Posse Comitatus

The group most responsible for spreading Christian Identity in the 1980's was the Posse Comitatus, a loosely-knit survivalist movement which grew out of the Christian Identity teachings of Col. William Potter Gale in California.

The Posse Comitatus, Latin for ''power of the county'' but more accurately transliterated as ''to empower the citizenry,'' is the legal concept used by sheriffs in Hollywood westerns to round up a posse and chase the varmints. In modern legal terms it means the right to deputize citizens to carry out law enforcement functions, and it also is the basis of a federal law preventing the use of federal troops in civilian law enforcement without the express consent of the President. Members of the Posse Comitatus, however, promote an unsubstantiated belief that the Constitution does not authorize any law enforcement powers above the level of county sheriff, and that state and federal officials above the county level are part of a gigantic conspiracy to deny average citizens their rights.

Many Posse and Identity adherents believe Jews, Blacks, Communists, Homosexuals and race-traitors have seized control of the United States. They refer to Washington, D.C. as the Zionist Occupational Government (ZOG). They read the novel ''The Turner Diaries'' in which an underground white army leads a revolution against ZOG.

In 1969 H. L. ''Mike'' Beach in Portland, Oregon began issuing ''Sheriff's Posse Comitatus'' charters and handbooks. Soon Gale began issuing his own charters and a handbook called the ''Guide for Volunteer Christian Posses.'' Early factionalism gave way to an informal political and religious movement which began to grow. In the early 1970's a Posse manifesto was issued in booklet form.

Posse Comitatus, also known as Sheriff's Posse Comitatus, is a loose knit, nationwide organization established in 1973. The group's objectives include resisting statutory authority related to federal, state, and local taxing authorities; limiting the capability of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; and limiting access of all law enforcement representatives in trespassing on individual property. The FBI conducted an extremist matter/white hate investigation concerning the Posse Comitatus from 1972 through 1977. The organization was also investigated in 1980 through 1986 on possible domestic security/terrorism activities.