Oath Keepers in the State House: How a Militia Movement Took Root in the Republican Mainstream

A membership roster for the Oath Keepers, a violent extremist group whose followers have been charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection, includes state lawmakers, congressional candidates, and local government and GOP officials. North Carolina state representative Mike Clampitt swore an oath to uphold the Constitution after his election in 2016 and again in 2020. But

Westward Expansion: Crash Course US History #24

In which John Green teaches you about the Wild, Wild, West, which as it turns out, wasn’t as wild as it seemed in the movies. When we think of the western expansion of the United States in the 19th century, we’re conditioned to imagine the loner. The self-reliant, unattached cowpoke roaming the prairie in search

Native American population jumps to largest size in modern history

The number of people who identify as Native American or Alaska Native alone grew by 27.1% to 3.7 million people over the last decade, according to the U.S. Census. Why it matter: The spike in the number of people who solely identify as Native American or Alaska Native mirrors the steady rise of the population since

Lindell-apalooza melts down: MyPillow guy claims antifa sabotaged his “cyber symposium”

Mike Lindell produces no evidence of election fraud at South Dakota shindig; blames invisible antifa infiltrators SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, on the final day of his “cyber symposium,” remained unable to produce any tangible evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. He attempted to deflect blame for his failed event onto supposed antifa activists — or,

States scale back virus reporting just as cases surge

Several states scaled back their reporting of COVID-19 statistics this month just as cases across the country started to skyrocket, depriving the public of real-time information on outbreaks, cases, hospitalizations and deaths in their communities. The shift to weekly instead of daily reporting in Florida, Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota marked a notable shift during

Arkansas governor: ‘Bad precedent’ to send privately funded guardsmen to border

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said Sunday that sending a state’s National Guard to the U.S-Mexico border using money from a private donor sets a “bad precedent.”  In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” anchor Dana Bash cited South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s (R) use of funding from Tennessee billionaire Willis Johnson to send an initial deployment of as many as

GOP megadonor funds S.D. troops’ border deployment

A Tennessee billionaire and high-dollar Republican donor is funding the deployment of South Dakota National Guard troops to the U.S. Mexico border. Driving the news: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who’s gaining attention as a possible 2024 presidential contender, made a splash on Tuesday with an announcement that she was deploying an unspecified number of National Guard troops

Let’s talk about the South Dakota National Guard and the missing point – Beau of the Fifth Column

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s family got $600,000 in COVID relief grants

Noem’s relatives came into a sizable sum under a program the South Dakota governor personally boosted Family members of South Dakota’s Republican Gov. Kristi Noem came into more than $600,000 from a state relief fund that was boosted by the governor herself to support small businesses struggling under the weight of the pandemic.  According to the Associated

Victim That South Dakota AG ‘Didn’t See’ Came Through His Windshield, Investigators Say

Investigators questioned how Jason Ravnsborg could not have seen what he’d hit when the victim’s glasses were in his car and “his face came through your windshield.” South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has maintained since his fatal crash last fall that he didn’t see what he’d hit—but a newly released video of his police interview