TITLE:
Domestic Security Threats Posed by Right-Wing Militia: A Case Study of Sheriffs’ Perceptions in Rural Texas
AUTHORS:
John Fisher
KEYWORDS:
Texas Sheriffs, Right-Wing, Extremist Militia, Domestic Security, Domestic Terrorism, Worldviews
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.12 No.5,
May
24,
2024
ABSTRACT: Over the past 30 years, the United States (US) has heard the narrative that the militia was dangerous to the established order, domestic security, and democracy itself. Since 1992, the US has witnessed an increasing number of extremist militia groups in opposition to governmental policies. This qualitative case study sought to explore the perceptions of Texas Sheriffs toward the domestic security threat of the right-wing extremist militia. The case study surveyed two different samples of Texas Sheriffs in 2015 and 2020, prior to and at the end of the Trump Presidency, respectively. The study’s findings reveal that Rural Texas Sheriffs’ attitudes and beliefs on the threat of extremism originate from outside their counties. They further show the necessity to differentiate between four distinct groups, collectively called the extremist far-right or the alt-right: 1. Sovereign Citizens, 2. Anti-Government Groups, 3. Hate Groups, and 4. The Constitutional Militia such as the Texas Lightfoot Brigades. In addressing these groups, the Sheriffs surveyed agree that extremism is dangerous at the national level but reject the claim that these groups are a serious domestic security threat within their jurisdictions. Most importantly, they believe that the extreme threat to domestic security is an urban problem, and the only threat to rural Texas comes from outside the county. The findings of this study cannot be generalized to all Texas Sheriffs but rather to rural Sheriffs.