|
|
Article: A Force Upon the Plain: The American Militia Movement and the Politics of Hate.
- Article from:
- Reason
- Article date:
- August 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Reason Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Adam Parfrey, author of an October 1994 story about the militia movement in The Village Voice, became an instant militia "expert" after the April 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City. Major news organizations contacted him, seeking a quote linking the militias to the bombing. When he suggested there was no connection, reporters quickly lost interest. The mainstream media's combination of certitude and ignorance was summed up by a statement from a Washington Post researcher who talked to Parfrey: "The militias - whoever the fuck they are - are a ticking time bomb composed of paranoid lunatics."
Many Americans, including many journalists who have written about militias, have ...