In recent months, several militias have surfaced in New York. A number of these groups are clustered in the region of south central New York along the New York-Pennsylvania line. While some of the organizing in this area remains inchoate. established militias include the Citizens Militia, Chemung Division, founded in Chemung County in November 1994 by Jerry Loper. a self-employed excavator and landscaper. Loper's group, which engages in paramilitary training, receives literature from the Militia of Montana and militia groups in Michigan. providing further confirmation that groups in those two states serve as important propaganda sources for militias around the country.

Militias have also organized in nearby Tioga, Steuben, Schuyler, Chenango, Conland and Broome Counties. In Chenango County, militiaman Francis Catlin, who uses the code name "Moonshiner," has said that outrage over the Waco conflagration fueled the militia movement in upstate New York. "We figure this country is in real bad shape," he has commented, adding that "Jewish people" are responsible for the financial difficulties faced by grain farmers.

Near New York city, militias were formed in November 1994 in Dutchess and Orange Counties. The Orange County Militia, which has more recently been known as the Committee of Correspondence, has distributed literature incorporating conspiracy theories from political extremist Lyndon LaRouche. Founder Walter Reddy, while reportedly distancing himself from the group, has also expressed the suspicion that the federal government was involved in the Oklahoma City bombing. Reddy stated, "It was CIA-orchestrated, from the information I have. "

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

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