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In the wake of the January 6 insurrection and certification of Joe Biden’s election to the presidency, IREHR is tracking several trends in far-right and nationalist organizing. One is the tendency of the barriers between distinct segments of the far right to lower as these movements morph from jockeying for access from a potentially sympathetic government and into an opposition force – a dynamic rife with potential for cross-pollination and radicalization.

A case in point was the emergence of the Tea Party movement over a decade ago. Before the rise of the Tea Party, Christian Right, libertarian, and nativists groups tended to be siloed from one another. As the Tea Party movement progressed, these three tendencies, alongside paramilitary formations such as the Oath Keepers and Three Percenters, could be found running in closer circles. At one point, the nativist movement became largely subsumed by the Tea Party.[1]

As this dynamic unfolds, it is critical to identify and expose those ideological features that can bridge the gap between various nationalist tendencies. For example, the ideas on display in the ongoing speaking tour of KrisAnne Hall, a Wellborn, Florida-based far-right “constitutionalist” who had begun cross-movement bridge-building long before Stop the Steal.

February 26 and 27 Hall is slated to speak in Woodlands, Texas at an event hosted by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), an organization headed by former Graham County, Arizona sheriff Richard Mack and dedicated to recruiting police officers and sheriffs into the cause. Promotional material for the event appeals to those “worried about Federal overreach, corruption, and tyranny,” repeating the group’s refrain that “Sheriffs and local officials of every county and parish have the power and duty to protect their constituents from ALL enemies, foreign and domestic.”[2] The training looks, in part, to roll out talking points for activists seeking to push their local sheriff toward being a “constitutional Sheriff,” CSPOA-speak for the Posse Comitatus-style claim that the sheriff can, and should, trump federal laws the movement deems unconstitutional –  for CSPOA, especially regulating guns amidst the group’s warning that President Biden plans to “go door to door and get these guns.”[3]

For his part, Mack has dabbled heartily in racism and far-right paramilitarism – not the white nationalist variety, but rather a reactionary form that attacks black civil rights leaders, spews “New World Order” conspiracy theories, advocates Christian nationalist-style attacks on the separation of church and state, and declares that “I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute to call out my posse against the federal government if it gets out of hand.” Such ideas have garnered Mack fans from the Tea Party to the nationalist paramilitary Oath Keepers, on whose board Mack once served, and a group that has seen several members arrested in connection to the Capitol insurrection.[4]

Michael Peroutka, billed by CSPOA as a “Defender of the Constitution,” is slated to speak along with KrisAnne Hall. A one-time presidential candidate for the Christian nationalist Constitution Party, in 2014 Peroutka won a seat on the Anne Arundel County (Maryland) Council. At the time, press coverage exposed that Peroutka was active in the  League of the South, a white nationalist and secessionist organization dedicated to carving out a white ethnostate in the U.S. South. Amidst growing controversy, Peroutka broke his affiliation, claiming that the group’s position on interracial marriage was “contrary to my beliefs.” He also clarified that “I don’t have any problem with the organization.”[5]

Michael Peroutka is also the founder of the Institute on the Constitution (IOTC), an organization that straddles the line between white nationalists, radical theocrats, and those, like KrisAnne Hall, who construct a nationalist identity through founders’ mythologies; forms of libertarianism; ideas drawn from 18th-century republicanism; and truncated versions of the U.S. Constitution that harken back to the period before Reconstruction-era amendments expanded its meanings and posed the possibility of multi-racial democracy.

IOTC’s Michael Peroutka and David Whitney, both formerly of the white nationalist League of the South

IOTC declares its “view of law and government” to be that, “there is a God, the God of the Bible, our rights come from Him, and the purpose of civil government is to secure our rights.”[6] Adding clarity to what this means, the group peddles the work of Christian nationalist pseudo-historian David Barton alongside titles such as The Threat of Islam to Liberty and Christianity, Weighing in on Anchor Babies, Interposition and The Sheriff and the Constitution, the latter featuring Richard Mack.[7]

Interposition purports to address “nullification and interposition, and how they are the people’s and States’ proper legal defense against tyrannical central government.”[8] The Threat of Islam, unsurprisingly, “shows that Christianity produces liberty, while Islam brings oppression.”[9]

The anti-Muslim book is written by Stephen K. McDowell of the Providence Foundation, a Christian nationalist (dominion theology) group that counts the work of David Barton, W. Cleon Skousen, and Christian Reconstructionist R.J. Rushdoony among its “Top Books for Developing a Biblical World View.” Rushdoony’s Institutes of Biblical Law, Volume 1 of which is recommended by Providence Foundation, advocates an abjectly theocratic government and asserts that the death penalty is “required by the law” for “sodomy,” “adultery,” “blasphemy,” “witchcraft” and “desecration of the Sabbath,” among other things.[10]

Weighing in On Anchor Babies features David Whitney, current IOTC Senior Instructor and onetime leader in the Maryland League of the South. The DVD promotional claims that viewers “will understand: The Fourteenth Amendment and the citizenship clause,” a target of groups stretching from far-right nationalists to nativists to white nationalists.[11] A 1956 article, at one time on the IOTC website, declared that “Whereas liberty is a prerequisite to happiness, the unrestricted right to discriminate is, in turn, a prerequisite to liberty…We see no reason why men should not discriminate on grounds of religion, race, or nationality if they wish.”[12]

Other speakers undermine the moniker “anti-government” commonly leveled at these political movements, including Montgomery County (Texas) Judge Mark Keogh and Texas State Senator Bob Hall (R-District 2).[13] Rather than anti-government, this movement has long allied itself with those in government to advance their political goal of being the government.

Wanting to shape the government, KrisAnne Hall with Hood County, Texas Sheriff Roger Deeds (far right) in January 2021

The CSPOA event is not KrisAnne Hall’s first foray into rubbing elbows with those who “don’t have any problem” with the League of the South. In August 2019, Hall made a guest speaking appearance at a meeting of the Florida chapter of the League of the South.[14] Hall would dismiss the gravity of her appearance at the event, simply stating that she was just present “to share what I believe…that ALL deserve liberty and ALL deserve sound representation from elected representatives who operate within the confines of America’s Constitutional Rule of Law.”[15]

KrisAnne Hall and the Florida League of the South in 2019

The problem for Hall, however, is that the same thing that put her at the podium of a Florida League of the South event is the same thing that has her slated to speak in Texas alongside Michael Peroutka. That is, espousing a “legal” framework that serves the goals of white nationalists even as it can mobilize constituencies rooted in other far-right nationalist and nativist ideologies. It is also, like these other tendencies, a framework compatible with the America First nationalism spewed by Donald Trump, a fact in no small part responsible for KrisAnne Hall’s repeated visits to the White House as a consultant on immigration policy.[16]

Hall’s particular contribution is articulating a legal “theory” that goes well beyond just rejecting the birthright citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment – an essentially definitional aspect of modern American nativism – to declaring that “The 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment, the 19th Amendment were not necessary. As a matter of fact, they were an unlawful expansion of federal power.” Adding a practical layer to this assault on civil rights, Hall asserts that Kamala Harris, Barrack Obama, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz are not “natural born citizens,” a status required to run for president under Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution.[17]

On the day of the insurrection, KrisAnne Hall admonished those engaged in violence in D.C., later lauding that, “Thousands of patriots did not join the few who decided to destroy things.”[18] On January 6, Hall wrote in a conspiratorial fashion that “Continued violence will only bring chaos, totalitarian government, and even UN Troops into America for generations to come.”[19]

Despite these reactions, in the lead-up to the January 6 events, Hall would offer “Stop the Steal Contact Scripts” for activists to use in pressuring elected officials. The scripts declared that “I am alarmed and outraged by the evidence of voter fraud of our last election being exposed through the various State hearings. The American people are being disenfranchised by this blatant violation of the laws…As my Representative you MUST second the objection to the Congressional certification of the Electoral College votes in question…You must publicly and actively stop the theft of this election… The actual fate of America’s election process rests upon our representatives to Stop This Fraud. Thank you for your time and public efforts to save our Constitutional Republic.”[20] On January 20 Hall would declare that “the recent election shows us that the steal happened on the state level.”[21]

About two weeks before her appearance in Texas, Hall is slated to continue her ongoing relationship with an organization that has baked insurrection into the core of its nationalism – Ammon Bundy’s People’s Rights. Hall is slated to speak on February 18 in Vancouver, Washington where she will be hosted by People’s Rights of Washington at the Clark County Square Dance Hall. The contact for the event is WA State People’s Rights assistant and Area 4 assistant Kelli Stewart, one of the group’s more active local leaders.[22] Stewart is also the contact for a February 21 Hall appearance in LaCenter, Washington.[23] The following day Hall is scheduled at an event in Sisters, Oregon, hosted by Oregon People’s Right’s figure and Three Percenter B.J. Soper.[24]

People’s Rights Kelli Stewart (center), shown here with Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson

People’s Rights, an organization pocked with antisemitic conspiracy theorists, anti-Muslim bigots, militia activists, Christian nationalists, and assorted far-rightists, has been at the forefront of crafting aggressive, paramilitary activism to oppose COVID-19-restrictions. Opposition to COVID-19 restrictions is also a recurring theme on Hall’s current speaking rounds.

Ammon Bundy is best known for leading a 2016 armed takeover of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Southern Oregon, promotes. Like Hall, Bundy sports a “Constitutionally-constructed” brand of far-right nationalism that would gut the capacity of the federal government to address inequality – Bundy’s, in particular, is influenced by the work of John Birch Society fellow-traveler W. Cleon Skousen.[25]

In the lead up to the Capitol insurrection, People’s Rights promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, and Bundy declared, “I’m like right on the verge of whether I believe that we can be restored back to our current power structure, and it can be corrected, and the corruption can be cleaned up… [W]e have deteriorated to a point, over really the last hundred years, that I’m not sure that we can return.”[26]

Bundy advocates that “patriots” form small militia cells that can coalesce into larger oppositional formations when necessary. Bundy also acknowledges that some militia organizations are using People’s Rights “education” tools to inform their activism. [27] On the day of the nationalist insurrection, People’s Rights Washington State Area 3 Assistant Ruby Lefeau was at the D.C. rally, posting early that day on Facebook,  “PATRIOTS LETS DO THIS!!!” and “REVOLUTION!!” Lefeau is also an associate of the Proud Boys, a reactionary racist organization, some 18 members of which have now been arrested in connection to the insurrection.[28] At least two additional People’s Rights leaders, Amanda Vital in Oregon and Alicia Peterson in Idaho have relationships with Proud Boys.[29]

Next month KrisAnne Hall will add another weapon to her toolkit – coupling her ideas to weapons training. March 12-14 in Whitesboro, Texas, Hall will take part in an “In Defense of Liberty” event set to include her “Constitutional Training” alongside “Hand to Hand Self-Defense,” “Handgun Accuracy & Precision” and “Real World Shooter Defense.”[30]

Hall’s partner in the event is Larry Stevenson, Co-Owner & Co-Founder of 3D Martial Arts & Tactical Defense School. Stevenson is described in promotional material as a former Denver Police Department and SWAT/K9 officer and NRA Certified Instructor who specialized in “Close Quarter Combat,” “Tactical Firearms” and “Hand-to-Hand Combat” instruction, among other things.[31]  Potential attendees are told they can expect to leave the training with “a heightened awareness of their surroundings, increased confidence to defend themselves, increased confidence to wear a holster and carry a weapon.”[32]

As table below shows, in addition to periodic announced appearances on the Kate Dalley Radio Show out of Washington, Utah, and the Kenneth Copeland Ministries-linked Victory Channel, Hall is slated to speak at meetings of at least 6 local Republican Party chapters. Hall is also slated to take her “theories” to an October 2 event hosted by the Republican National Hispanic Association Conference. Such GOP events highlight the radicalization that has already occurred in the GOP, likely in relation to the Trump administration’s America First nationalism.

KrisAnne Hall is also slated to speak at events hosted by Florida Freedom Keepers and Health Freedom Florida, both anti-vaccination organizations. Anti-vaccination activists entered the broader far right coalition during the “reopen” mobilizations against COVID-19-related restrictions that emerged in April 2020. They represent a constituency that has already been radicalized through participation in this coalition, a process likely to continue as speakers such as KrisAnne Hall spread their ideas in their circles.

Even as they aim to recruit police and sheriffs into their ranks, CSPOA provides forums that can bridge the gap between white nationalism and the variety of “constitutionally”-constructed national identities that undergird far-right paramilitary organizing.

If the past is prologue, this set of ideas and their potential for radicalizing elements of the movement can, once again, result in violence.

                                                     KrisAnne Hall Speaking Schedule February 2021 to October 2021

Date Sponsor-Host Organization (or Group affiliation) Contact City State Venue
2/2/2021 Tea Party Manatee Maureen Guffanti Bradenton Florida Mixon Farms, Honeybell Room
2/3/2021 Mika Simpson Victory Chanel
2/3/2021 Frank Valbiro Quite Frankly Radio/YouTube Interview
2/4/2021 Stacy Ann Wollman Salem Oregon KSLM – Morning Show with Stacy-Ann
2/4/2021 Kate Dalley Washington Utah Kate Dalley Show Interview
2/5/2021 Doug Billings Doug Billings Prerecord Zoom interview
2/5/2021 Florida Freedom Keepers Julia Quint Rockledge Florida Rockledge Christian School
2/6/2021 Florida Freedom Keepers Julia Quint Coral Springs Florida Atlantis Academy
2/8/2021 Mika Simpson Victory Channel
2/8/2021 Kathy Wach Consumer Energy Solutions
2/9/2021 Mika Simpson Victory Channel
2/10/2021 Mika Simpson Victory Channel
2/10/2021 Victory Channel
2/11/2021 Kate Dalley Washington Utah Kate Dalley Show Interview
2/11/2021 Florida Freedom Keepers Isaiah Niel  Holiday Florida Calvary Baptist Church
2/12/2021 Victory Channel
2/13/2021 Julia Quint Lake Mary Florida Lake Mary Community Center
2/14/2021 Florida Freedom Keepers Julia Quint Jacksonville Florida Health By Design,
2/15/2021 Eric Gajewski Tradcatknight Podcast Interview
2/15/2021 Christi Crain Dr Jason Dean interview on BraveTV
2/16/2021 Republican Club of West Volusia County Gary Crews Deland Florida Sanborn Center
2/18/2021 Kate Dalley Washington Utah Kate Dalley Show Interview
2/18/2021 People’s Rights Kelli Stewart Vancouver Washington
2/19/2021 Pastor Lew Wooten Salem Oregon The River Church
2/20/2021 Pastor Lew Wooten Salem Oregon The River Church
2/21/2021 People’s Rights Kelli Stewart LaCenter Washington  LaCenter Church
2/22/2021 People’s Rights BJ Soper
2/24/2021 Part-time Patriot Project Dan Cook Naples Florida Food and Thought
2/25/2021 Kate Dalley Washington Utah Kate Dalley Show Interview
2/26/2021 Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association Woodlands Texas
2/27/2021 Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association Woodlands Texas
3/2/2021 Freedom Defenders Medora Reading Stuart Florida Twisted Tuna
3/6/2021 Kathy Wach
3/8/2021 Health Freedom Florida Mo Vanhoek TBA
3/12/2021 Janet McAuliffe Gainesville Texas Hampton Inn & Suites
3/13/2021 Janet McAuliffe Whitesboro Texas 3DMATD
3/14/2021 Janet McAuliffe Whitesboro Texas 3DMATD
3/15/2021 Mika Simpson Victory Channel
3/15/2021 Victory Channel
3/17/2021 Radio Interview on JustinAmerica WWPR1490
3/20/2021 Debbie Gunnoe Gulf Breeze Florida St Sylvester Catholic Church
3/24/2021 Charlotte County Florida Republican Club Charles Counsil Punta Gorda Florida Isles Yacht Club
3/25/2021 Pastor Corey Erman West Palm Beach Florida River Church West Palm Beach
3/29/2021 The Republican Club of South Collier County Dan Cook Naples Florida Hammock Bay Golf and Country Club
4/8/2021 Duval County Republican Women Federated Angelica Gross Jacksonville Florida San Jose Country Club
4/10/2021 Turn2Liberty and the Hillsborough Libertarians Susan Stanley Brandon Florida Windmill Taphouse
4/22/2021 Erin McDermott Pepperell Massachusetts
4/23/2021 Pastor Todd Callahan Willliston Vermont
4/24/2021 Pastor Todd Callahan Willliston Vermont
4/27/2021 Estero Republicans David Doan & Adele Amico Estero Recreation Center
5/7/2021 Elizabeth Kooskia Idaho
5/8/2021 Elizabeth Kooskia Idaho
5/15/2021 Gary Epperson & Ralph Forbis Greenwood Arkansas
6/3/2021 West Volusia County Republicans William Sell DeBary Florida VFW
7/23/2021 Youth Group Sharon Pease Stockton Missouri
7/24/2021 Johnson County Republican Women’s Club Verna Jenkins Warrensburg Missouri
10/2/2021 Republican National Hispanic Association Conference Santiago Avila Location, times, and venue TBD

NOTES

[1] See Burghart, Devin and Leonard Zeskind. Tea Party Nationalism: A Critical Examination of the Tea Party Movement and the Size, Scope and Focus of its National Factions. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. Fall 2010. https://irehr.org/2010/10/12/tea-party-nationalism-report-pdf/; and Burghart, Devin and Leonard Zeskind. Beyond FAIR: The Decline of the Established Anti-Immigrant Organizations and the Rise of Tea Party Nationalism. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. November 10, 2012. https://irehr.org/2012/11/20/beyond-fair-report-pdf/

[2]Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. https://cspoa.org/. Accessed February 12, 2021.

[3] Sheriff Mack Newsletter. Email dated February 8, 2021; Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. “Sheriff Mack Shares the Questions You Can Ask Your Sheriff to Find Out if They are a Constitutional Sheriff.” https://www.cspoaclass.com/questionsforyoursheriff.

[4] Among other things, Mack has offensively claimed that “The Reverend Jesse Jackson types and the NAACP have done more to enslave Afro-Americans than all the southern plantation owners put together.” Mack also posits a “New World Order” conspiracy and a Christian nationalist-style claim that “the court-imposed separation of church and state is a folly, a myth, a lie.” Part of Mack’s solution lies in his assertion that “I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute to call out my posse against the federal government if it gets out of hand.” See Burghart, Devin and Leonard Zeskind. Tea Party Nationalism: A Critical Examination of the Tea Party Movement and the Size, Scope and Focus of its National Factions. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. October 12, 2010. https://irehr.org/2010/10/12/tea-party-nationalism-report-pdf/; Tanner, Chuck. The American Lands Council and the Anti-Indian Movement. A special report by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights and the Montana Human Rights Network. October 19, 2015. https://irehr.org/2015/10/19/the-american-lands-council-and-the-anti-indian-movement/.

[5] Zeskind, Leonard. League of the South Cadre Wins Maryland County Election. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. November 6, 2014. https://irehr.org/2014/11/06/league-of-the-south-cadre-wins-maryland-county-election/; Wood, Pamela and the Baltimore Sun. Peroutka says he has left League of the South. Baltimore Sun. October 17, 2014. https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/anne-arundel/bs-md-ar-peroutka-los-20141016-story.html. Peroutka indicated that he “stands by the groups stances on self-government and conserving southern heritage,” in the words of the Baltimore Sun. The League of the South’s views on self-government and southern heritage are rooted in white nationalism. In 2012, Peroutka had declared himself a “proud member of the League of the South” and stated that the label white supremacist applied to the group was “absurd” and “not at all true.” Linskey, Annie. HRC says anti-gay marriage group should return $10k check. Baltimore Sun. December 6, 2012. https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bal-hrc-says-an-antigay-marriage-group-should-return-10k-check-from-rightwing-donor-20121206-story.html.

[6] Institute on the Constitution. https://theamericanview.com/. Accessed February 12, 2021.

[7] Institute on the Constitution. Books, Manuals & DVDs. https://theamericanview.com/collections/individual-items; Institute on the Constitution. The Sheriff and the Constitution. https://theamericanview.com/collections/individual-items/products/the-sheriff-and-the-constitution-dvd Accessed February 12, 2021.

[8] Institute on the Constitution. Interposition. https://theamericanview.com/collections/individual-items/products/interposition. Accessed February 12, 2021.

[9] Institute on the Constitution. The Threat of Islam to Liberty and Christianity. https://theamericanview.com/collections/individual-items/products/the-threat-of-islam-to-liberty-and-christianity-book. Accesed February 14, 2021.

[10] Providence Foundation. Top Books for Developing a Biblical Worldview. https://providencefoundation.com/top-books-for-developing-a-biblical-worldview/. Accessed February 12, 2012 ; Rushdoony, Rousas John. The Institutes of Biblical Law. Chalcedon Foundation. 2012. Current IOTC CEO Jake MacAulay was a onetime central figure in a Minnesota-based homophobic ministry, promoting the bigoted idea that “half of the murders in large cities were committed by homosexuals.” MacAulay further claimed that belief in God is a “logical” requirement for office holding. Burghart, Devin. Another Troubling Figure Scheduled to Speak at South Carolina Tea Party Convention. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. January 15, 2015. https://irehr.org/2015/01/15/another-troubling-figure-scheduled-to-speak-at-south-carolina-tea-party-convention/#one.

[11] Institute on the Constitution. Weighing in on Anchor Babies. https://theamericanview.com/collections/individual-items/products/weighing-in-on-anchor-babies. Accessed February 15, 2021. Wood, Pamela and the Baltimore Sun. Two Arundel Candidates Labeled as ‘extremist’ by Southern Poverty Law Center. Baltimore Sun. June 21, 2014. https://www.baltimoresun.com/bs-md-ar-candidate-extremist-claim-20140621-story.html; Throckmorton, Warren. The Political Shenanigans of Michael Peroutka and David Whitney in Maryland. April 8, 2014. https://www.wthrockmorton.com/2014/04/08/the-political-shenanigans-of-michael-peroutka-and-david-whitney-in-maryland/.

[12] Burghart, Devin. Another Troubling Figure Scheduled to Speak at South Carolina Tea Party Convention. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. January 15, 2015. https://irehr.org/2015/01/15/another-troubling-figure-scheduled-to-speak-at-south-carolina-tea-party-convention/#one; Throckmorton, Warren. Institute on the Constitution: There Is No Reason Why Men Should Not Discriminate On The Grounds of Religion, Race or Nationality. September 4, 2013. https://www.wthrockmorton.com/2013/09/04/institute-on-the-constitution-there-is-no-reason-why-men-should-not-discriminate-on-grounds-of-religion-race-or-nationality/.

[13] Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. https://cspoa.org/. Accessed February 12, 2021.

[14] Tanner, Chuck. ‘Constitutionalist’ KrisAnne Hall to Speak at White Nationalist Event. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. August 7, 2019. https://irehr.org/2019/08/07/constitutionalist-krisanne-hall-to-speak-at-white-nationalist-event/. Among those sharing the podium with Hall were then-League Operations Director Isaac Baker, a rabid antisemite who once responded on GAB to an apparently Jewish commenter that, “It’s unfortunate you won’t live to see the Final Solution in all its beautiful glory implemented upon all those like you…Seig Heil, motherfucker.”.

[15] Tanner, Chuck. KrisAnne Hall Touts Her Anti-Racism, Calls for Gutting the 14th Amendment. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. August 24, 2019. https://irehr.org/2019/08/24/krisanne-hall-touts-her-anti-racism-calls-for-gutting-the-14th-amendment/.

[16] Tanner, Chuck. KrisAnne Hall Confers with Trump Official on Immigration Policy. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. October 23, 2019. https://irehr.org/2019/10/23/krisanne-hall-confers-with-trump-official-on-immigration-policy/; Tanner, Chuck. Far Right “Constitutionalist” KrisAnne Hall Back at the White House. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. December 13, 2019. https://irehr.org/2019/12/13/far-right-constitutionalist-krisanne-hall-back-at-the-white-house/.

[17] Tanner, Chuck. KrisAnne Hall Touts Her Anti-Racism, Calls for Gutting the 14th Amendment. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. August 24, 2019. https://irehr.org/2019/08/24/krisanne-hall-touts-her-anti-racism-calls-for-gutting-the-14th-amendment/.

[18] KrisAnne Hall, JD. Facebook. January 9, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/krisanne.hall/posts/3797599870291001.

[19] KrisAnne Hall, JD. Facebook. January 6, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/krisanne.hall/posts/3790774984306823.

[20] Hall, Krisanne. Stop the Steal Contact Scripts. https://krisannehall.com/index.php/resources/articles/703-stop-the-steal-contact-your-rep-scripts. Accessed February 15, 2021; Hall, KrisAnne. Facebook. January 3, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/krisanne.hall/posts/3783138398403815.

[21] Hall, KrisAnne. Facebook. January 20, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/krisanne.hall/posts/3827415283976126

[22] People’s Rights. KrisAnne Hall Update, MEAL UPDATE PLEASE READ. February 8, 20201. https://www.peoplesrights.org/news_view?/krisanne-hall-event-meal-update-please-read&id=2e98853d-2146-4f79-8579-8565c31d4fc5. Accessed February 12, 2021.

[23] KrisAnne Hall. Calendar. https://krisannehall.com/index.php/schedule/eventdetail/748/-/lacenter-wa-jc-hall-church-service-morality-of-resistance. Accessed February 12, 2021.

[24] KrisAnne Hall. Calendar. https://krisannehall.com/index.php/schedule/eventdetail/800/-/sisters-or-details-to-follow. Accessed February 12, 2021; Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. Ammon’s Army: Inside the Far Right People’s Rights Network. BJ Soper. https://irehr.org/reports/peoples-rights-report/profile-bj-soper/.

[25] Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. Ammon’s Army: Inside the Far Right “People’s Rights”Network. https://irehr.org/reports/peoples-rights-report/. The Bundy family has been influenced by the work of W. Cleon Skousen, the far right figure who once worked closely with the conspiracy-weaving John Birch Society’s speakers bureau. Ammon and Ryan Bundy brought copies of an annotated pocket U.S Constitution produced by the late Skousen’s National Center for Constitutional Studies (NCCS) to Malheur. And Cliven Bundy once stated, “It’s [the same NCCS pocket Constitution] something I’ve always shared with everybody and I carry it with me all the time…That’s where I get most of my information from. What we’re trying to do is teach the true principles of the proper form of government.” Cleon Skousen’s 1982 book The Making of America codifies a racist revision of U.S. history that appears echoed back in Cliven Bundy’s statement about slavery – a revision casting slavery as humane, painting Abolitionists as villains, describing enslaved African people as “usually a cheerful lot” and heaping praise on Confederates for their treatment of the human beings they enslaved. Skousen’s 1981 book, The 5,000 Year Leap, deploys selective quotes to claim that the U.S Constitution is rooted in the Bible and that America is a Christian nation – core elements of Christian nationalism. In this book, Skousen also wrote that “No Constitutional authority exists for the federal government to participate in charity or welfare” – a skewed reading of the U.S. Constitution, particularly given its Commerce Clause (Article 1, Section 8), that would gut the capacity of the federal government to address racial and economic inequality and wouild favor those who own significant property over those who do not. See Tanner, Chuck. Ammon Bundy and People’s Rights Mobilize Following Arrest of Idaho-Based Ally. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. July 31, 2020. https://irehr.org/2020/07/31/ammon-bundy-and-peoples-rights-mobilize-following-arrest-of-idaho-based-ally/#_edn38 See also Shupe, Anson and John Heinerman. Mormonism and the New Christian Right: An Emerging Coalition. Review of Religious Research. Vol 27 (No. 2). (Dec 1985), p. 146-157. These authors describe the broad attack on federal power, including institutions that potentially protect worker’s health, environmental quality, civil rights and economic fairness, noting that the center’s targets included “the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Communication Commission’s fairness doctrine in editorial broadcasting, the federal government’s change of the gold standard in currency, all subsidies to farmers, all federal aid to education, all federal social welfare, foreign aid, social security, elimination of public school prayer and Bible reading, and (that familiar right-wing nemesis) the United Nations.”.

[26] Tanner, Chuck. “Stop the Steal” Mobilizations and Emerging Far Right Coalitions. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. November 13, 2020. https://irehr.org/2020/11/13/stop-the-steal-mobilizations-and-emerging-far-right-coalitions/.

[27] Tanner, Chuck. “Stop the Steal” Mobilizations and Emerging Far Right Coalitions. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. November 13, 2020. https://irehr.org/2020/11/13/stop-the-steal-mobilizations-and-emerging-far-right-coalitions/. Bundy explains that “one thing also that I have been informed of when it comes to people who understand about militias, and about defense, a lot better than I do, and that is… they’ve informed me that the best way to defend yourself is in small units…know how to defend a home, know how to defend an area, know how to get your high spots, and all of that, and work together as small units, and then communicate with others (sic) people in (sic) working together in other small units, so when there’s a need to come together.”

[28] Tanner, Chuck. People’s Rights Leader in D.C. Jan. 6, Claims a Return for Inauguration. Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. January 14, 20201. https://irehr.org/2021/01/14/peoples-rights-leader-in-d-c-jan-6-claims-a-return-for-inauguration/; Hsu, Spencer S. and Rachel Weiner. Five more charged in Capitol riot allegedly teamed with Kansas City Proud Boys. Washington Post. February 11, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/kansas-city-proud-boys-charged-capitol-riots/2021/02/11/389d47b6-6c73-11eb-9ead-673168d5b874_story.html.

[29] Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. Ammon’s Army: Inside the Far Right People’s Rights Network. https://irehr.org/reports/peoples-rights-report/.

[30] KrisAnne Hall. In Defense of Liberty. https://krisannehall.com/index.php/store/in-defense-of-liberty. Accessed February 12, 2021.

[31] KrisAnne Hall. In Defense of Liberty. https://krisannehall.com/index.php/store/in-defense-of-liberty. Accessed February 12, 2021.

[32] KrisAnne Hall. In Defense of Liberty. https://krisannehall.com/index.php/store/in-defense-of-liberty. Accessed February 12, 2021.

 

Chuck Tanner

Author Chuck Tanner

Chuck Tanner is an Advisory Board member and researcher for the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. He lives in Washington State where he researches and works to counter white nationalism and the anti-Indian and other far right social movements.

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