hunting with hounds here. Not the place where you would expect to find extremist KKK and Arian Nation activity.

We have had more than our share of KKK and Arian Nation activity here. There were several arrests and convictions of cross burners. But there was one investigation that stood out:

About 7 years ago a City of Coatesville Police Detective Martin Quinn thought that there was something odd about a burglary. He kept the case open. It led to the conviction of three Arian Nation / KKK bomb makers. One bomb maker was David Wayne Hull; the self declared Imperial Wizard of the Pennsylvania chapter White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Hull’s intended targets for attacks included abortion clinics, police departments and the Peach Bottom Pennsylvania nuclear power plant. The other two were Joshua Sutter -- a ranking member of the Aryan Nations with national visibility -- and John Keohane -- once a member of a local Ku Klux Klan faction. They are all serving sentences of 8 to 12 years in Federal prison. Now retired Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas P. Hogan Jr. was instrumental in bringing the extremists to justice. I am sure that many people are unaware all this was occurring in pastoral Chester County Pennsylvania.

There are still several now quiet extremist “cells” alleged to be nearby Coatesville in Chester County. There are a few people like me who are aware of the threat that just a few well armed extremists can have on ordinary people. It is very discouraging to hear that there is a “call to arms” from Right Wing leaders.