I wanted to ask about how you see that dynamic playing out in local governments, particularly in California, or rural California. The Los Angeles Times reported recently on open threats against members of the Shasta County board of supervisors by Trump supporters who are angry about pandemic restrictions. What do you make of that?
The thing about California, that very, very famous blue state, is that there is still an enormous population of red America in California.
The State of Jefferson is a concept that has been around and periodically gets new life. Its an argument to separate from the state of California.
It had a considerable period in which it organized around restrictions on the logging industry, but in the Trump era, the State of Jefferson and allied groups in California have become, as militias throughout the United States have become, very Trumpian.
All these militia groups had no role in national politics. Some were in regional politics, like David Duke running for Senate in Louisiana. Then, suddenly in 2016, somebody at the level of presidential politics is talking their language in the way that was so electrifying. So then, you get Charlottesville, and youve got the alt-right.
[Read more from 2017 about resistance against the tyranny of the urban majority in the far northern part of California.]
They morphed in 2020, with the succession of major events like the first lockdowns, which went right to the heart of historical antigovernment right-wing militias. The anti-lockdown demonstrations were followed immediately by the George Floyd demonstrations, and then they converged on the third such major event, which is the Stop the Steal movement.read more
Making Sense of the Capitol Attack
