LAND OF THE FREE
A new wave of militias are emerging throughout the United States. They are increasingly organized, well-armed and steadily recruiting members into a club long lionized as a fringe movement welcoming the collapse of society. Although, in reality, that is not the flag many of today’s militias are flying the highest, if at all. The gut of their cause is often relevance as opposed to reclusiveness.
For multiple years I followed the United Sentinel Militia, Utah's largest constitutional militia, as it weathers through an identity crisis less of their own design than of the society they see themselves preparing to defend. And in that time I’ve discovered a nuanced group more compelling than the caricatures that make its way onto TV and into print.
“Land of the Free” challenges the perceived motivations of a militia making few illusions about what they represent; an unapologetic view that may indeed be more in line with the pivot politics is taking in our country.
Visually, it’s a dynamic story about more than a fringe society drunk on the 2nd amendment. This is a story about our neighbors. And it’s one worth sharing with those who think militias are content to continue living in the shadows.
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