Arrested Democracy, Part 1 

In 2010, conspiracy theorists around the country were convinced that Barack Obama was not the rightful president. Some of them filed lawsuits. Some of them tried to have the President indicted. And when none of that worked, some of them took matters into their own hands and tried to arrest the county court employees they thought were standing in their way. In the first half of this story, Walter Fitzpatrick unsuccessfully storms the courtroom in Madisonville, Tennessee. The outcry over his arrest would motivate Oath Keeper Darren Huff to rally supporters for a second attempt.

Original air date: 11/14/24

Arrested Democracy, Part 2

When Oath Keeper Darren Huff returned to Madisonville, Tennessee on April 20, 2010, he was planning to take control of the courthouse. It didn't quite work out that way. He didn't even see the inside of a courthouse until his own arrest a week later.

Original air date: 11/21/24

Part 1 Sources:

Jardina A, Traugott M. The Genesis of the Birther Rumor: Partisanship, Racial Attitudes, and Political Knowledge. The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. 2019;4(1):60-80. doi:10.1017/rep.2018.25

Josh Pasek, Tobias H. Stark, Jon A. Krosnick, Trevor Tompson,
What motivates a conspiracy theory? Birther beliefs, partisanship, liberal-conservative ideology, and anti-Black attitudes, Electoral Studies, Volume 40, 2015

Hughey, M.W. Show Me Your Papers! Obama’s Birth and the Whiteness of Belonging. Qual Sociol 35, 163–181 (2012).

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/birther-movement-founder-trump-clinton-228304


https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna33388485


https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/us/12alabama.html


https://www.newsherald.com/story/news/crime/2018/10/19/vigilante-group-oath-keepers-arrested-in-mexico-beach-following-hurricane-michael/9509280007/


https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oath-keepers-poll-watching_n_58122566e4b0990edc2f8178


https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/1998/hate-group-expert-daniel-levitas-discusses-posse-comitatus-christian-identity-movement-and


https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2009mc00346/137380/2/0.pdf


https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/25/judge-lamberth-jan-6-trump-00137960


https://www.tncourts.gov/rules/rules-criminal-procedure/6


Part 2 Sources:

https://www.politico.com/story/2010/04/army-birther-under-investigation-035823


https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/army-birther-lakin-released-from-leavenworth/


https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/04/26/gordon-liddy-on-shooting-from-the-lip/75754676-030f-4191-a9e3-a421855aea1f/


https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/part-six-g-gordon-liddy-the-126130442/


https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/08/roger-stone-kristin-davis-robert-mueller/


https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/democratic-party-accuses-republicans-voter-intimidation-federal-court


https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/attorney-for-birther-army-doc-is-former-gop-staffer-and-anti-gay-crusader


https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/gan/press/2011/11-01-11.html


https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/14/fewer-than-1-of-defendants-in-federal-criminal-cases-were-acquitted-in-2022/


https://time.com/archive/6597707/the-secret-world-of-extreme-militias/


https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-vaxxers-charge-followers-to-join-fake-anthony-fauci-grand-jury/


https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4382623/fitzpatrick-v-bivins/


https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5092131/united-states-v-huff-tv1/


https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69341723/united-states-v-darren-huff/

Arrested Democracy, Part 1 In 2010, conspiracy theorists around the country were convinced that Barack Obama was not the rightful president. Some of them filed lawsuits. Some of them tried to have the President indicted. And when none of that worked, some of them took matters into their own hands and tried to arrest the county court employees they thought were standing in their way. In the first half of this story, Walter Fitzpatrick unsuccessfully storms the courtroom in Madisonville, Tennessee. The outcry over his arrest would motivate Oath Keeper Darren Huff to rally supporters for a second attempt. Original air date: 11/14/24 Arrested Democracy, Part 2 When Oath Keeper Darren Huff returned to Madisonville, Tennessee on April 20, 2010, he was planning to take control of the courthouse. It didn't quite work out that way. He didn't even see the inside of a courthouse until his own arrest a week later. Original air date: 11/21/24 Part 1 Sources: Jardina A, Traugott M. The Genesis of the Birther Rumor: Partisanship, Racial Attitudes, and Political Knowledge. The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. 2019;4(1):60-80. doi:10.1017/rep.2018.25 Josh Pasek, Tobias H. Stark, Jon A. Krosnick, Trevor Tompson, What motivates a conspiracy theory? Birther beliefs, partisanship, liberal-conservative ideology, and anti-Black attitudes, Electoral Studies, Volume 40, 2015 Hughey, M.W. Show Me Your Papers! Obama&rsquo;s Birth and the Whiteness of Belonging. Qual Sociol 35, 163&ndash;181 (2012). <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/birther-movement-founder-trump-clinton-228304">https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/birther-movement-founder-trump-clinton-228304</a>
 <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna33388485">https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna33388485</a>
 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/us/12alabama.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/us/12alabama.html</a>
 <a href="https://www.newsherald.com/story/news/crime/2018/10/19/vigilante-group-oath-keepers-arrested-in-mexico-beach-following-hurricane-michael/9509280007/">https://www.newsherald.com/story/news/crime/2018/10/19/vigilante-group-oath-keepers-arrested-in-mexico-beach-following-hurricane-michael/9509280007/</a>
 <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oath-keepers-poll-watching_n_58122566e4b0990edc2f8178">https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oath-keepers-poll-watching_n_58122566e4b0990edc2f8178</a>
 <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/1998/hate-group-expert-daniel-levitas-discusses-posse-comitatus-christian-identity-movement-and">https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/1998/hate-group-expert-daniel-levitas-discusses-posse-comitatus-christian-identity-movement-and</a>
 <a href="https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2009mc00346/137380/2/0.pdf">https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2009mc00346/137380/2/0.pdf</a>
 <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/25/judge-lamberth-jan-6-trump-00137960">https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/25/judge-lamberth-jan-6-trump-00137960</a>
 <a href="https://www.tncourts.gov/rules/rules-criminal-procedure/6">https://www.tncourts.gov/rules/rules-criminal-procedure/6</a>
 Part 2 Sources: <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2010/04/army-birther-under-investigation-035823">https://www.politico.com/story/2010/04/army-birther-under-investigation-035823</a>
 <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/army-birther-lakin-released-from-leavenworth/">https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/army-birther-lakin-released-from-leavenworth/</a>
 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/04/26/gordon-liddy-on-shooting-from-the-lip/75754676-030f-4191-a9e3-a421855aea1f/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/04/26/gordon-liddy-on-shooting-from-the-lip/75754676-030f-4191-a9e3-a421855aea1f/</a>
 <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/part-six-g-gordon-liddy-the-126130442/">https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/part-six-g-gordon-liddy-the-126130442/</a>
 <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/08/roger-stone-kristin-davis-robert-mueller/">https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/08/roger-stone-kristin-davis-robert-mueller/</a>
 <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/democratic-party-accuses-republicans-voter-intimidation-federal-court">https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/democratic-party-accuses-republicans-voter-intimidation-federal-court</a>
 <a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/attorney-for-birther-army-doc-is-former-gop-staffer-and-anti-gay-crusader">https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/attorney-for-birther-army-doc-is-former-gop-staffer-and-anti-gay-crusader</a>
 <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/gan/press/2011/11-01-11.html">https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/gan/press/2011/11-01-11.html</a>
 <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/14/fewer-than-1-of-defendants-in-federal-criminal-cases-were-acquitted-in-2022/">https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/14/fewer-than-1-of-defendants-in-federal-criminal-cases-were-acquitted-in-2022/</a>
 <a href="https://time.com/archive/6597707/the-secret-world-of-extreme-militias/">https://time.com/archive/6597707/the-secret-world-of-extreme-militias/</a>
 <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-vaxxers-charge-followers-to-join-fake-anthony-fauci-grand-jury/">https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-vaxxers-charge-followers-to-join-fake-anthony-fauci-grand-jury/</a>
 <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4382623/fitzpatrick-v-bivins/">https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4382623/fitzpatrick-v-bivins/</a>
 <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5092131/united-states-v-huff-tv1/">https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5092131/united-states-v-huff-tv1/</a>
 <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69341723/united-states-v-darren-huff/">https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69341723/united-states-v-darren-huff/</a>

Weird Little Guys is a weekly show about the worst people you’ve never heard of, taking you beyond the headlines to get to know the race warriors and aspiring terrorists trying to unravel the fabric of our society. Weaving together the origin stories of modern American white supremacist groups and the crimes that land their members in court, independent journalist Molly Conger exposes the monsters for what they really are - some weird guy. Whether they’re conspiring to build bombs or serving swastika shaped cookies at a dinner party, the weird little guys trying to destroy America are a little less scary with their masks off. 

Weird Little Guys is a weekly show about the worst people you’ve never heard of, taking you beyond the headlines to get to know the race warriors and aspiring terrorists trying to unravel the fabric of our society. Weaving together the origin stories of modern American white supremacist groups and the crimes that land their members in court, independent journalist Molly Conger exposes the monsters for what they really are - some weird guy. Whether they’re conspiring to build bombs or serving swastika shaped cookies at a dinner party, the weird little guys trying to destroy America are a little less scary with their masks off.

Investigative journalist Molly Conger takes you beyond the headlines to examine some of the worst people on the planet, most of whom you’ve never heard of. These are the weird little guys trying to ruin life as we know it.

Weird Little Guys

CZM Rewind: Arrested Democracy

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/bb4075a0-32fc-4e6b-9f82-b2d4014366e7/transcript