Mark Hand
U.S. Rep. Bob Good, R-5th, joined local politicians at the inaugural gathering of the Lynchburg Constitutional Militia on Saturday, where organizers estimated at least 60 people signed up to join the new city militia.
About 125 people gathered in Miller Park for the event, called a “muster,” which was peaceful but featured fiery speeches by supporters who offered their perspectives on why militias are important to local communities. A muster is a military term for an assembly of troops for inspection.
Along with signing up to join the Lynchburg militia, attendees brought canned food and drinks that were donated to Food Not Bombs, a group that collects and distributes food and other items to homeless people at Miller Park every Saturday morning.
In his remarks to the crowd, Good, who lost the Republican primary to state Sen. John McGuire for the 5th congressional district in June, said politicians often are afraid to show up at militia events.
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The Lynchburg area is now one of the top spots for militias in Virginia, with militias already established in neighboring Bedford and Campbell counties. In 2021, Good spoke at a muster organized by the Bedford County Militia.
“A militia is designed to keep the government in fear of the people,” Good said. “If you’re an elected official whose operating on a constitutional basis and you believe the purpose of your existence is to protect the constitutional freedoms of the people, what do you have to fear from an armed population? You should want that armed population, that regulated militia to help you defend and protect that which you swore an oath to defend and protect.”
Dan Abbott, commander of the Campbell County Militia, served as emcee of Saturday’s event. His militia has about 500 members. He is also serving as an adviser to the people forming the Lynchburg Constitutional Militia.
Dressed in a Revolutionary War officer’s uniform, Abbott, a staff sergeant with the Virginia National Guard, said there should be a “well-regulated militia in every county and city in America.”
“What happens when the sheriff’s department or the fire department needs more manpower? What if half the roads in this whole part of the state are washed out, and we need to get access to all those people to do welfare checks on them?” Abbott asked.
“What if Lynchburg City can just call the commander of the militia say, ‘Hey, we need 100 people to help get into this part of the city that’s washed out and inaccessible,’” Abbott said about the potential benefits of a militia.
In his remarks, Abbott cited the Bible several times, asking, “Do we have a responsibility as Biblical men to protect the weak and the innocent? Yes, we do.”
“If you consider yourself to be an American and a Biblical man, this is where you should be,” he said. “You should be plugged into a community support organization that puts threat of violence in the hands of the American people and gives the American people the ability to preserve and protect their communities and their republic.”
As instructed by organizers, attendees brought only sidearms to the event. The militia’s organizing committee agreed that long guns, which include popular firearms such as the AR-15, would not be needed for the inaugural event.
Vince Ellison, an author and documentary filmmaker, gave perhaps the fieriest speech of the event. In his remarks, he emphasized armed militias are “about keeping a balance of proper fear in the hearts and the minds of the people that want to rule over you.”
“They have to know that if they take it too far, you’re going to be showing up,” Ellison said about elected officials. “Thomas Jefferson said that the tree of liberty must be irrigated with the blood.”
Ward III Councilman Jeff Helgeson, who attended the muster, said he would be signing up to join the Lynchburg Constitutional Militia.
During the protests in Lynchburg after the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis in 2020, members of the militias in Campbell and Bedford counties “helped our police when there was a riot at Fifth and Federal,” Helgeson told The News & Advance. “They were there standing side by side with our police department, making sure that the buildings weren’t burnt.”
Lynchburg At-large Councilman Martin Misjuns also attended the muster, as did Ward III Republican candidate Curt Diemer, Ward II Independent candidate Tori Howard, and Ward IV write-in candidates Peter Alexander and Michelle Lee Harvey.
The gathering on Saturday wasn’t the first muster held at the site now known as Miller Park. The history of the park goes back to 1862 when local businessman Samuel Miller donated 18 acres to the city as a public gathering place.
During the Civil War, Confederate soldiers used the space to gather and disband before and after battle. The site later became known as City Park and by the early 20th century had been renamed Miller Park.
Riah Molina, the main organizer for Food Not Bombs in Lynchburg, said she was pleasantly surprised to learn that people planning to attend the muster were going to be donating food.
“Marty Misjuns even told people to bring us food today, which I was surprised by,” she told The News & Advance. “That was not on my bingo card.”
The organizers allowed Molina to speak at the start of the event, where she let the crowd know about the city’s large homeless population and how Food Not Bombs has been running low on food and supplies in recent weeks. “I appreciate y’all helping us out,” she said.
About a week before the muster, Mary McCord, executive director of Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, wrote a letter to city officials, expressing unease about the event.
“This event will take place against a backdrop of continued militia organizing throughout Virginia, which has raised concerns about the possibility of conflict related to the upcoming election,” McCord said in the Sept. 26 letter.
Despite its claims to be a “friendly neighborhood militia” whose activities are in keeping with the “liberties and responsibilities” of the Virginia Code and the U.S. Constitution, “any purported law enforcement or paramilitary activity by the ‘Lynchburg Constitutional Militia’ would be in violation of core principles of government control of the military and contrary to clearly established state law,” McCord said.
“At no point are members of the unorganized militia authorized to report to city or county officials or to their own, self-appointed civilian commanders.”
In response to the letter, Abbott told The News & Advance that McCord “makes up whatever narrative she wants to promote.”
At the end of the gathering, organizers said they plan on holding the first meeting of the Lynchburg Constitutional Militia in about two weeks, where possible leaders will be identified. They’re still looking for a place to hold the meeting and have not nailed down a date yet.
Mark Hand, 434-385-5556
mhand@newsadvance.com
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