The sight of militiamen in a major U.S. city terrified some and thrilled others after videos of dozens of armed, camouflage-wearing men walking around downtown Louisville Wednesday night surfaced online.
The Kentucky militia sighting following the attorney general’s decision not to prosecute police for the death of Breonna Taylor is part of a growing trend of citizens taking law enforcement responsibilities into their own hands, as others have similarly did in Kenosha, Wisconsin, earlier this summer and Ferguson, Missouri, in 2015.
Former law enforcement and national security experts are divided on the legality of such groups patrolling the streets.
One terrorism analyst said the militia in Louisville was a group of terrorists because it imposed the “threat of violence,” even though no one was shot.
“These people did not organize and project a militant posture in the interest of public safety,” said Michael S. Smith II, terrorism analyst and Johns Hopkins University lecturer on global security and intelligence. “They were very clearly trying to concomitantly intimidate and antagonize people — and in manners that could trigger responses that might culminate in violent conflict.”
But National Police Association spokeswoman Betsy Brantner Smith has experience on the law enforcement side, having worked at demonstrations in her role as the sergeant for a police department outside Chicago. She disagreed that the armed group in Louisville committed terrorist acts and said their actions are protected by the First and Second amendments.
“If we’re going to allow this side, the ‘Defund the Police’ movement, then if we have a legal ‘militia’ that wants to also engage legally, we have to allow that,” Brantner Smith said. “It’s the job of law enforcement to be apolitical, and we protect the rights of everyone.”
Kentucky allows legal gun owners to carry in public places openly. Large numbers of people toting guns would not be illegal; therefore, law enforcement would not take action. National Association of Police Organizations Executive Director Bill Johnson said that because openly carrying firearms is a state-by-state issue, there was no overarching federal, or even state, violation.
“If people are blocking intersections or intimidating people, then that’s illegal,” said Johnson. “If you’re doing it using a firearm, it’s typically an enhancement” to a charge.
Some states still permit militias that have been approved by law enforcement to assist police in emergencies. Johnson said they were a “holdover from the Western frontier, where sheriffs had posses or militias that they could call up from time to time to help prevent violence or search for an escaped fugitive.” Nowadays, some local law enforcement have organized auxiliary departments where approved and trained volunteers can help out with traffic control after a sports game or assist with public evacuations during natural disasters.
“There’s training that you have to go through — some sort of uniform, so other members of the public and law enforcement can identify they’re legit,” Johnson said. “A lot of that is what’s missing. Just because people call themselves a militia, doesn’t meant it’s well organized or that it’s bona fide.”
Brantner Smith said the military-like uniforms, though possibly intended to make the members look legitimate, are still not illegal to wear in public, even though they may look like National Guard or active-duty military to ordinary passersby. She expected that the Louisville Metropolitan Police engaged the group’s leaders to see what their objective was at or before their arrival.
“There’s a bigger picture here than half a dozen people walking around in military-style uniforms,” said Branter Smith. “We have to balance our comfort, law enforcement, with the rights of the citizens even if it’s uncomfortable for us,” she said. “Citizens are frustrated because in some of these cities — and we see this with the Proud Boys and stuff like that — they perceive that law enforcement in these cities and governments are not doing their job.”
Still, Smith said the United States needs a federal law that overrules varying state laws on militias, so that going forward, there is no confusion about armed groups being permitted in one city but not another.
