Up in Arms

Video produced by the Resist.TV Collective highlighting the work of Political Research Associates and Rural Organizing Project.

Up in Arms: A Guide to Oregon’s Patriot Movement is a groundbreaking report and toolkit designed to support public officials and community activists under siege from armed militias and other Patriot movement groups. This guide was developed by Political Research Associates in partnership with Rural Organizing Project through extensive research on the right-wing movements and by pooling the local expertise of rural progressive community activists and scholars.  It exposes, explains, and offers alternatives to this movement.

New Patriot movement groups formed since 2008 include local affiliates of the Oath Keepers and Three Percenters, as well as the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. Researchers estimate that dozens of groups have thousands of supporters in the state, including within the state Republican Party. Up In Arms also documents how the Patriot movement takes advantage of the collapse of the rural Oregon economy and funding cuts.

Providing alternatives for communities being targeted for Patriot movement recruitment is extremely important. Rural Organizing Project offers strategies for how community members can break out of a sense of isolation, form a group, and speak out with their own vision of what the community should look like. The toolkit’s case studies of effective community resistance from five Oregon counties show how residents can successfully counter Patriot movement messaging and intimidation, and help build inclusive and egalitarian communities.

To read the full report go to: http://www.rop.org/up-in-arms/