Saying it with a gun: militia nation.

• Author: Ross, Loretta J.
• Position: Oklahoma City federal building bombing - Cover Story

The bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City was no isolated incident. Extremist rightwing groups around the country have been getting bigger and bolder for some time. While militia leaders are scrambling to distance themselves from Oklahoma, these groups pose a serious threat to our society.

They have been known to force confrontations with local sheriffs and have threatened to lynch any elected official they believe is a traitor. Attorney General Janet Reno, in particular, has been vilified by these, people, and her personal security should be sharply increased.

These groups are dead serious about avenging Waco, which they viewed as a direct threat to them. White supremacists quickly rallied to support the Branch Davidians against the federal government. Many visited Waco during the siege. After the Waco disaster, hundreds of white supremacists and militia members made pilgrimages there, vowing revenge. It has become their Mecca, their Alamo.

That's why I wasn't surprised by the bombing. We were warned that something big might happen on April 19 to commemorate the anniversary of Waco. Several of the hatelines operated by white supremacists and militia groups announced that April 19 would be a "Day of Remembrance." It was also advertised in the pages of Spotlight, a racist and anti-Semitic newspaper published out of Washington, D.C., with approximately 125,000 subscribers.

Militias have been around since the Civil War in the form of the Ku Klux Klan, but their current popularity is a new phenomenon. The resurgence of the militias dates from the August 1992 siege of Randy Weaver's compound in Idaho, provoked by Weaver's weapons violations. During the ten-day standoff, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms killed Weaver's wife and son. A federal marshal was also killed. Weaver's trial (he was acquitted of the murder of the federal marshal but convicted on the original weapons violations) sparked a frenzy of organizing by white supremacists, who pointed to his case as a symbol of government abuse.

Two months after the Weaver siege, Pete Peters of the Christian Identity movement organized a closed-door meeting in the Rocky Mountains attended by 150 leaders of different far-right groups. Militia activists developed a two-pronged strategy.

First, they had to build a national network of activists, supporters, resources, and information, with the goal of launching militia activities in all fifty states. Second, they had...