Three Percenters



During the American Revolution, the active forces in the field against the King's tyranny never amounted to more than 3% of the colonists. Three Percenters today identify with this 3% because they were true patriots fighting for the freedoms the nation we love and honor was founded upon. The Three Percenters (3 Percenters, 3%ers and III%ers) is a far right, terrorist anti-government militia organization founded in 2008, after Barack Obama was first elected President, by a bunch of gun nuts who were afraid that he was gonna take their guns. Though the Three Percenters began in the United States based on anti-Tory mythology, the group established its first Canadian chapter in Alberta in 2017 despite Canada having been a refuge for fleeing Tories after the American Revolution. The foundational myth of the Three Percenters was that only 3% of American colonists fought against the British Empire; the actual percentage was in the range of 15-25% of the population (including women and children).

The original organization, now called The Three Percenters Original (TTPO), was co-founded by Michael "Mike" Brian Vanderboegh, who had previously been a member of Alabama militia groups. From about 1969-1975, Vanderboegh was involved in various leftist and radical causes, including and the Socialist Workers Party. Vanderboegh said that after he read the book Road to Serfdom by Friedrich August von Hayek (of the Austrian school), he moved politically from left to right. By the 1990s, he became active in the militia movement. Following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, Vanderboegh promoted related conspiracy theories. In 2008, he started a blog called the Sipsey Street Irregulars, which he used to create the Three Percenters.

The Three Percenters are considered to belong to the larger 'patriot movement' that includes militias, sovereign citizens, and tax protesters. The last time that membership was listed was in 2015, when they claimed about 470 members. Among these members are Daniel "Cully" Pratt and potentially his more famous brother, actor Chris Pratt. Hmm, suspicious.

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
After Cliven Bundy, a sovereign citizen of Nevada, fought the Federal government over his 'right' to do whatever he wanted on Federal land, he moved on with his well-armed sons and buddies to take over Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in 2016 (though Bundy has claimed to be a citizen of Nevada, not the US). This asinine takeover was based on their pseudolaw idea that the Federal government was required to turn over most of the land that it owns within states to the respective states themselves. The Bundys were joined by the Pacific Patriots Network, an umbrella group that includes regional Three Percenters (Idaho and Oregon) and Oath Keepers groups. The weeks-long armed standoff with law enforcement resulted in the death of one of the participants,

2021 U.S. Capitol riot
The Three Percenters had some noticeable presence at the 2021 Capitol riot-cum-insurrection based on photographic evidence of insignia. About 20 Three Percenters were charged with crimes at the riot.
 * Robert Gieswein of Colorado. Gieswein is also a Proud Boys and Oath Keepers member, and runs a paramilitary training group. He was charged with assaulting police, civil disorder and obstruction of police and government.
 * Alan Hostetter, California, ex-police chief, yoga instructor Allegedly adopted Three Percenters rhetoric and used the American Phoenix Project website "as a platform to advocate violence against certain groups and individuals"; charged with conspiracy, unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon, and obstruction
 * Derek Kinnison, identified as a Three Percenter, charged with conspiracy, unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon, and obstruction
 * Felipe Antonio “Tony” Martinez, California, identified as a Three Percenter, charged with conspiracy, unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon, and obstruction.
 * Patrick McCaughey III of New York allegedly dragged a beaten police officer down the Capitol steps. He was charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, and using a dangerous weapon.
 * Ronald Mele, California, identified as a Three Percenter, charged with conspiracy, unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon, and obstruction
 * "Chris Miller, a Republican member of the Illinois General Assembly, had a decal of the Three Percenters anti-government movement prominently displayed on his truck while it was parked at the East Front of the Capitol — an area that was highly restricted Jan. 6." Miller denied that he knew what the symbol meant even though it was large and prominent. The denial rings hollow since his views are more-or-less in alignment with Three Percenters, Immediately before the insurrection, he went so far as to call Democrats "terrorists" and to say, "we’re engaged in a great culture war to see which worldview will survive." Miller is married to US Representative Mary E. Miller (R-IL). Mary Miller was forced to apologize for paraphrasing Hitler at the pre-insurrection Trump rally.
 * Guy Wesley Reffitt of Texas, according to his wife, he threatened to kill their children if they turned him in. He was charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly threatening his family and unlawful entry into the Capitol. Reffitt was found guilty on five charges: "obstruction of an official proceeding, interfering with police in a riot, transporting a firearm for that purpose, armed trespassing and witness tampering."
 * Erik Scott Warner, California, identified as a Three Percenter, charged with conspiracy, unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon, and obstruction

The post-2021 U.S. Capitol riot Three Percenters Original website briefly maintained their original bravado on January 7 ("…We will combat all those who are corrupt. We are America's insurance policy. We will not see our republic fall. …"). However in the face of serious charges against some Three Percenters, TTPO quickly folded their cards and dissolved their organization, claiming that their Three Percenters group did nothing wrong, it was some other Three Percenters ("We did not conspire or participate in the Jan 6 DC riots and Capitol breach and we condemn the actions of those that did. "). There was no formal membership for Three Percenters, one merely had to say that one was a member, a convenient escape hatch. There were once many chapters of the Three Percenters. If one puts a bunch of belligerent assholes in the same space for long enough, there's gonna be a blowup, and hence there have been numerous schisms from TTPO.