TEXAS

     An active militia presence was established in Texas
with the founding of the Texas Constitutional Militia in
1994. The organization's manual includes language identical
to the Michigan Militia's literature, with a pledge to
"stand against tyranny, globalism. moral relativism,
humanism, and the New World Order threatening to undermine
our form of government and these United States of America."

     Since Fall 1994, the Texas Constitutional Militia has
organized widely, with groups active in the San Antonio,
Dallas, Houston and Beaumont areas. The militia's
"commanding officers" include, in Collin County, welder John
A. Turner of Plano, and in Dallas County, Russell Smith, a
glass artist. A separate group, the Red River Militia (or
Red River Militia Guard), has organized in east Texas, and
is believed to be active in Gilmore. Marshall, DeKalb and
Texarkana.

On November 12, 1994, the Texas Constitutional Militia
convened an "Alamo Rally" in San Antonio "to honor the Alamo
heroes ... and to petition the government for redress of
grievances." The rally was advertised in the anti-Semitic
Liberty Lobby's tabloid. The Spotlight. Anti-Semitic and
racist materials produced by such groups as Liberty Lobby
and William Pierce s neo-Nazi National Alliance were
distributed at the rally.

     The Dallas-area militia, known as the North Texas
Constitutional Militia and based in suburban Richardson, has
engaged in paramilitary and survival exercises near the
Texas-Oklahoma border. These exercises have included the
S.T.A.R. (Strategic Training for Assistance and Readiness)
program. According to its materials, S.T.A.R. is conducted
by a "cadre" of "former Rangers, Seals, Green Berets, and
Martial Arts Experts." On April 19, 1995. the day of the
Oklahoma city bombing, and two years to the day after the
Branch Davidian compound at Waco erupted in flames, the
North Texas Constitutional Militia erected near the site of
the compound a stone tablet in memory of those killed in the
blaze.

     Several militias are also believed to be active in
Kerrville, northwest of San Antonio, among them the U.S.
Civil Militia, founded by Betty Schier and her son Carl. In
early May, the pair reportedly turned over to federal
authorities a variety of explosives, including TNT,
nitroglycerine and a homemade material incorporating
ammonium nitrate and paraffin. Betty Schier, 66. a retired
gun dealer, said she and her 35-year-old son "don't condone"
the Oklahoma City bombing and claimed they only had the
explosives for purposes of producing a video called The Mad
Bomber," which the son has been trying to sell through a
survivalist magazine. The authorities questioned the pair
and took possession of the explosives after Carl Schier
alerted the FBI that an acquaintance had asked him for
information on making a car bomb. No charges were filed
against the Schiers.

Gritz Visits Texas

     On February 18, 1995, Bo Gritz (see Idaho) brought his
SPIKE (Specially Prepared Individuals for Key Events)
weapons and survival training workshop to Dallas. Several
timeworn anti-Semitic screeds were sold at the seminar,
including The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Jewish Ritual
Murder, by mid-century British anti-Semite Arnold Leese, The
Jews and Their Lies, by Martin Luther, and The Truth About
the Protocols, by Gerald Winrod, the Kansas-based Jew-hating
demagogue of the 1930's and 40's known as the "Jayhawk
Nazi."

     The local contact person for Gritz's visit was Tom
Baker, who runs Baker's Outpost, a "Survival & Preparedness
Center" in nearby Plano. Along with survival and "defense"
supplies, Baker sells conspiracy literature, including Peter
Kershar's Economic Solutions -- The Incredible Story of: How
You and America are Being Bankrupt & What You Can Do to
Avoid the Wipeout, which advances the anti-Semitic canard
that the Federal Reserve is run by eight Jewish families.
The book carries an endorsement by Bo Gritz.

     Gritz returned to Dallas the following month for
"Preparedness Expo '95," where he shared the podium with,
among others, the Michigan-based militia figure Mark
Koernke. On a more recent stop in Dallas, shortly after the
Oklahoma City bombing, Gritz deplored the tragedy. but went
on to describe the bombing as "a Rembrandt, a masterpiece of
science and art. "

Congressman Steve Stockman

     In an official letter dated March 22, 1995, Congressman
Steve Stockman wrote to
Attorney General Janet Reno claiming that "reliable sources"
had informed him that several
federal agencies were preparing a para- military style
attack on the militias, whom he described
as "Americans who pose no risk to others." Mr. Stockman even
specified the dates and hour
of the alleged impending attack: March 25 or 26 at 4:00 a.m.

     Warning that the assault would "run the risk of an
irreparable breach between the federal government and the
public," Congressman Stockman asked for detailed information
about the military arrangements for the assault. The
purported plan of attack, it turned out, was a fiction.

     Stockman also wrote an article which appeared in the
June issue of Guns and Ammo magazine, claiming that the raid
on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco was conducted by the
Clinton Administration "to prove the need for a ban on so-
called assault weapons." Earlier, Stockman appeared as a
guest on the radio program of Liberty Lobby, the leading
anti-Semitic propaganda group in the nation; he has since
said he was unaware of Liberty Lobby's anti-Semitism. ADL
has recently conveyed its concerns over these matters in a
meeting with Congressman Stockman.
                              

~      
ADL Fact Finding Report, "Beyond the Bombing: The Militia
Menace Grows," Anti-Defamation League, 1995.

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