He Liked the Pro-America, Pro-Constitution Vibe. But He Liked the Rage, Too.

"But he didn’t know the group was part of a larger community, until one day, his Navy friend asked if Buckley realized whom he’d been chatting with.

“I was like, ‘I have no idea, bro,’” Buckley says. “He was like, ‘This is the Ku Klux Klan.’”

Buckley was unfazed. The group spoke to a lot of his interests. He liked the distinct “pro-America, pro-Constitution” vibe. But he liked the rage, too.

His anger and grief over his friend Daniel’s death had ballooned into a hatred of Muslims, and he felt similar fury toward gay people that followed from a childhood molestation, he says."

"In part because of this fear of disrespecting the military, data about the scope of the problem among active-duty service members and veterans is sparse.

“This is a terribly nontransparent problem that we’re dealing with,” says Peter Simi, an associate professor of sociology at Chapman University who has studied extremism for more than two decades.

The data that does exist suggests the problem is growing. Statistics from the Center for Strategic & International Studies show that 6.4% of all domestic terror plots and attacks in the United States in 2020 were committed by active-duty or reserve service members—a tiny percentage, but up from 1.5% in 2019. A 2019 poll by Military Times found that more than 1 in 3 troops surveyed reported seeing direct evidence of white nationalism within the military. That’s also up, from 1 in 4 in 2017.

Among those who have left the military, the data is even less clear. While the total number of veterans who join extremist groups is still very small, they play an outsize role in these groups, particularly in militia-style organizations. Amy Cooter and other experts have found that, very roughly, 30 to 40% of militia members have military experience.

“It’s not a couple people,” Simi says. “People don’t want to disrespect the military. … But you still have to talk about a problem, and it’s going [to] get a little uncomfortable.”"
"When Chris Buckley joined the KKK in 2014, its days of cross burning were retreating into the past, he says.

“They’re doing away with the ‘let’s protest in public with pointy hats and robes,’” Buckley says. “The KKK is shifting towards a more militia-style environment.”

A report on radicalization within the military community from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism found that, among extremists with military backgrounds who had committed criminal acts, nearly half belonged to organized militias or embraced anti-government views.

Militia-style groups, which are often oriented around the Second Amendment and a defensive, or even oppositional, stance toward the government, particularly prize members with military experience.

“It comes down to two basic things,” Simi says. “One is skills and training, leadership, munitions training, explosives, all that stuff. And then two is status.”"
"“I needed a mission”
In 2015, Chris Buckley’s wife gave him an ultimatum: He could have drugs and the KKK. Or he could have her and their son. He couldn’t have both.

With the help of a former extremist, Buckley left the KKK. Today, he works with Parents for Peace, an organization dedicated to supporting families and friends trying to help loved ones leave extremist groups. He points to his experience in the months and years after he left the Army National Guard as an example of why a disproportionate number of veterans are vulnerable to extremist recruitment efforts."