Research Symposium

BIO

I'm a sophomore from Selbyville, Delaware and I hope to pursue a career in psychology and law. I'm interested in conducting research pertaining to social psychology, religion, and criminal law.

The Organization, Economics, and Investigation of the Minutemen Terror Group in the 1960’s: Race, Religion, and Culture

Abstract

Amid the Red Scare, the American populace was fearful of a wave of communism. This led to a wave of hyper-nationalism that was fueled by fear, religion, and culture. All of these factors together led to the creation of the extremist minutemen militia group in the early 1960’s. This militia was founded by Robert DePugh based upon anti-communist and nativist ideals that charged membership fees to fund their actions but as they scaled up, they enacted insurance fraud and extortion rackets. The Minutemen used these funds to stockpile weapons all over the U.S. in the case of a communist attack or if they believed they must take government infiltrated by liberal or communist ideals into their own hands. They believed there were communist spies everywhere and they must root them out through whatever means necessary. The group at it’s origin started as a couple of extremists who believed they were fighting the good fight but, through the use of extensive propaganda such as DePugh’s monthly magazine “On Target” their members grew significantly. When weapons and evidence of arms trafficking were discovered, the FBI launched a full-scale investigation that revealed a command and organizational structure far beyond what they could have imagined. Our research was entirely obtained through archived FBI documents on their investigation of the Minutemen. This project explores the organization, economics, and investigation of the minutemen terror group in the 1960’s and how their creation was influenced by race, religion, and culture.

Keywords: Religion, Surveillance, FBI, Minutemen, Anti-Communism