Posse Comitatus (organization)

The Posse Comitatus (Latin, "force of the county")^[1] is a loosely organized American far-right extremist social movement which began in the late 1960s. Its members spread a conspiracy-minded, anti-government, and anti-Semitic message linked to white supremacy aiming to counter what they believe is an attack on their social and political rights as white Christians.^[2]^: 591

Many Posse members practiced survivalism and played a role in the formation of armed citizens' militias in the 1990s. The Posse Comitatus pioneered the use of false liens and other types of "paper terrorism" to harass their opponents by mounting frivolous legal actions against them.^[3] As the Posse Comitatus began their decline in popularity at the turn of the 21st century, their tactics and ideology evolved into those of the Christian Patriot movement and the sovereign citizen movement.^[4]

^ Solodow, Joseph (2010). Latin Alive: The Survival of Latin in English and the Romance Languages. Cambridge University Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-521-51575-7. Retrieved February 19, 2021. Out of the phrase posse comitatus "the force of the county" arose our present use of posse for a group of men whom the sheriff calls upon in a crisis.
^ Knight, Peter, ed. (2003). Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-812-4. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
^ Pitcavage, Mark (June 29, 1998). "Paper Terrorism's Forgotten Victims: The Use of Bogus Liens against Private Individuals and Businesses". Anti-Defamation League: Militia Watchdog archives. Archived from the original on September 18, 2002. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
^ Carey, Kevin (July 2008). "Too Weird for The Wire". Washington Monthly. May/June/July 2008. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2008.