“A well regulated militia…” is part of the prefatory clause to the Second Amendment. The clause is something that the anti-liberty camp clings to. The false “collective right” ideology sprung up in the 60’s said the Second Amendment is for a standing army. We’re told “regulated” means being under some sort of rule rather than “uniform.” These talking points are fake, phony, and false. Heller made clear that this is an individual right. 

How can members of a bonafide chartered militia be scrutinized by progressives, if they’re playing by the collectivist rules? Scrutinized and under fire is exactly what’s happened to Campbell County Militia members Dan and Alexandra Abbott.

Why is this duo coming under scrutiny? An article at Military.com by Steve Beynon entitled “2 Virginia Guardsmen Are Running a Rural Anti-Government Militia,” has put the Abbotts under a microscope.

The article is threaded with allusions that the militia – and by extension Dan and Alexandra – is anti-government and somehow racist. Whether or not Beynon took things that have been said in the past out of context or if he somehow has definitive proof, we don’t know. He certainly did not provide what I’d call definitive proof. His quoting was selective and had omissions.

What we do know is what the Abbotts have to say about the Campbell County Militia and Beynon’s seemingly baseless allegations.

During an almost hour-long interview, we got a chance to chat with Dan Abbott, the Commander, and Alexandra Abbott, a member/volunteer. After some small talk, the pair was asked directly, “I'm just going to ask right off the bat, are you anti-government?” Without hesitation, Alexandra Abbott said, “No,” and Dan Abbott said, “Absolutely not.”

Dan Abbott expanded on his answer, “How could we be an organization that has invested as much time in education and civic duty and involvement in government as we do [and be anti-government]? I mean that is at least 50% of the effort that we put into everything…encouraging and facilitating people's involvement in the civic process.”

If Dan and Alexandra Abbott and the Militia are not anti-government, then what are they all about? The Campbell County Militia website states in part:

In order to achieve our vision, we conduct training to make individuals proficient in firearms use, medical treatment, emergency response, navigation, homesteading, and more. CCM is also politically involved to effect change in our community. Through these activities, we seek to create “immediate responders” throughout the populace and build the future leaders that will be critical in times of need.

The Southern Poverty Law Center earlier this year took to attacking militias in general, but did mention Campbell County by name geographically. In their so-called “reporting,” they link the timeline of George Floyd’s death with a militia recognition resolution.

“The day after the murder [of Floyd], as video of the violence hit the news and tensions were about to ignite, Bedford County, Virginia, passed a resolution in support of ‘the militia,’” SPLC observed. “A similar resolution had passed in Campbell County, Virginia, earlier that year.”

The talks of a resolution were discussed in reporting going back to February 15, 2020, more than three months prior to Floyd’s death.

“Attendance records for the hundreds of interested residents will be brought before Bedford County administrators so the group can be formally recognized as the Bedford Militia,” a WFXR article noted in coverage of a “muster.” “After gaining official recognition in the county, the members of the Bedford Militia can bring their unorganized militia up to par with the guidelines of Virginia Section 44, which covers unorganized militias as well as the National Guard and the Virginia Defense Force.”

Those facts don’t stop SPLC from making racist allusions.

The next day, a local protest in Lynchburg, Virginia, turned violent after county-based militias from Bedford, Campbell and Amherst counties gathered in support of a restaurant owner who had shared support of a racist tweet. The responding militias essentially assumed law enforcement functions, and the resulting conflict was characterized in the media as a riot.

“Armed citizens volunteer as security to protect Lynchburg restaurant” from WLS News 10 described the scenario.

Around 9 p.m., the situation became violent when protesters returned. Rocks, bricks and other objects were thrown through the windows of the restaurant while people hunkered down inside behind the bar.

“Everybody was just taking cover, some of them came really close to the building and we had to position our firearms and say, 'hey, look, don’t come in here’ ... they backed off," said Peter Alexander, one of the armed citizens.
…
A number of area militias were asked to come help by the armed citizens working to protect Fifth and Federal, and some are still at the restaurant as of 5:30 a.m. Originally, there were around a dozen armed citizens at the restaurant. Once the militias arrived, there were around 40 people at the scene.

Alexander says that if he and the other armed citizens were not there along with the militias, he believes that protesters would have broken in and destroyed the restaurant.

“They were everywhere, these protesters were trying to surround the cops, law enforcement," said Alexander.

Nowhere in the reporting is Campbell County Militia named, just generic “militias.” Nonetheless, some viewed militia involvement positively. From the above passage, emphasis should be added on, “A number of area militias were asked to come help” and “Alexander says that if he and the other armed citizens were not there along with the militias, he believes that protesters would have broken in and destroyed the restaurant.”

The truly alarming trend is the smearing of libertarian groups that advocate for self-reliance. These freedom-loving ideals somehow make them implicitly racist. Or negative just for being. There is a growing narrative discrediting any group that’s gaining popularity and might go against the fray of progressive politics.

These groups, “reporters,” think tanks, etc. are leaning on that “R” word – or hinting at it – to shut down any meaningful conversations.

“The militia, which appears to be mostly white based on photos posted to its public-facing social media, was formed roughly five years ago, following a rise in other similar groups in Virginia after a Democratic wave of victories in the state and gun control fights,” Are baseless inferences that Steve Beynon made in his Military.com piece. “The Ku Klux Klan, for example, has a long track record of charity work and public service to build relationships with local municipalities and fuel positive public relations campaigns. In the early 1920s, the Klan's Madison, Wisconsin, chapter served as a formal reaction force for local officials to respond to natural disasters and helped law enforcement combat bootleggers during Prohibition.”

“Your county, demographics wise, how is it made up? I'm just curious. I know nothing about your area. Mostly white people? Good mix [of] white, brown, Black? What are we dealing with?”, I asked the pair during our conversation. 

“Last statistic I saw, it's about 78% Caucasian,” Alexandra Abbott replied.

“78% Caucasian. And then in your estimation, in your group, how many people would you say are left of center? Straight up Democrats? Do you have a lot of Democrats that are in your group?”, Dan was queried. 

“No, we don't. Of course, politically speaking, there's not a lot of Democrats in this whole part of the state, honestly. Certainly not in Campbell County,” Abbott said.

He continued:

This voting district votes heavily, heavily red… the House of Delegates district for Campbell County. I don't even know if a Democrat runs in that district. Like, why would they? It's a district that's going to vote, 80%, red no matter what.

So, no, we don't really have any Democrats or [Democratic] members. I do have a lot of members that are ideologically drastically different from myself, within the “kind of right” or “kind of conservative.” But, you know, that's what makes America. What it is, is that we do have those kinds of differences and disparities in our opinions.

We continued our dialogue:

BA: So, you guys, have people in your organization that you're friendly with, that you welcome, that you don't agree on everything with. Is that right? 

Dan Abbott: Oh, of course.

BA: And then how's about persons of color or Latino? Do you have members that you know, reflect that [22 to] 30%?

Dan Abbott: Oh yeah, we've got Latinos, we've got Asians, we've got Black. We basically have the same demographic that we live in.

BA: You’re [a] mostly white organization, in a mostly white county…kind of reflects the demographic, you would say?

Dan Abbott: Well, yeah, it directly reflects the demographic. If it didn't directly reflect the demographic, well then what exactly would we be doing to alter that? But then we wouldn't be colorblind. Then we would be racist, because we're either targeting white people or we're targeting Black people, or we're targeting Asians. Because an organization that's a whole body of the people is going to directly reflect the demographic of that area. It has to.

Alexandra Abbott: We have it written into our bylaws that any form of racism or discrimination or hate speech of any type is not tolerated. And we have actually kicked people out of the organization who engage in that behavior. So that is one of the things that we are very strict about, is that there is no racism, discrimination, hatred, any of that,

BA: Before we change subjects, because….that's also going to, I have other questions that are based on everything that you just said. But before we get off the topic of this maybe trying to imply that there's some sort of racist connotations, [Beynon] compared your organization to another, we'll say organization, that I take exception to, that [this is] even being insinuated. And if you know what I'm saying here, why don't we go [at this] from a historical perspective first…and if you'll take this question, let's roll with those allegations.

Dan Abbott: Yeah, honestly, there's just zero parallels, with the exception of the fact that, well, [the] militia has existed for a long time, and that organization existed a long time ago. I mean, there's just, there's no parallels whatsoever. He's literally just making up a narrative.

Alexandra Abbott: He made up a whole bunch of stuff to sell a story that is, it's flat-out fiction is what it is. He knows that buzzwords like the organization you're alluding to is going to get attention, and because people are so miseducated about our government, our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and our militia and what it's supposed to be in the United States, because people have not been properly educated on how all that's supposed to work together, they're going to buy this lie that, 'Oh, militia, they must be some crazy extremists living out in some commune in the woods somewhere.' That's the lie that they tell us, and so if you throw out catchphrases and buzzwords, people are going to think that, and that's all he's doing is he's selling a fiction story.

BA: To get everyone up to speed, the specific allegation or parallel that [Beynon] was trying to [draw] was [the Militia], much like the Ku Klux Klan, engaged in civic activities and tried to look like good members of their community and their society.

In defense of how the Campbell County Militia conducts themselves and to what level of standards they prescribe to, Alexandra read the mission statement of the organization.

The mission of Campbell County militia consists of one purpose and three tasks. The purpose of CCM is to be the proper, natural and safe defense of a free state in Campbell County, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States of America.

This purpose will be accomplished by performing the following three tasks.

One, organizing and training the local militia to a condition of order and discipline in the keeping and bearing of arms for self-defense against any imminent threat to the life, liberty or property of the people of the community.

Two, assisting and training local citizens in disaster response and emergency preparedness for the preservation of the lives and property of the people of the community. 

And three, educating, encouraging and empowering local citizens in personal responsibility and civic duty so as to strengthen the social bonds between the people of the community.

I asked, “Except for Black people, right?” Alexandra replied with disgusted inflection, “No.”

“Except for brown people?” I queried. “Nope. Not there,” Dan said. “Except for any other person that might be a minority in your area. It doesn't sound like this is inclusive, correct?” I asked. “Yes, it's inclusive,” Alexandra immediately said.

Dan then made the following statement to put the issue of implied racism to bed:

It's absolutely inclusive, okay? And as far as where I stand, on [how] “the racism” is concerned, you know, I came from the 82nd Airborne Division, which is one of the installations that receives those who are killed in action. I watched men come home in a box draped in a flag. And you know what? No one asks when someone comes home draped in a flag…they never ask what color their skin was, [it] no longer matters then. They're nothing but a red, white and blue, blooded American hero. So if we don't care then, why should I care now?

After my 49 minute and 22 second recorded interview with Dan and Alexandra Abbott from the Campbell County Militia, I did not get the sense that these are hateful people. What I did get was a glimpse at what well meaning people have to deal with when their fundamental ideologies go against a narrative we’re being fed. 

The duo was asked if they had anything further that they’d like to add that we may not have discussed. Dan spoke up for the pair:

It's time to put power back in the hands of the American people. This country was built around the idea that Americans, the citizenry, would self-govern, that we wouldn't be ruled by another. And the only way to do that is to put constitutional militia back in every locality in America.

There should not be a city or a county anywhere in America that does not have a constitutional militia that has a relationship with their county government. That's the model that we were entrusted with, and we should do everything in our power to be good stewards of that which we are entrusted with. Which means putting those organizations back where they belong. Putting them in their proper role in a civic relationship with their governments. And ultimately, it just makes better people. It makes better citizens.

The dangerous thing here is that so-called “journalists” are being used as weapons to “uncover” alleged radical anti-government behavior. We’re already dealing with a massively uphill battle with mainstream media attacking any traditional American ideals that are prevalent in the U.S. Administrations, the talking heads, the progressive ruling class, bloggers, flunkies for the progressive movement, et.al. will peg self-reliant and freedom loving Americans as “racist,” “anti-government,” and even go as far as to comparing them to the KKK.

The actual glimmer of hope is that groups like the Campbell County Militia do exist and are becoming more involved in our civic process and communities. Rugged individualism and the fundamentals of founding American ideals are being embraced more and more. That’s not to say that the megaphones won’t cause damage or try to squash the message of freedom lovers.

Let’s be honest here. The anti-civil liberty camp is only attacking groups like this because they are exercising both their First and Second Amendment rights. And that’s a threat to their agenda.

If you’d like to watch the full interview with the Abbotts, you can do so HERE or in the embed below.