Intelligence Dispatch: Trump's Army of God

Billionaire mega-donor Mercer family connections to the militia movement, and the ‘growing militarization of theocratic religious visions of the Christian Right’.

Welcome to to the launch of Radical Reports: A newsletter that provides research, analysis, and intelligence on the Radical Right. Subscribers receive exclusive access to weekly intelligence dispatches, field notes with analysis of key organizations, and research resources including databases and interactive data mapping.

What to expect from Radical Reports: Weekly Intelligence Dispatches that provide a briefing on the activities of the Radical Right, Field Notes that provide research profiles of key organizations within the Radical Right, Legislation Watch that provides a breakdown of key legislative priorities of the Radical Right, and the Research Desk that highlights research and analysis from academia of the Radical Right.

Radical Right in the Spotlight:

Today the U.S. House Administration Committee will continue oversight hearings on the Capitol Riot, and hear testimony from U.S. Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton on the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. The hearing will be broadcast on C-SPAN at 2:00pm EDT.

Must Reads

• Julia Carrie Wong reports that a company linked to Turning Point USA “was responsible for a series of deceptive Facebook ads promoting Green party candidates during the 2018 US midterm elections.” [Guardian]

• Dr. Chamila Liyanage writes that as “digital extremism has already spilled over into real life, creating a hybrid extremism with elements both in the online and offline,” it is critical to understand “how and why ideologies and beliefs are modified in virtual realms, creating a cure-for-all-ill type of mammoth ideological and belief systems that spread like wildfires both online and offline.” [GNET]

• Caroline Orr reports on the “evidence linking the Three Percenters militia with right-wing mega-donors including the billionaire Mercer family.” [Byline Times]

• Frederick Clarkson and Cloee Cooper examine how the Pacific Northwest is home to a convergence of militant extremist anti-democratic groups and Christian nationalists, that is part of the “growing militarization of theocratic religious visions of the Christian Right.” [PRA]

• Emma Rindlisbacher reports on how the Radical Right has used a “network of conferences to teach Republican lawmakers how to gerrymander their states and suppress voting rights.” [Jacobin]

• The disproportionate number of veterans and active duty military arrested for their involvement in the Capitol Riot on January 6th has reignited the question of why former military service members are more susceptible to the rhetoric of far-right groups? Dr Shannon Reid writes that there is a need for research that examines how “different transition points” during military members’ service “exacerbate or inhibit the potential for far-right activism and membership.” [CARR]

Intelligence Dispatches

• The Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative Christian law firm, has filed a pair of lawsuits against the Grants Pass School District in southern Oregon, alleging the district violated the free speech rights of an assistant principal and two teachers. The first lawsuit claims that an assistant principal and a teacher were placed on administrative leave for speaking out about “gender identity education policy.” The educators are associated with the so-called “I Resolve” movement, which claims to support “reasonable, loving and tolerant solutions for education policies that respect everyone’s rights.” The groups supports policies including designating public school restrooms as “anatomically-male” or “anatomically-female,” allowing students with “parent permission” to request to be referred to by a derivative of their legal name or a preferred pronoun, but it will “not be mandated” that students or staff be required to use preferred names or pronouns. The second lawsuit claims that the school district prohibited Ryan Clark, a teacher at South Middle School, from warning students about “sin and its eternal consequences.” Clark is a member of Abolish Abortion Oregon, a radical anti-abortion group affiliated with the decentralized and autonomous Abolish Human Abortion (AHA) movement, and the Rogue Valley Salt Shakers, a fundamentalist Christian group that protests public events with anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ messages.

• Nevada Family Alliance, a conservative Christian advocacy organization, is demanding that public school teachers be forced to wear body cameras. “Creating a record that could be viewed by appropriate parties, if necessary, might be the best way to urge teachers to stick to traditional teaching," Karen England, executive director and founder of the Nevada Family Alliance, said in a press release. This is part of a increasing and coordinated attack on public education by the Radical Right, that targets faculty and staff and public schools, school districts, school boards, and state boards of education. These campaigns are often centered on unfounded claims about the teaching of critical race theory and comprehensive sex education, and criticism of the promotion of so-called “gender ideology” and LGBTQ inclusive and affirming policies. Homeschool advocacy organizations associated with the Christian Right are also targeting school districts around the country that are making efforts to reach out to students and parents as in-person classes are set to resume this fall.

Events on the Right

• The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, a right-wing think tank that promotes “free market economic policy framed within Judeo-Christian morality,” will host Acton Institute Online on June 23-24.

  • Featured Speakers Include: Sam Brownback, Betsy DeVos, and Jeff Sandefer

• Operation Save America, a radical anti-abortion group that is involved with a campaign that lobbies municipal governments to pass ordinances banning abortion providers, will host the group’s National Conference on June 23-26 in Meza, Arizona.

  • Conference Partners Include: Apologia Church, End Abortion Now, Love Life, and Missionaries to the Preborn

• The Pro-Life Women’s Conference, an anti-abortion conference that appropriates the rhetoric of the feminist movement, will host the group’s annual conference on June 25-17 in Memphis, Tennessee.

  • Conference Sponsors Include: Abortion Survivors Network, Focus on the Family, Live Action, Radiance Foundation, and Susan B. Anthony List

Coming Up on Radical Reports…

Legislative Watch: The Right’s Attack on Critical Race Theory