Online Service Caters To Militias Classifieds Attract Hate Groups, Too

A Montana militia organization is expanding its anti-government message by offering an advertising service on the Internet.

“Support a patriot - buy from a patriot,” says the American Patriot Internet Classified Service, based in Noxon, Mont.

Its director is Randy Trochmann, co-founder of the Militia of Montana.

“Welcome to America’s only Patriot Classified Service,” the Web site says.

“We know that the only way America will survive is for Americans to purchase from Americans.”

The service has ads offering to help militia members find a mate. Customers can join the Ku Klux Klan or buy a KKK robe. There are survival supplies and Hitler coffee mugs for sale.

The service also offers a “Patriot Calender of Events,” with state-by-state listings.

On the list was a meeting Saturday at the Aryan Nations in Hayden Lake, Idaho. Aryan founder Richard Butler hosted Posse Comitatus leader James Wickstrom in a “back to the basics” session.

Wickstrom, of Munising, Mich., is a convicted counterfeiter and well-known anti-Semitic speaker.

The Militia of Montana and its founders John, David and Randy Trochmann, have tried to distance themselves from various hate groups and appeal to pro-gun, anti-government, militia sentiment.

Randy Trochmann did not return telephone calls to discuss the classified service, which has been online a few weeks.

The Web site says the service won’t deny anyone the right to advertise.

“We are firm believers in the 1st Amendment and will fight to protect everyone’s right to freedom of the press, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly,” a message on the site says.

“We will not be accused of discriminating against anyone,” it continues. “This means that we would even allow Morris Dees to advertise on this service.”

Dees is a civil rights leader and founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala. Its Klanwatch operation monitors hate groups nationwide.

“We appreciate the Militia of Montana’s dedication to free enterprise, but we already get plenty of free publicity in the pages of their publications,” said Mark Potok, a spokesman for Dees and the Poverty Law Center.

Potok recalled a recent Militia of Montana newsletter referring to Dees as a “womanizing, money-hungry, homosexual pervert.”

Potok said the Southern Poverty Law Center and Klanwatch wouldn’t consider advertising on the Patriot Internet site.

A similar response came from a Pacific Northwest civil rights organization, the Coalition for Human Dignity, based in Seattle.

“We wouldn’t participate in giving an air of equality to this service,” said Robert Crawford, a research analyst for the coalition.

Crawford’s speciality is monitoring hate groups on the Internet. He said there are now 300-400 Web sites “dedicated to white supremacy.”

Crawford has been watching the American Patriot site since it came online.

“They’re mixing hate in with other products,” he said.

“If you peel back the mask of Christian patriotism, you find the hood of the Klan there,” he said.

Chris Kaufmann, research director for the Montana Human Rights Network, said the Web site is renewed proof that the Militia of Montana has ties to the racist movement.

“The Trochmanns have been trying to deny their racist ties for a long time,” Kaufmann said. “We’ve been trying to expose those ties for an equally long time.

“Now, they’ve shown their true colors.”

, DataTimes