Militia Movement; inside the Michigan Militia

MICHIGAN (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – The Michigan Militia, a group of well-armed activists, has been in and out of the news for more than a decade. Often, they say that media attention has come for the wrong reasons.

The militia has been controversial because of its axe to grind with the U.S. Government, and its link to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

But are they really training to be home-grown terrorists as some suggest?

In a special report, Newschannel 3 took a look at the militia, and got a first-hand account of their marching orders.

They do their training in firearms and first aid, but ultimately few really know what the volunteer militia is getting ready for, other than to arm themselves against the government should the need arise. It's the guns that scare people who think the men and women of the Michigan Militia are actually training to kill.

“We are not training to kill Muslims,” said Michigan Militia member Lee Miracle, “we would gladly kill terrorists, but not all terrorists are Muslims and not all Muslims are terrorists.”

Militia members say they're not that scary.

“People probably think we sit in our basement all day sharpening our knives, and that we pray for some apocalyptic turmoil, really nothing could be further from the truth,” said Miracle.

Miracle has been with the militia since it began in the early 90s, and has now taken on a leadership role in the group. The militia's original founder was kicked out for being too radical and now they say it's a kinder, gentler, militia.

“We don't want people who want to hurt Americans,” said Miracle. “we don't want people who want to hurt babies, we don't want people who want to blow things up because they're mad.”

Miracle is referring to Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, who at first was believed to have ties to the Michigan Militia. Current members still get fired up about what was, at best, a very distant connection.

“Let's say after the Oklahoma City bombing they said Timothy McVeigh, a known bread eater, blew up a building. Now when you go the store and buy some bread they're going to say, 'Oh he's eating bread just like Timothy McVeigh,'” said Miracle.

Miracle and others do however admit that there have been numerous people joining and then leaving the militia who have committed horrible crimes. One of those is Scott Woodring, a man most in West Michigan remember. Woodring shot and killed a state trooper in 2003.

“We really don't want angry people to come here,” said Miracle.

A look at the Michigan Militia's videos on YouTube paints a slightly different picture, with many shots of guns, ammo, and camouflage, essentially a recruiting tool to get more members.

While militia members say they want peace, a recent study by the Southern Poverty Law Center suggested that the political conditions were ripe for the Michigan Militia to grow and do harm. The center alleges that militia groups are often racist, and have the potential to resort to domestic terrorism.

Newschannel 3 asked Miracle if that could happen, or whether he could be considered a terrorist.

“No, I'm a postal worker,” said Miracle, “it's probably equally frightening to some people. No, I work at the post office, I'm not a terrorist.”

Militia members will admit that the organization's disorganized and isn't growing, currently the militia has few hundred members at most, and on the weekend Newschannel was there, West Michigan members of the group chose not to participate in the training in protest, clearly some friction and lack of cohesion is haunting the group.

“We're not the catch all anymore, and people can find groups that fit in better with their idea of what needs to be done,” said Michigan Militia member Michael Lackoman.

However, militia members say they're there for a reason, a constitutional right, and they don't want anybody to stop them.

“We just basically want to do what we want to do and be left alone to do it,” said Lackoman.

After being kicked out of Michigan, the militia's founder moved to Alaska where he runs a similar group.

At its peak, the Michigan Militia claimed it had 10,000 members.