TPMMuckraker

Accused Christian Militia Member Posted Video Last Year: ‘I’m Just A Simple Militant … What’s Wrong With That?’

We already told you that one of the members of a Christian militia group charged today with “seditious conspiracy” in connection to an alleged plot to kill law enforcement appears to be the extremist who over the last 18 months created widely-viewed videos that warn “our country is in peril” and urge people to take up arms and march on Washington. And it now appears that that same militia member — Kristopher Sickles, who goes by the name of “Pale Horse” — posted a third video in which he lambasted the “corporate media” for its coverage of the militia movement.

The video, posted last August to YouTube and still available, sheds further light on the mindset and philosophy of at least one of the nine Hutaree members accused today of conspiring to kill police officers, then bomb their funeral in a bid to kill more law enforcement personnel, as part of a plot to “oppose by force the authority of the U.S. government.”

“Pale Horse” — identifying himself as a member of the Ohio Militia, and with his face and voice disguised — argues in the August video that the recent media coverage of the militia movement, including of his own earlier videos, suggests that the government, with the help of the mainstream media, is preparing to target his group. “It seems like they’re mounting an attack,” he says. “We’re all over the news. They’re putting us in a bad light. Who have we threatened?”

Later he says: “They’re stamping us all over the media. Clearly they have some plan in mind.”

Pale Horse also rebuts charges of racism advanced in some of the news coverage. “It has nothing to do with the fact that we have a black president,” he insists. “I started my group several years ago when Bush was in office.”

And at one point he cites Alex Jones, the conspiracy-minded radio host, as a comrade-in-arms.

Pale Horse closes with this defense: “I myself have never made any threats or claims against anyone,” he says. “I’m just a simple militant and I just want to protect my family. What’s wrong with that?”

And he adds: “You people need to read between the lines. You’re being lied to by the corporate media.”

Watch:

As we’ve explained, the Hutaree are an explicitly Christian militia group, based predominantly in Michigan, which says its preparing for the arrival of the Anti-Christ. Pale Horse’s video, by contrast, never mentions religious motivations.

It’s unclear exactly when and how Pale Horse began working with the Hutaree, though in one his earlier YouTube videos, posted last April, he referred to training at a Michigan Militia site.

Top Stories From TPM

Oklahoma GOP Sen. Tom Coburn Will Seek To Offset Tornado Aid

Ohio Republicans Push Law To Penalize Colleges For Helping Students Vote

Secret Service Looking Into Radio Host’s Graphic Violent Comments About Obama, Hillary Clinton

VA GOP's Attorney General Nominee Wanted Women To Report Miscarriages To Police Or Face Jail Time

The NRA Thinks These Are The ‘Coolest Gun Movies’ Ever

What Republicans Already Knew About The White House Benghazi Emails

Disqus Conversations

Click here to read the Disqus Commenting FAQ.

Editor & Publisher

Josh Marshall

Managing Editor

David Kurtz

Associate Editor

Nick Martin

Assistant Editor

Igor Bobic

Reporters

Brian Beutler

Sahil Kapur

Eric Lach

Hunter Walker

Frontpage Editor

Zoë Schlanger

News Writers

Tom Kludt

Video Editor

Michael Lester

General Manager & General Counsel

Millet Israeli

VP, Ad Sales

Bruce Ellerstein

Associate Publisher

Kyle Leighton

Assistant To The Publisher

Joe Ragazzo

Designer/Developer

Matthew Wozniak

Design Associate

Christopher O’Driscoll