[This article accompanied another about the conservative militia]
Matt Manker belongs to another local pro-militia group - with a difference.
"We're not a conservative group," says Manker, 34, who lives in the Burton area. "If anything, we're libertarian."
Manker belongs to the Northwest Independent Militia Training Association, which supports the Constitution and gun ownership but also advocates the decriminalization of drugs.
"Most of the people in our group feel that drug laws do more harm to society than good," Manker said. "The war on drugs allows the government to send people in minja suits with machine guns and grenades to kick in your door, and somehow that's supposed to save society."
The group, with about 100 active members, frowns on white supremacy. They meet at 7:00 pm on the second Wednesday of the month at a pizzeria at 12300 N.E. Fourth Plain Road. Visitors are welcome.
Manker said he is the leader of a related militia group called Daniel Malcolm Volunteers, named after an early-American anti-authoritarian. Members have participated in target practices, gun-safety and first-aid classes and compass orienteering practice.
In general they believe that government whether Democrat or Republican is exceeding its Constitutional authority, including when it levies taxes. "Privacy doesn't exist," Manker said. "Censorship is everywhere. How we do everything is controlled by the government."
[End]
to the All Politics Is Local page.
This URL: http://www.pdxnorml.org/Columbian_NW_militia_111394.html
