Who Are the 3%ers? Ideology, Organization, and Criminal Cases

The Three Percenters are a decentralized American anti-government militia movement founded in 2008 that frames itself as an armed defender of the Constitution — especially the Second Amendment — against what adherents call federal tyranny. If you are asking who the Three Percenters are, the short version is this: a loosely networked collection of state and regional militia factions, online communities, and unaffiliated individuals who share a label, a Roman-numeral “III” symbol, and a belief that a small armed minority has both the right and the duty to resist the U.S. government. The movement has been tied to the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff, the 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the January 6, 2021 Capitol breach, and a string of weapons and terrorism prosecutions. Canada designated the group a terrorist entity in 2021. U.S. federal agencies classify its adherents as militia violent extremists and have called them one of the most lethal domestic terrorism threats in the country.

Where the Name and Movement Came From

Mike Vanderboegh, a former participant in 1990s Alabama militia groups, launched the Three Percenter concept on his blog Sipsey Street Irregulars in late 2008, shortly after Barack Obama’s election.¹ The name comes from a historically disputed claim that only three percent of American colonists took up arms against the British during the Revolutionary War. Adherents extend that figure to the present, arguing that three percent of modern gun owners will never disarm or accept gun-control laws, and that this three percent is enough to resist a tyrannical government.

Vanderboegh built the movement to be leaderless and decentralized on purpose. He described it as a “simple, powerful concept that could not be infiltrated or subjected to agents provocateurs” the way earlier militia groups had been.¹ In practice, there are no membership rolls, no required training, and no central organization. Anyone can call themselves a Three Percenter by adopting the label. The Roman numeral “III,” usually ringed by thirteen stars, became the shared symbol, appearing on patches, tactical gear, and social media profiles.²

Vanderboegh died of cancer on August 10, 2016, at age 63, at his home in Pinson, Alabama.³ No single successor emerged. The movement continued splintering into autonomous local, state, and regional factions.

What They Believe

At the core of Three Percenter ideology is hostility toward the federal government, which members describe as tyrannical and illegitimate. They cast themselves as armed defenders of the Constitution against what they call a “globalist and socialist conspiracy,” sometimes labeled the “New World Order,” to strip Americans of their rights, beginning with the Second Amendment.²

The federal government has been the historical target, but the enemies list has broadened. Researchers at the University of Maryland’s START center found that the movement uses “coded rhetoric” to express anxiety toward historically disenfranchised racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, even as its public messaging centers on constitutional liberty.⁴ Over time, adherents have directed hostility at anti-fascist activists, Black Lives Matter, Muslims, immigrants, and figures like George Soros.

On the ground, Three Percenters have opposed state “red flag” gun laws, pushed for “gun sanctuary” counties, characterized COVID-19 lockdowns as “medical martial law,” provided armed “security” at pro-Trump rallies, and served as counter-protesters at left-wing demonstrations.²

How the Movement Is Organized

There is no single Three Percenters organization. The movement is a network of traditional militia groups, non-paramilitary political outfits, online communities, and unaffiliated individuals. By the mid-2010s, several large umbrella groups had emerged with state-level chapters, alongside many small, local outfits ranging from active paramilitary units to ideological discussion circles.² The movement overlaps substantially with the Oath Keepers, and leaders of the two groups frequently appear together.¹

American Patriots Three Percent (AP3)

The most prominent national faction is American Patriots Three Percent, founded by Scot Seddon during Obama’s first term. Seddon, a former Army reservist whose service was limited to an initial five-month training stint, built AP3 into a national organization with state chapters, a military-style hierarchy, and a claimed peak of 40,000 to 50,000 members.⁵ After January 6, internal estimates placed membership in the “low thousands,” but by mid-2022 the group reported receiving as many as 50 new applicants per day.

A 2024 ProPublica investigation based on leaked internal communications revealed AP3’s dual approach: the group staged community-service events like food drives (“Operation Hunger Smash”) while running armed border patrols in Quemado, Texas, and deploying members to surveil ballot drop boxes in Arizona, Colorado, and Michigan during the 2022 midterms.⁵⁶ Internally, AP3 maintained Excel spreadsheets tracking local sheriffs by political party and “friendliness” to the group. Seddon also set up a nonprofit, the American Community Outreach Network, intended to fund the militia.

Regional Factions

In Idaho, the original Three Percenter faction collapsed amid embezzlement accusations against a top leader after the 2014 Bundy standoff. Eric Parker, photographed on an overpass aiming a rifle at federal agents during that standoff, reorganized several armed groups under the banner “Real 3%ers Idaho.”⁷ In Georgia, Chris Hill led the III% Security Force, which became known for armed anti-Muslim protests.² State-level groups have also operated in Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and elsewhere.

Major Criminal Cases Tied to the Movement

Bundy Ranch Standoff, 2014

Three Percenter members were among the armed citizens who converged on Bunkerville, Nevada, in April 2014 to confront federal agents attempting to impound rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle. Eric Parker became the face of the confrontation after a photo captured him prone on a highway overpass, rifle aimed at federal officers. He faced two federal trials, both of which ended in hung juries, before pleading to a single misdemeanor obstruction charge. He spent roughly 19 months in pretrial detention.⁷

Parker later moved into mainstream Idaho politics, taking donations from the state Republican Party and drawing applause on the floor of the Idaho Statehouse from conservative lawmakers. He also lobbied for Idaho Senate Bill 1220, which would narrow the state’s definition of domestic terrorism to acts committed by people associated with federally designated foreign terrorist organizations, effectively exempting domestic militia members. A former Idaho attorney general argued the bill would gut the existing law.⁸

Michigan Governor Kidnapping Plot, 2020

Several Three Percenter affiliates played central roles in the 2020 conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Adam Fox, listed as leader of the “Michigan Patriot Three Percenters” on its Facebook page, was identified as a driving force. Barry Croft Jr. co-led the scheme and hosted planning meetings under the Three Percenter banner in Ohio; FBI testimony described him as a national figure within the movement, though Croft denied this. Brian Higgins, a member of the “Wisconsin Patriot Three-Percenter Militia,” conducted reconnaissance of the governor’s vacation home before distancing himself.⁹

The conspirators planned to use explosives, including bombs placed under a highway overpass, to slow law enforcement response. Croft was convicted at a retrial in August 2022 of conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, and possession of an unregistered destructive device. U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker applied a terrorism sentencing enhancement and sentenced Croft to 235 months, roughly 19 and a half years, in federal prison.¹⁰ An appeals court has upheld the convictions.¹¹

January 6 Capitol Breach, 2021

Multiple Three Percenter affiliates were charged in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The most prominent case involved a group of California men who coordinated through a Telegram chat called “The California Patriots — DC Brigade.” They traveled to Washington with tactical gear, plate carriers, bear spray, knives, and firearms, which they stored in a hotel room.¹²

At the Capitol, Derek Kinnison announced, “This is the storm of the Capitol.” Erik Scott Warner scaled the northwest stairs carrying a flagpole and bear spray, called on rioters to “hold the line,” and entered through a broken window. Ronald Mele urged the crowd to “Push! Push! Push!” against police, later filmed himself declaring, “Storm the Capitol!” and created a “Capitol Action Badge” to award co-conspirators. Felipe Antonio Martinez, Kinnison, and Mele followed Warner onto the Upper West Terrace.¹²

All four were convicted by a jury of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and obstruction of an official proceeding, along with misdemeanor charges. Warner and Kinnison were additionally convicted of tampering with documents or records. In April 2024, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced them to prison terms ranging from 21 to 33 months, ordered each to pay $2,000 in restitution, and imposed 36 months of supervised release.¹²

Co-defendant Alan Hostetter, a former La Habra, California police chief turned conspiracy theorist, received the harshest sentence in the case. Hostetter brought tactical gear, pepper spray, and hatchets to Washington, carried a hatchet in his backpack to the White House Ellipse rally, helped push through a police line on the Capitol’s west side, and recorded a video declaring, “The people have taken back their house.”¹³ After a bench trial at which he represented himself, Judge Lamberth sentenced him on December 7, 2023 to 135 months in federal prison, 11 years and three months, on charges including conspiracy and entering a restricted building with a dangerous weapon.¹⁴ Hostetter has said he will appeal.

Other Prosecutions

The movement’s record of violence extends beyond the headline cases. Alex Ramos, a former Three Percenter militia member, received a six-year prison sentence for his role in the beating of a Black man in a parking garage during the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.² In 2016, FBI agents in Garden City, Kansas, arrested three men described as militia extremists for plotting a terrorist attack against a Muslim community; one of them, Patrick Stein, was linked to the Three Percent Security Force.¹⁵ Kevin Massey, a Three Percenter who conducted armed border patrols and detained immigrants at gunpoint in south Texas, was arrested on weapons charges, violated probation after release, and died by suicide in January 2020 while a fugitive.

Ties to Police and Military

Recruiting active-duty law enforcement and military personnel has been a strategic priority for the Three Percenters and allied groups like the Oath Keepers. A leaked 2015 FBI counterterrorism guide noted that investigations of “militia extremists” often uncover “active links to law enforcement officers.”⁵ At a 2021 congressional hearing, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jamie Raskin called recruitment of law enforcement a “key strategic objective” for both movements.¹⁶

Internal AP3 documents revealed a deliberate playbook. The group invited officers to community-service events, distributed brochures insisting “WE ARE NOT A MILITIA!!!!!”, and tracked local sheriffs on spreadsheets by political sympathy. In North Carolina, a chapter leader claimed a sitting sheriff and a state legislator were “off-the-books” members; the sheriff later denied any relationship. In Oklahoma, an AP3 leader claimed to have received “minute by minute updates” on rallies from Oklahoma City police, an allegation the local police union did not directly confirm or deny. After January 6, some active-duty officers resigned from AP3 fearing job loss.⁵

Membership has also included active-duty soldiers and veterans, and AP3 leaders encouraged recruitment at Veterans Affairs facilities.⁵ A 2021 data leak of the AP3 membership database, reported by The Guardian, showed members whose occupations ranged from police and border patrol agents to dental hygienists and beekeepers, with New York state accounting for more than 11 percent of the roughly 500 individuals in the leaked dataset.¹⁷

How Governments Classify Them

On June 25, 2021, the Canadian government listed the Three Percenters as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code. Officials said there was “ample reason” to believe the U.S.-based group was active within Canada and that they had been monitoring it with “growing concern.”¹⁸ The designation froze the group’s property in Canada, required financial institutions to freeze associated assets, criminalized dealing with the group’s property or finances, and criminalized participation in, facilitation of, or support for the organization, including recruitment and training. Associated individuals could also be denied entry into Canada.¹⁹

The United States has not designated the Three Percenters as a terrorist organization. The FBI does not maintain a domestic terrorism list comparable to the State Department’s foreign terrorist list. Instead, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security classify the movement as part of the “militia violent extremist” threat category, under the broader “Anti-Government or Anti-Authority Violent Extremism” umbrella.²⁰

In a March 2021 threat assessment, the Director of National Intelligence identified militia violent extremists as one of the “most lethal” domestic terrorism threats, warning they would “take overt steps to violently resist or facilitate the overthrow” of the government. A 2015 FBI intelligence bulletin specifically warned that militia supporters, including Three Percenters, posed a risk of “additional harassment of or violence against Muslims.”¹⁵ After January 6, the FBI, DHS, and National Counterterrorism Center issued a joint warning about increased radical rhetoric from groups including the Three Percenters, noting the Capitol breach had served as a “massive recruiting event.”¹⁶

No federal statute specifically outlaws the Three Percenters. All 50 states prohibit private militias under their constitutions or statutes, and 29 states have specific anti-militia laws, while 25 have laws against paramilitary training during civil disorder. Georgetown University law professor Mary McCord, testifying before Congress in 2021, said local officials often fail to enforce these laws because of a lack of awareness or a mistaken belief that private militia activity is constitutionally protected. McCord testified that private militias are not authorized by federal or state law and are not protected by the Second Amendment, citing Justice Scalia’s majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller.¹⁶

Where the Movement Stands Now

The Three Percenters relied heavily on social media to grow. Vanderboegh’s original blog was the launchpad, but by the early 2010s Facebook, YouTube, and Myspace were the primary vehicles for recruitment.² In the months around January 6, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube banned several domestic extremist networks.²¹ In 2020, Facebook specifically banned accounts tied to Eric Parker and Real 3%ers Idaho under its policy against militia organizing.⁷ AP3’s website went offline after its hosting provider, Wix, removed the site in early February 2021 following the membership data leak.¹⁷ The group migrated to Telegram for internal communications and continued organizing there.

The movement remains active. Federal prosecutions after January 6 rattled some members, and several AP3 leaders resigned amid internal disputes over whether to pursue political engagement or escalate toward mass-scale violence. But the decentralized design Vanderboegh built in has made the Three Percenters resistant to the kind of organizational collapse the Oath Keepers suffered after their leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy. New groups continue to form under the Three Percenter banner, and AP3 was still operating and recruiting aggressively through at least early 2024, even as its internal communications were being leaked to journalists.⁵

1
Political Research Associates. Profile on the Right: Three Percenters
2
ADL. Three Percenters
3
Montgomery Advertiser. Co-Founder of Pro-Gun III Percent Movement Dies in Alabama
4
START (University of Maryland). The Three Percenters: A Look Inside an Anti-Government Militia
5
ProPublica. Inside the Secret World of the AP3 Militia
6
Wired. Leaked Messages Reveal Militia’s Voter Intimidation Plan
7
NPR. Militia Leader Known as the Bundy Ranch Sniper Seeks a New Title: Senator
8
InvestigateWest. Bundy Ranch Militant Eric Parker Says He’s the Driving Force Behind Idaho Bill to Narrow Definition of Terrorism
9
Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. The Conspiracy to Kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer
10
U.S. Department of Justice. Final Defendant in Michigan Governor Kidnapping Plot Sentenced to Over 19 Years in Prison
11
Michigan Advance. Barry Croft Jr. Sentenced to Nearly 20 Years for Leadership Role in Whitmer Kidnapping Plot
12
The Hill. Three Percenter Militia Members Sentenced to Prison on Jan. 6 Charges
13
CBS News. Alan Hostetter Sentenced for January 6 Capitol Attack
14
NBC News. Ex-Police Chief Who Spread Conspiracy Theories Sentenced in Jan. 6 Case
15
New Lines Institute. Three Percenters Report
16
GovInfo. House Hearing on Domestic Violent Extremism
17
The Guardian. US Militia Membership Includes Military, Police
18
Washington Post. Canada Designates Three Percenters as Terrorist Entity
19
Government of Canada. Government of Canada Lists Four New Terrorist Entities
20
FBI/DHS. Strategic Intelligence Assessment and Data on Domestic Terrorism
21
Vox. Deplatforming Extremists