Cliven Bundy, I'm calling you out.
A study conducted by the nonpartisan agency the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism has found in a study reported to the US Department of Homeland Security that sovereign citizens, people who claim that they are only answerable to their own interpretation of the law and a pseudo-nation of in and of themselves (and surprise, surprise often think with prejudices that belong in the 1800's), pose a more dangerous threat to our national security than Islamic extremists. 4500 officers from 2100 federal, state, local, and tribal agencies agree:
The 2013-14 study results show that law enforcement’s top concern is sovereign citizens. Although Islamic extremists remain a major concern for law enforcement, they are no longer their top concern. Approximately 39 percent of respondents agreed and 28 percent strongly agreed that Islamic extremists were a serious terrorist threat. In comparison, 52 percent of respondents agreed and 34 percent strongly agreed that sovereign citizens were a serious terrorist threat. This is interesting because sovereign citizens were ranked as the eighth highest group of concern among the 2006-07 sample.
There are 2 big things of note. The first is the fact that within 7 years, sovereign citizens have surged from being perceived as our 8th biggest threat to our 1st. Voiced dissatisfaction with our government is conducive to the improvement and reform of a democracy, but it's reaching uncomfortably dangerous levels. I hope this doesn't mean people will be at each other's necks should a Democratic president be elected in 2016. The second issue of note is also the fact that militia/patriot groups are considered the 3rd most dangerous threat to our national security, hovering just under Islamic extremists. Their perception of danger has in fact also increased over the past 7 years. Again, the same I said earlier apply. Hopefully, this is not a trend.
Hopefully, this might lower the amount of times that I have to explain that calling all Muslims dangerous based on the actions of a few is like judging America by the Westboro Baptist Church, but that's probably wishful thinking.