In your recent story about the paramilitary activities in Pawlet and the groups associated with them, you described Slate Ridge as a “militia training site.” This is incorrect.
The word “militia” properly designates a group organized by or with the authority of a state to supplement the regular military. The Constitution recognizes this element of state sponsorship by referring to a “well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State” as the foundation of a right to bear arms.
Lacking state sponsorship, and in some cases contemplating missions that would bring them directly into armed conflict against the regular military, none of the groups described in your article fits this definition.
There is, however, a word that precisely fits a group of private individuals that accumulates weapons and trains with a view to using them against fellow citizens. That word is “terrorist.” Your headline should have described Slate Ridge as a terrorist training site.
Seth Steinzor
South Burlington
