Civil war happens all over the globe, but experts believe that with all the division, political climate change, national mass shootings, and policy change, people may be readying themselves for a new civil war here in the United States.
Expert Timothy Snyder, a history professor and expert on authoritarianism at Yale, sees a high possibility of civil war due to the civil unrest and political division in America. Kelsey Vlamis and Charles R. Davis of the Insider wrote a report on how an upcoming civil war may be possible, civil unrest, and the current events our nation faces. Civil war experts speculate that the rate we are going, a 2nd American Civil War, is possibly impending. Although this may seem impossible to many people, those studying authoritarianism and the past American Civil War will see how America is currently unstable.
Experts believe the tensions between the American people are growing. These experts attribute this to many factors, the rise of inflation, mass shootings, political movements like black lives matter and police brutality, hot button debates on women’s rights like Roe V Wade, and the most recent election, where the vote was incredibly close. They believe everything we know is about to change, Americans are dissatisfied with the current administration, the handling of Covid-19, and the lack of hope that America will ever return to what made it so great has plummeted.
“First of all, I just want to say that for the people who actually study the origins of civil wars — not just in the US but as a class of events — America doesn’t look good right now,” Snyder said. “Those social scientists who actually work on this topic — neutrally — see indicators in the United States, which suggests that we are on the brink of some kind of conflict.“
Local news reported Federal agents have raided and stormed churches in August and Hinesville, Georgia, as well as Kileen, TX, according to KTWX, a local news outlet from Waco, TX. FBI stormed three churches across the southern United States for having cults allegedly recruiting and targeting United States military service members.
On June 23, 2022, according to KTWX, the FBI raided three churches near military installations across the Southern U.S., including the Assembly of Prayer Christian Church in Killeen.
“I can confirm the FBI was executing court-authorized law enforcement activity today in the vicinity of the intersection of Massey St. and E. Rancier Ave., in Killeen, Texas. No additional information will be released at this time,” FBI Special Agent Carmen Portillo said in an emailed statement to KWTX.
The Assembly of Prayer Christian Church is at 1013 Massey Street in North Killeen. According to KTWX, videos shared on social media on June 23, 2022, show law enforcement officers at the church.
According to the Killeen Daily Herald, many of the Google and Facebook reviews of the church refer to it as a cult recruiting and targeting Fort Hood soldiers.
Experts in sociology believe these militias and cults are motivated by politics or some by ideology such as The Great Replacement Theory. Regardless of what motivates these people, one this is certain they are not waiting for change to come. In the Buffalo shooting, where a young white male shot 13 grocery store customers, including 11 African-Americans, killing Ten innocent people, experts believe the cause is The Great Replacement Theory, showing only the tip of the iceberg regarding current civil unrest in America.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an organization that fights outbreaks of violence and acts of hate and seeks justice for the protection of civil rights, The Intelligence Report identified 488 militia groups that were active in 2021, down from 566 in 2020. 92 Of these groups were militias, 75 were sovereign citizens, three were constitutional sheriffs, and 52 were ideology groups.
Antiestablishment groups peaked in the 2010s and declined since, according to SPLC, this is not indicative of the current state of support and beliefs these militias have:
- Far Right-wing Ideology.
- Have a lack of trust in our government and the current administration.
- Members backlashed and rebelled on their civil liberties when forced to wear masks due to covid-19.
- Dissatisfaction with the handling of the election.
- Members are against local school curriculums teaching gender to very young children and are averse to 5G cell service and other technology.
- Want increased border security, such as building a wall between America and Mexico.
- Antiestablishment groups connected with many hard-right aligned groups in 2021, often targeting marginalized communities or engaging in threats of violence like the January 6 riots.
But the American citizens that are left-aligned are also experiencing the same level of unrest. According to the Harvard Radcliffe Institute experts, when they studied the effects of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, they discovered that they were less violent when compared to the 1960s American civil rights movement. People were growing restless and decided to take change into their own hands and lead protests, and while the left experienced unrest, other groups such as Antifa, LGBTQAI, and women have protested too.
Roe V Wade, a 50-year-old legal precedent, was overturned, according to Politico. According to experts, there was unrest even before the women’s Right To Choose got overturned. There was civil unrest across the nation. Nation Public Radio (NPR) announced a supreme court leaked report on May 3, 2022, that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe V Wade. The National Catholic Register (NCR) reported on tweets from Jason Rantz, Host of The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH 770, with a video showing the pro-life building, Next Step Pregnancy Center vandalized by a lone black-hooded female figure. They believe the divide in this country is apparent and continues to happen and even worsen in some cases. On June 22, 2022, over 50 attacks occurred since the leak on May 2, 2022.
The future is bleak, uncertain, and daunting. Projections go from bad to worse when concerning civil unrest, as our country is more divisive, American politics putting wedges among every citizen, a 2nd American Civil War seems like it is not so crazy after all.
