SEATTLE AP - Not since Y2K came and went with little more than costly computer
overhauls have militia groups, everyday survivalists and conspiracy-minded
"patriot" organizations been more at the ready.
And never in recent memory have those who prepare for the apocalypse felt more
justified in their resolve.
Butch Razey, a member of the Yakima County Militia, says people sometimes used
to avoid him on the street. But since the Sept. 11 attacks, he says he's being
buttonholed constantly for advice on such things as emergency food, medical
supplies, gas masks and chemical suits.
"Militias have been trying for years to get everybody prepared,"
Razey told The Seattle Times. "Now it's not just us weird old militia
people saying it. It's the Red Cross."
At least 40 people have signed up for Constitution Party's "family
defense" classes, which plan to teach everything from medicinal powers of
cayenne pepper to finding a safe zone in a nuclear blast or terrorist attack.
"We see this as a new type of war, a direct attack on the American
people," said Sandra Swanson, a leader of the party, which, among other
things, seeks a return to a U.S. dollar backed by gold or silver.
"If you're in Washington (D.C.), and you're the president or the Cabinet,
you have a safe place to go. The average American does not. We're teaching
simple preparedness."
Militia of Montana founder John Trochmann said he has received calls from New
York to California seeking biological-warfare suits and vials of a potassium
substance that claims to protect against radiation poisoning.
"We normally sell 500 bottles a year, but we've sold that in a
month," Trochmann said. "We're having stockbrokers, lawyers, even
doctors calling us from New York City asking if we have any gas masks."
Sales have jumped at preparedness businesses, including Emergency Essentials in
Orem, Utah, which sells emergency provisions.
"We've seen a 500 to 600 percent increase in sales," said owner Dave
Sheets. "I don't see a general panic or anything. But this is reality.
People are concerned."
The militia movement was boosted by those disenchanted by the federal
government after the 1992 siege by the FBI and U.S. Marshals at white
separatist Randy Weaver's North Idaho cabin, and the deadly 1993 raid by the
FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on the Branch Davidian compound
in Waco, Texas.
But after fears of the millennium proved unfounded, "People just didn't
seem interested anymore," Trochmann said.
"They thought Y2K was a big hoax and we were a bunch of kooks. Well, I
think we slid right next to a huge catastrophe worldwide, and got lucky."
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a watchdog group that monitors links between
the patriot and white-power movements, reported that the number of active
groups dropped from a high of nearly 858 in 1996 to less than 200 last year.
Ardent groups, such as the Northern Michigan Regional Militia, have disbanded.
Some human-rights groups are worried about American's new interest in militia
groups. Some groups are deeply anti-Semitic and others have flirted with white
nationalism.
Razey's group in Yakima has about 16 members who meet regularly. Among its
interests, the militia volunteers to work with Habitat for Humanity, protests
the World Trade Organization and donates to food banks.
"The Yakima militia has staying power, and most people would look at it
and say, 'Pretty harmless, pretty community-friendly' and that's true,"
said Eric Ward, with the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity. "But
they're part of a larger social movement that's not always so harmless."