The MIAC Report

Jones was in an uproar yesterday over an in-house report issued in February by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC), a division of the Missouri state police Drug and Crime Control unit. According to Jones, the MIAC Report classifies Libertarians, Constitutional Party members, people with Ron Paul bumper stickers, supporters of Bob Barr, Patriots, and most of his other listeners as potential terrorists. It calls for stamps to be placed on bullets.

Jones refers to it as "FBI/FEMA/ADL propaganda".

The report is real enough. It's a MIAC strategic report summarizing "The Modern Militia Movement." It gives a rough overview of the various militia-style movements that have existed in the U.S. since the '80s: Patriots, white supremacists, Christian Identity, tax resisters, etc. It even explains, briefly, some of the very conspiracy theories that Jones embraces:

• the formation of the North American Union and the introduction of the Amero
• confiscation of firearms, repeal of the 2nd Amendment
• martial law
• Obama doesn't meet the requirements to be President
• The New World Order exists or will soon exist

The report does not state "they need more gun control, and to stamp all the bullets"; it lists ammunition accountability acts as a concern of militia members, which it is. It notes that there is no such act in Missouri, but it does not endorse such acts. This is a good example of how Jones subtly juices up information to make it sound more ominous than it is.

There's nothing overtly erroneous in the report. It's clearly just a rough guide intended to fill police in on the cultural milieu of right-wing extremists. The portion that most outrages Jones is almost a footnote at the very end of the report, "Political Paraphernalia". This section reads: "Militia members most commonly associate with 3rd party political groups...These members are usually supporters of Former Presidential Candidate [sic]: Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr."

Well, doy. Of course. What, we're allowed to realize all this, but we should never, ever write it down? Why shouldn't Missouri state police be given general information about right-wing organizations? Would it be preferable to leave them in the dark?

Lt. John Hotz of the Missouri Highway Patrol explains, "Troopers have been shot by members of groups, so it’s our job to let law enforcement officers know what the trends are in the modern militia movement.” Everything in the report is "publically available, trend data."

"It's giving the makeup of militia members and their political beliefs. It's not saying that everybody who supports these candidates is involved in a militia. It's not even saying that all militias are bad."

In other words, you're not going to be considered a terrorist just because you have a Bob Barr bumper sticker (though I have to ask, why haven't you removed it yet?), or just because you subscribe to conspiracy theories about central banking.

Most Patriots are not violent and do not pose any threat. But we can't deny that some members have turned to extremism, domestic terrorism, and violence in the past, and will certainly do so again.