“Like now.”
“Like now.” He took another drag, seemed lost in thought a moment. “Anyway, that’s when Lewis started getting weird.”
“How so?”
“He started talking more and more about a government conspiracy. See, most militias believe a secret group called the New World Order is gonna take over the world. They’ll use the UN, which is run behind the scenes by a group of wealthy, powerful men. The UN’s foreign troops will invade the US, enslave the American public, and install a global dictator.”
“And just how are they going to get past the US military?”
“Oh, our government’s in on it. According to Lewis, it’s all being run by FEMA.”
“The Federal Emergency Management Agency?” Uzi stifled a laugh. “They help people. After hurricanes and tornadoes and earthquakes. They get people back on their feet.”
“Officially, yes. But their original purpose was an offshoot of the military, to help out after a nuclear war. Lewis says they’re now a shadow government that’s in bed with the UN. He said they’ve got executive orders in place that give FEMA control over our communication facilities, power and food supplies, transportation depots… and, they’ve got a hundred thousand Hong Kong police hidden in the salt mines in Utah, just waiting for the word to be given by the UN dictators.” Haldemann took a puff. “Lewis used to mention the New World Order in his talks, how Yahweh commanded us to take up arms against it. But he never got so specific about it.”
“Yahweh?”
“God. We— I mean, they — don’t use the word God because it’s ‘dog’ spelled backwards.”
Uzi’s eyes narrowed. “Go on.”
“Lewis said he’d gotten hold of all kinds of ‘proof’ that the New World Order was real. He said it all started with Ruby Ridge and Waco, how they were dry runs for the Feds going door to door to arrest innocent people like us — good, hard-working Americans who fought to keep our constitutional rights. He said FEMA’s got dozens of subterranean concentration camps set up all over the country, for people who challenge the government and fight the New World Order. They’re gonna kill us all once the invading armies have control.”
Uzi flicked away a train of ashes from his cigarette. “They really believe this crap?”
“Shit yeah. Hate to admit it, but I did, too. It’s in the delivery. Like I said, Lewis is very good at what he does. He got all worked up, told everyone what was going on, and then showed them. Photos of the concentration camps. Hidden messages buried in laws Congress passed. Eyewitness accounts of black helicopters carrying UN troops into position, hovering over militia compounds, following members in their cars, and taking secret pictures of their homes. It was hard to disagree with what he was saying. It all seemed to fit. Everyone bought into it.”
“Belief in a conspiracy keeps your membership active, interested in the cause,” Uzi said. “It’s no different with the Islamic terrorist groups. If there are powerful enemies plotting against you, your membership stays focused on stopping them. Gives them purpose, an us-against-them mentality.” Uzi eyed Haldemann, gauging his reaction. If what he was saying made sense to the man, Haldemann was truly “over” the militia movement. Only a person outside the closed group could see the conspiracy for what it really was.
Haldemann dragged hard on his Camel but offered no response.
“So you were concerned about where Grant was leading the group,” Uzi said.
“One day Lewis and I were out shooting in the woods and he said he wanted to bomb Camp Grayson, that National Guard base outside Bethesda. He had photos of railroad cars carrying Russian tanks into the base. He said it was the beginning of the foreign invasion, and that we had to stop it. He had this whole plan drawn up. Tell you the truth, it scared the shit out of me. I drove home that night and started thinking. SRM wasn’t like it used to be. It changed. From trying to make people aware of government abuses to some big plot to take over the world.
“So I drove over to Camp Grayson and asked to talk with the person in charge. Some guy came out and I told him what the photos showed. He told me it was part of training exercises using Russian tanks we’d captured during Desert Storm, that if it was a conspiracy, they wouldn’t have been transporting the tanks in open rail cars. I looked at him, and it hit me. Shit, this guy’s right. I wondered if Lewis knew this and didn’t care because he needed us to believe an invasion was in the works, or if he really thought they were coming for us. I went back and told Lewis what I’d done. He went ballistic, said I had no business going behind his back like that. I realized he didn’t care about the truth, he needed ‘the enemy’ just so we’d all stay together, united against a common cause.”
“Exactly,” Uzi said, relieved that Haldemann was exhibiting signs of reason.
“He called off the raid. Next thing I knew, he was saying we needed bigger numbers so our voice would be heard. He changed his title to ‘General’—he said Ulysses S. Grant was a Jew-hater, and he wanted to honor the man’s legacy. So General Grant started talking to Nelson Flint about merging our group with his. Flint’s group was the American Revolution Klansmen back then. Their roots went back to Flint’s father, a Klansman in West Virginia. Nelson took over after the old man pulled a gun on a state trooper.
“They expanded into government conspiracy, too, and that’s where Flint and Lewis found out they had a lot in common. The two groups decided to focus on stopping the New World Order. Lewis sold Flint on the idea that together they were stronger. Really, Lewis just wanted numbers — the power he could get from having more men under his ‘command.’ By merging with ARK, he gained ten thousand members. Most of ’em were racist, white supremacist, card-carrying Klansmen, but to Lewis, that was a good thing. He said it made them more committed to the cause. So ARK and SRM became ARM. They drew up a charter, and first on the list was gun control.”
“Gun control,” Uzi said. He tossed his nearly untouched Camel to the ground. His senses were sharp, refreshed. He felt he’d stumbled onto something important.
“They figured the first thing the New World Order would need to do in order to keep control over the People was to take away our guns. The Brady Bill started it all, they said. Then came the attack on the Second Amendment. Lewis said that any gun law is unconstitutional. Main thing is, they’re afraid that once the New World Order agents take away our guns, there’d be nothing we could do to stop the UN troops from moving in.”
“How serious are they about all this?”
“Dead serious. The militias consider the Second Amendment to be holier than the Ten Commandments. Weapons are sacred to them. Every spare dollar is spent buying more guns and ammunition. Assault rifles, automatic machine guns, rounds and rounds of ammo. The way they see it, you can’t have enough. To the militias, this is a holy war. Like them A-rab extremists.”
“How far would they go to make sure their guns aren’t taken away from them?”
Haldemann laughed. He took a pull on his cigarette, then exhaled and watched the smoke disappear into the night sky.
“Would they kill?” Uzi asked.
“‘Would they kill?’ You kidding? They’d find out whoever was responsible and blow the fucker clear to Kingdom Come.”
Uzi thought of the C-4 on Glendon Rusch’s helicopter. “Does Grant stream a radio show over the Internet to ARM members?”
Haldemann eyed him carefully. “How do you know about that?”
“Thanks for your time. I appreciate what you’ve told me.” He offered Haldemann a card. “If you ever need anything.”
Haldemann hesitated, then took it and walked off toward the Metro escalator. He glanced back at Uzi once, then stepped onto the stairpad.