Beyond the Bombing: The Western United Militia (WUM), a small group based
in Cheyenne. is led by Robert Becker, identified as "Col.
Becker" in WUM materials. The group has advertised for
recruits in a free shopper's weekly in Cheyenne, and a WUM
flier was distributed at a Cheyenne gun show in May. Headed
"Patriots Unite!", the handbill contends, in familiar
militia fashion, that President Clinton, the United Nations
and other global conspirators seek to establish a one-world
government, and that -- presumably toward this end -- Soviet-
built tanks are being transported to various U.S. locations.
The flier, which makes the (certainly exaggerated) claim
that WUM has "21 divisions in 17 Western States," instructs
would-be members to enclose 20 dollars with their
applications.
In Sweetwater County, in southwestern Wyoming, leaflets
headed "Wyoming Militia" have surfaced, possibly indicating
some nascent local activity. The materials cite several laws
as justifying the militia's existence, but they also offer,
for use in unsecured telephone communications, suggested
code words for "enemy," "contraband," "weapons," and "making
or using explosives." Recommended reading includes such
titles as "The Ultimate Sniper" and "Can You Survive?" --
the latter work written by
Robert B. DePugh, who served time
in prison for firearms violations and other offenses related
to activity with the Minutemen, a heavily armed, far-right
group he founded in the 1960's. Other names that appear on
the leaflets include "Sweetwater Citizen Emergency Response
Group" and "Wyoming `Unorganized' (Reserve Militia, 4th
Group."
ADL Fact Finding Report, "Beyond the Bombing: The Militia
Menace Grows," Anti-Defamation League, 1995.
The
original plaintext version
of this file is available via
ftp.
[
Index ]
Wyoming