Early Warning Signs Pointed to Violence on April 19

Originally published by The Southern Poverty Law Center's

Klanwatch Intelligence Report, June 1995

Well before the Oklahoma City Bombing on April 19, there were signs that violence directed at the federal government by persons associated with the militia movement might occur that day

By October 1994, after months of monitoring numerous militia communiqués, various racist publications, law enforcement and other sources, Klanwatch had detected strategic links between various militia groups and white supremacist organizations and leaders.

The roster of extremist militia advocates included major leaders in the white supremacist movement-firebrand racist Louis Beam, National Alliance leader William Pierce, Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler, Identity leaders James Wickstrom and Pete Peters, Aryan Nations members John Trochmann, Bobby Norton and Bryce Bedsworth, and Klansman Troy Mercer.

Southern Poverty Law Center chief trial counsel Morris Dees sent letters to Attorney General Janet Reno and attorneys general of six states on October 26 to alert them to the dangers posed by extremist hate groups within the rapidly growing militia movement. Material that accompanied the letters noted that there was militia activity in Michigan.

At the same time, Dees announced the formation of the Klanwatch Militia Task Force, a monitoring unit within the Law Center devoted to tracking the militia movement and its white supremacist elements.

In the December 1994 issue of the Intelligence Report, the Klanwatch Militia Task Force highlighted the growing number of militia groups with racist ties- including the Michigan Militia the group with which the Oklahoma City bombing suspects were later linked.

At a Klanwatch-sponsored conference on militias in March 1995, a group of domestic terrorism experts from around the country agreed that the potential for violence within the movement was increasing.

On April 19, 1995- the day of the Oklahoma City tragedy- a member of Klanwatch Militia Task Force monitored a rally of militia and Identity followers who gathered to protest the execution of Richard Wayne Snell scheduled for later that day.

Klanwatch had become alert to the significance of the April 19 date to the militia extremists in early December 1994. The Militia of Montana devoted most of its newsletter that month to the pending execution of Snell, an Arkansas white supremacist convicted of two murders. Calling Snell "a patriot to be executed by The Beast," the Militia of Montana linked his execution date to the burning of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, the law enforcement raid on the Arkansas racist paramilitary compound The Covenant, Sword and Arm of The Lord and, erroneously, to the beginning of the Randy Weaver siege and the burning of Lexington in 1776.

For more than a year, the Waco burning, Snell's pending execution and the Randy Weaver incident were battle cries against the federal government on the Patriot/Militia network of faxes, fliers and Internet postings.

At Snell's hearing before the Arkansas clemency board, 14 of his supporters testified, with one Identity believer warning the board members and the governor that the "wrath of God" would fall upon them if Snell was executed as scheduled on April 19.

Forecast: Extremists Go Underground

In the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, Klanwatch has seen the nationwide militia movement splinter. Some moderate groups have either modified their rhetoric and aggressive training or, like the Oregon Militia, have disbanded altogether.

Many hard-core "Patriot" militia groups have divided into "cells" and gone underground, following the Leaderless Resistance strategy Beam put forth in February 1992. Handbooks put out by Militia of Montana, the Florida State Militia and other lesser-known groups vigorously advocate this structure.

"Our experience with the paramilitary groups such Beams Texas Emergency Reserve, the White Patriot Party and The Order has shown us that when such groups commit violent actions, they attract other hard-core extremists and spin-offs," said Klanwatch Chief Investigator Joe Roy.

Following the Order's 1984 murder and armed robbery spree, The Order II sprang up with a string of bombings and murder. The White Patriot Party spawned several violent squads of white supremacists. One of these units sprayed a gay bookstore with machine gun fire that left two people dead. Another White Patriot squad conspired to hijack a TOW missile from a military convoy and use it to blow up the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Roy warned that "the volatile combination of hate-filled rhetoric, paramilitary training and heavy weaponry within the hard-core militia underground make the likelihood of further violence very high."

The Southern Poverty Law Center is based in Montgomery, Alabama. They anticipate having a Web page in the near future.