Indiana Militia Corps
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- The Indiana Militia Corps, a private militia without specific government sanction, should not be confused with the Indiana National Guard.
The Indiana Militia Corps is a private paramilitary group in the United States state of Indiana. Like the more prominent Michigan Militia, it is a militia organized by armed citizens.
While militias are not explicitly approved or endorsed by current public policy, they are directly referenced by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and 10 USC 311. They derive their authority from the common law and are in no way a government agency or an Organized Military / National Guard unit of their state or the nation. They are private citizens, in voluntary association, and self-funded. The United States armed forces do not recognize them as constituents, or relate with them, and such militias are often highly controversial.
Militias have their detractors, such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, whose political leanings contradict those of most militia groups. Supporters of the ADL and SPLC seek to propagate anti-militia views on the Internet, where the militia as well as the ADL has its strongest support. The Indiana Militia Corps is a strong militia-movement critic of these organizations, and expresses strong objection to the manner in which the ADL and SPLC characterizes their organization.
[edit] Origin and definition
The group was organized on September 29, 2001 by William A. Flatt and Michael Niese. Flatt and Niese have been commissioned at the ranks of Major General and Colonel, respectively, by the 3rd Continental Congress.
The IMC describes itself as "a group of law-abiding citizens formed for the purpose of defending the Constitutions of the United States and the Indiana state against all enemies, both foreign and domestic, and to help provide security and support services for local and other governmental authorities and for the citizens and inhabitants of Indiana, and the United States in time of natural disaster or emergency."
The Indiana Militia denies membership to anyone who is or has been "a member of or associated with" any "subversive" groups "including but not limited to communist or socialist front groups, New Black Panthers, Aryan Nations, Ku Klux Klan, Communist Party USA or the United Nations Association of America."
It identifies itself as part of the "patriot movement," but not "anti-government."
The 3rd Continental Congress commissioned William Flatt in August 2003, and subordinate brigade commanders were appointed the same month. These positions are not considered "self-appointed", as Anti-Defamation League sources would claim, but awarded according to the internal standards of the 3CC organization.
[edit] Public affairs and Third Continental Congress
In their article The Quiet Retooling of the Militia Movement: Coordination Among Groups (September 7, 2004), the Anti-Defamation League notes the Militia for attempts to organize among the public and other likeminded groups.
In December 2003, Flatt called for militia groups to join the '3rd [or Third] Continental Congress,' of which he was "interim Secretary of Defense." The Third Continental Congress describes itself as "U.S. Citizens who were tricked into citizenship under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress (referring to the legalistic implicationsof the 14th Amendment). We have lost faith and trust in this jurisdiction. Our federal and state governments are not fulfilling their constitutional requirements and have let all Americans down." "We believe," they write on their website, "our government is unconstitutional and illegal!" The ADL reported that five groups had joined the Third Continental Congress over the next three months. The 3cc-DoD asserts that "For security reasons, this listing is not being updated regularly. Requests for information on the status of the development of this network will be cleared only for approved militia commanders and officers of the Continental Congress."
Flatt made a further appeal in February 2004. "Patriot Acts 1 & 2 are here. More big brother government is on the way, and unless the Bilderbergers change their mind, they have already selected the next President of the USSA [sic, and presumably a rhetorical equation of the USA and the USSR],... If you are completely, deadly serious about restoring freedom, I need to hear from you..."
In Fall 2004, the IMC's Colonel Mike Strauss organized a public "Northern Indiana Preparedness Expo". Such events are popular among survivalists and militia groups.
