AM Armies
Government "Cleansing"
By
Leslie Jorgensen
Tired of easy listening? If you're in Colorado Springs, you can tune into KVOR, where talkshow host Chuck Baker mimics the sound of a firing pin--"kching-kching"--as he raves against the government and talks to listeners about shooting members of Congress and forming guerilla cells.
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...Suddenly, Baker began discussing the need for an armed revolution to take out the "slime balls" in Congress and bureaucrats "who are too stupid toget a job."
The topics Baker addresses are the "patriot" movement's obsessions: the raid on the Branch Davidian Compound in Texas; the FBI's assault on Idaho tax-resister Randy Weaver; a secret national police force under Janet Reno's command; spying black helicopters, microchips planted in babies, finger-printed drivers' licenses.
Baker's guests read like a who's who of the armed right, including Linda Thompson, "adjutant general" of the Unorganized Militia of the United States; Arizona's Graham County Sheriff Richard Mack, waging a legal battle against the Brady Bill; Larry Pratt, head of Gun Owners of America; Colorado legislator Charlie Duke, a self-proclaimed part-time revolutionary; and Rev. Pete Peters, who believes God wants gays condemned to death and warns against mixing with Jews and minority races.
Government "Cleansing"
Gloating over Sheriff Mack's lawsuit against the Brady Bill, and already counting on victory, Baker said, "We're not going to rest on that, and be assured that creeps like Metzenbaum and Kennedy are going to think thatwe're sitting back thinking, 'Well the Brady law has been defeated or declared unconstitutional.' You know how these slime balls operate. The only way you're ever going to get rid of Metzenbaum is when you're finally at a point that you can stand over there, put the dirt on top of the box and say, 'I'm pretty sure he's in there.'"
Baker discussed with callers the pros and cons of forming six- to eight-man militia cells for urban and rural guerrilla warfare; the host provided the phone number of the 500-member Save America Militia (now the El Paso County Militia). Since June, at least five militias have formed in Colorado Springs, along with the statewide Colorado Free Militia.
On Baker's show (8/29/94), Linda Thompson promoted her (later aborted)armed march on Washington to remove "traitors" from Congress:
We have 2 million U.S. troops, half of them are out of the country. Of the remaining half, half of them are not combat-trained. The best they could come up with all of the troops they could muster would be 500,000 people. They would be outnumbered five to one, if only 1 percent of the country went up against them.
"Linda, I've been told by every military person I've talked to that they would not stand there and take the side of government," Baker responded, broadcasting from the Monument Gun Shop. "They would come over to our side."
After the passage of the omnibus crime bill, callers on Baker's show raged against the restrictions on semi automatic rifles. "The problem we have right now is who do we shoot," a caller named Jacques said (9/6/94).
Other than Kennedy, Foley and Mitchell, the others are borderline traitors. They're the kingpins right now, beside the Slick One [Clinton].... We're going to have to make plans.... You've got to get your ammo.... We cannot do it as individuals, we have got to do it as an orchestrated militia.
Baker seemed sympathetic to this proposal: "Am I advocating the overthrow of this government?... I'm advocating the cleansing," he declared. "If you combined everybody in the United States of America that you would even estimate to be on the other side, you would only have a drop in the bucket compared to the masses in rebellion," Baker said. "Why are we sitting here?"
A caller named Eva warned Baker (9/6/94) that he "was coming perilously close to advocating the violent overthrow of the United States government." Baker replied, "It's provided for in the Constitution.... It's well within my right under free speech."
"You can do many things under the First Amendment, but you can't shout fire in a crowded theater," Eva countered.
I think making the gun sound you could incite someone a little less stable to take that route. I think you need to think a little bit more about the responsibility.... I think to many people [the sound of a firing pin] would signify that what you are advocating is violence to change what you perceive is wrong, it is armed rebellion.
"An armed revolution," Baker corrected.
A Fan's Shooting Spree
One listener who didn't just sit there was Francisco Martin Duran. On Oct. 29, 1994, the self-professed fan of Baker and Limbaugh fired nearly 30 bullets at the White House. The pickup truck he drove to Washington bore the bumper sticker with the Bakeresque message, "Fire Butch Reno."
Duran, who was active in militia activities in Colorado Springs, had nearly two months earlier threatened to go "to Washington to take someone out" in a call to Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell's office in Colorado Springs.
But Duran's warning went unnoticed--mainly because he was far from alone. "Numerous calls? I would call it an avalanche," said Carol Knight, Campbell's press secretary. "Each call was more obscene, threatening and mean than the one before." Apparently, Chuck Baker's show (8/23/94) had urged listeners to vent their displeasure at the passage of the crime bill--and Duran was one of hundreds who responded (Denver Post,11/17/94).
When Baker heard about Duran's shooting spree, he cut short a board meeting of the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts (NARTSH) in St. Louis.
things are different today.