BuzzFlash Exclusive: Neo-Confederate White Supremacists Thrive in the Military, as the Armed Forces Turn a Blind Eye
January 22nd 2020
III Wallpaper (Ethereality Pictures)
By Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel John Foley
The recent gun rights rally in Richmond Virginia, was a show of force by the Neo-Confederate movement. Sadly, our local Colorado military community has very close ties to this Neo-Confederate movement. Anyone who has spent time on Fort Carson, or Peterson Air Force Base has likely seen the Three Percenter logo, a Roman numeral III inside a circle of 13 stars. Few people are aware this group advocates hate.
Who are the Three Percenters? According to the Anti-Defamation League, the term “Three Percenter” refers to the erroneous belief that only 3% of colonists fought against the British during the Revolutionary War—but achieved liberty for everybody. Three Percenters view themselves as modern day versions of those revolutionaries, fighting against a tyrannical US government rather than the British.” On closer scrutiny the Three Percenters are nothing more than a Neo-Confederate hate group, that advocates white supremacy.
Three Percenters claim they are defenders of the Second Amendment, ready to defend it against tyrannical government overreach and government gun confiscation. Formed in 2008, Three Percenters were an immediate response to Barack Obama becoming the first African American president. They collectively believed that Obama was going to use the federal government to violate the Second Amendment and confiscate firearms nationwide. They pushed conspiracy theories through social media and followed internet personalities like Alex Jones. The Three Percenter ideology found a receptive audience within the US military, due to its weapons culture and conservatism.
The profile of a Three Percenter is a typically a white male, who owns an assault style weapon. They may also display the Gadsden flag also known as the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag to express their hostility to their perception of the Federal government treading on their Second Amendment rights. They also display other symbols such as “Molon Labe” which means “come and take it”, a statement, daring the Federal government to try to take their assault style weapons. The statement was made popular in the 2007 movie, “300”, a fictionalized account of the battle of Thermopylae where the Greeks fought the Persians. The movie feeds the Three Percenter ideology of defending Western Civilization against an Eastern enemy. Three Percenters are a distinctly anti-Muslim group, expressing hate group ideology. Muslim groups in Canada have felt threatened by them and have petitioned the Canadian government to label Three Percenters a hate group. Three Percenters often display “infidel” patches, a hostile statement directed at Muslims. On some US military installations, like Fort Carson, Colorado, Three Percenters and service members can buy “Infidel” patches at the military clothing store on base. Some Three Percenters use the term “Crusaders”, anti-Muslim radical evangelicals. Their symbol is the Three Percenter logo on a cross surrounded by a shield.
Along with their extreme revulsion to our first African American President, Three Percenters are some of the strongest voices against the Black Lives Matter movement. While Three Percenters display the composition and disposition of a terrorist organization, they like to label the Black Lives Matter a terrorist group. Opposition to Black Lives Matter is a core belief among Three Percenters. They proudly display the Blue Lives Matter flags, more in opposition to the Black Lives Matter than a statement of support to law enforcement. Their racism is clear by social media postings about African- American leaders like Maxine Waters, who has been targeted with racially insulting memes. As Neo-confederates the Three Percenters fundamentally oppose any vocalization of issues by African American leaders or the African American community.
The US military has rules against membership in hate groups, but the Neo-confederate Three Percenters get a free pass, because they claim their ideology is all about protecting the US Constitution and the Second Amendment. It’s well documented they stood down at Charlottesville Virginia during the 2017 Neo-Nazi rally, but that was because overt support to Nazis would have brought the scrutiny of the Defense Department. Any serious Department of Defense scrutiny of the Three Percenters would quickly dispel any legitimacy and expose them as a racist hate group.
Ideologically Three Percenters are a resurrection of the White Legion and the Red Shirts, armed militia of former confederate soldiers who with the Klu Klux Klan successfully waged an insurgency against the US Federal government during the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. Their armed insurgency succeeded and by 1877 the federal government abandoned the African American community to the Jim Crow Era. The Three Percenters still look to the former Confederacy for lessons. Neo-Confederate Three Percenters understand the single greatest failing of the Confederate cause was initiating the Civil War by being the first to fire on the federal forces at Fort Sumter. History remembers the Confederates as the aggressor in the conflict, because they fired first. Many Three Percenters are preparing for a second Civil War, and they have taken this lesson to heart. Their blogs stress not to “do another Fort Sumter”, and no matter what “Don’t be the ones to Fire first in the coming armed conflict with the Federal government, but once they fire unleash HELL!”
So, if the Three Percenters are anti-Federal government, why does the military, part of the Federal government tolerate them? First, much of the leadership is ignorant about the symbols and hateful messages of this subversive group. Second, conservatism is the dominant political ideology in the US military, with the most fundamentalist faction adhering to the Three Percenters ideology. In fact, many Three Percenters in the military hold mid-grade and senior ranks. Many senior leaders may not belong to the Three Percenters, but they share the premise of their anti-federal ideology. This begs the question: can we trust our military? Consider for instance one aspect of this hate group’s anti-Muslim rhetoric. Our nation and taxpayers spent billions of dollars over two decades to train and advise Muslim military forces across Iraq and Afghanistan. Since these Three Percenters hate Muslims, shouldn’t we question that our military training missions were undermined by this group? How effective is our training to Afghans or Iraqis if our soldiers doing the training adhere to the Three Percenter ideology of anti-Muslim hate? Has the Pentagon ever for one second factored this into the equation for the lack of success in Iraq and Afghanistan? If our soldiers and officers have no respect for these Muslim soldiers, or of doing the job we are paying them for, do they belong in our military?
The principle by which Three Percenters operate violates the Uniform Code of Military Justice and other US Codes. The military defines subversion as “actions designed to undermine the military, … morale of a governing authority” (JP 3-24). Three Percenters use subversion to reverse the values and principles of our armed forces. They disagree with our established DOD policies of inclusion of racial and ethnic minorities. Their penetration of the US Armed Forces, and contrary loyalties are designed to act subversively to the federal government. The Three Percenters need to be treated as a subversive group hostile to the good order and discipline of our military. In their view the federal government is tyrannical, and this should immediately disqualify any Three Percenter from service in the US Armed Forces.
Author: John Foley is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and former Intelligence Officer. He currently lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Links for more information on the Three Percenters:
https://www.revealnews.org/blog/hate-report-get-to-know-the-three-percenters/
https://www.adl.org/resources/glossary-terms/three-percenters
https://www.adl.org/blog/amazon-hate-for-sale