This is a disturbing account of a gathering of right wing gun extremists being headlined by the guy who says he’s putting together “shock troops” to take over the country and a high level NRA celebrity:
Global takeover conspiracy theories. Christian pastors and local sheriffs still pissed that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. And the head of a group that even the reserved Facebook censors labeled a “violent social militia.”
Few Americans are even aware that the gun company Kahr and a rural Pennsylvania doomsday church—both run by the same ultra-rich Korean family—hold an annual “Freedom Festival” that attracts gun enthusiasts and the type of people who attach “Don’t Tread on Me” flags to the back of their trucks. But in the wake of the failed Jan. 6 insurrection, the event’s amalgamation of sovereign citizens and alt-truthers has taken on a new meaning. And now, it’s even got an all-star lineup.
This year’s top speakers include Steve Bannon, once the chief strategist for President Trump, Dana Loesch, the former aggressively vocal National Rifle Association spokeswoman who made millions while achieving celebrity status in the gun industry, and a smattering of alt-right figures known for championing Trump and the Second Amendment.
Ryan Busse, a former gun industry executive turned self-described whistleblower, told The Daily Beast that the presence of such high-profile speakers lends a dangerous credibility to the armed American fringe that is increasingly angry, vocal, and demanding of government policies that cater to their politics.
“It’s going to send a message across the country that this is normal, that this is OK. This is American fascism being developed right before our eyes,” Busse said. “This is like 1936 Germany in a symposium.”
“The one that concerns me the most is Dana Loesch,” Busse added. “She’s treated by gun consumers like royalty and here she is legitimizing this insanity. That scares me.”
As Busse said, it wasn’t the first “doomsday cult” in the world. “But it’s the first one that a former spokesperson for the NRA is speaking at.”
This is dangerous stuff. Bannon and Loesch have huge followings among regular gun nuts and Trumps (a very big overlap there) and they take their signals from these people.
Now they are scouring the earth for the craziest gun nuts they can find to join their cause.