Poll watching militia...

So, it was pointed out to me that there is a group on Facebook, the Wisconsin Poll Watcher Militia, who was going to the polling stations armed this election.  Well, I was not impressed, given I was under the impression that they were specifically targeting African American voters of the Liberal population.  That is not kosher in my book.  Honestly people, we do not need armed civilians roaming around outside of the polling stations.

Lets start getting to the brass tacks of it.  The group in question (not linked to this article) began less than a week ago, so this is about as ground floor as it gets, I mean I have seen pages for less auspicious deals with more likes in several hours.  Sad state of the countries electorate or the sad state of armed guys running around a polling station.  In any event, I do suspect something to happen out there, you know militarized police plus citizens with guns, what could go wrong?

Anyway, as I made my way down to the bottom of their page it started out innocently enough, I mean they are doing something I have seen many neighborhood watch groups do, advise people to keep an eye out for obviously strange behavior.  Of course they are also telling people that if you see someone with a warrant issued for their arrest to notify law enforcement, which I do not have a problem with.  See, that is the thing, on the surface this group appears to be upstanding, concerned citizens, and then it just goes from normal neighborhood watch to full on stalker. 

See this is what got Travon Martin killed.  A man was following him around, the rest is history.  That is well beyond the scope of a normal neighborhood watch.  Sure if you see odd behavior, or someone you have seen on a government website as wanted report it.  Do not follow these people around.  But I digress.  Oh wait, they are already stalking someone because they think they might be driving on a suspended license, I say stalking because going to their home and watching it without being a police officer or private investigator is kind of messed up guys.  So they start posting peoples names up, which is fine I guess, but I noticed that they are doing checks on people and pulling up the different reports, most apparently are sexual offenses.  So, I take the first name they have linked on the site, which carries a disclaimer, and no criminal record found actually no matches found to her address, but this woman donated heavily to the Democratic Party as best as I can tell.  But then there was this little gem.

Oh right.  So they are targeting Democrats in general, not just the black ones.  Somehow I do not know which is more disturbing about this entry into Facebook lore.  The fact that they are assuring us that they are only going after registered Democrats who have "warrants" or that they had to play the race card...  I don't know maybe it is an obvious older woman crying behind a closed cell door.  I know, it was the race card that made me so nervous. 

So as things progress more neighborhood watch stuff, they warn that if you have a warrant out for you that they will report you if you attempt to vote, and a warning to not approach members of the militia as they are armed, it is also stated that if you act physically hostile you will be put down like a rabid dog.  Yeah, see that right there is a threat, and a form of intimidation.  I do not know exactly how it works up in Cheesehead land, but in most places if you are picked up erroneously on a warrant you still go to jail until it is sorted out.  So, they could basically call the police and pick any potential voter out of line, have them arrested for no reason, and by the time that gets sorted out they have been robbed of the right to vote. 

Oh and the put down like a rabid dog comment:

There is also another thing in that post, notice the second paragraph?  Yeah.  I figured you might.  In a newer post they talk about scofflaws, which I find funny because I do believe they are doing the same thing, flouting the law. 

See here is the problem.  They are making a ton of baseless accusations against Democrats who are apparently flooding their facebook page.  So, they are either heavily editing the page, or its not happening.  They are claiming death threats against themselves and are advising that all members will be armed (this is the second time), only now they will be carrying concealed. 

And that brings us to today's little show on the facebook page.  Fake meeting spots, range time for a selected few people, and some new ideas for what they are going to do.  The good news is for all their bluster it appears to be two teams, and that is not a whole lot of people.  But have no fear, those few proud militia men in Wisconsin will do everything in their power to harass those pesky liberal "bozos" who dared try to recall Scott Walker.

Are they racist, I don't know, I do not know any members, then again I do not associate myself with many libertarians or conservatives.  What they are doing, even if they really "believe" it is good is intimidating voters, that my friends is voter suppression and a type of fraud, no matter if the person is black or white, gay or straight.  They are claiming they have the right people to go with the warrants, but in America today there are at least fifty people with the same name I have, and some probably have a record longer than my leg, but without some very specific information about who I am, you have no way to do anything with it, except cause trouble, which is all they want.  

See, if they really gave two shits about clearing up outstanding warrants, they would be notifying law enforcement now, they would have been doing it on September 16 of this year.  All they seek to do is harass voters, intimidate others, and create havoc in the hopes their candidates might win.  So, if you are intimidated, harassed, or wrongly arrested for a warrant you do have options.  First you need to contact the Department of Justice, along with the Government Accountability Board.  Also take the time to contact the media over these incidents (but go to the DoJ and GAB first), because this is a two fold issue.  First people must be held accountable for their actions, if they are attempting to suppress voting or otherwise hinder the process they are in violation of several laws.  The second is that it needs to be made painfully public that it is happening, because until it is in everyone's face, it can continue.