{"id":170276,"date":"2020-10-12T12:00:38","date_gmt":"2020-10-12T11:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=170276"},"modified":"2020-10-10T09:58:34","modified_gmt":"2020-10-10T08:58:34","slug":"the-plot-against-gretchen-whitmer-shows-the-danger-of-private-militias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/10\/the-plot-against-gretchen-whitmer-shows-the-danger-of-private-militias\/","title":{"rendered":"The Plot Against Gretchen Whitmer Shows the Danger of Private Militias"},"content":{"rendered":"

These groups have no constitutional right to exist.<\/em><\/p>\n

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A gathering in Louisville, Ky., in September. Bryan Woolston\/Reuters<\/p><\/div>\n

8 Oct 2020 – <\/em>In the swirls of disinformation that now pollute our political discourse, one is particularly dangerous: that private militias are constitutionally protected.<\/p>\n

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Although these vigilante groups often cite the Second Amendment\u2019s mention of a \u201cwell regulated militia\u201d for their authority, history and Supreme Court precedent make clear that the phrase was not intended to \u2014 and does not \u2014 authorize private militias outside of government control.<\/p>\n

Indeed, these armed groups have no authority to call themselves forth into militia service; the Second Amendment does not protect such activity; and all 50 states <\/a>prohibit it.<\/p>\n

The danger of these groups was brought home on Thursday with the announcement that the F.B.I. had thwarted a plot <\/a>by people associated with an extremist group in Michigan to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer<\/a> and overthrow the government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n