Study shows five U.S. states prone to election-related armed violence

Washington, October 28 (RHC)-- Five U.S. states are at high risk of witnessing election-related armed violence by militia groups, according to a new study.  “Militia groups and other armed non-state actors pose a serious threat to the safety and security of American voters,” a joint report released by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) and MilitiaWatch said.

The two groups have entitled their report as "Standing By: Right-Wing Militia Groups and the U.S. Election" after U.S. President Donald Trump used the “stand back and stand by” phrase at the first presidential debate when he was asked to condemn the white supremacists.

The report refers to Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Oregon as the states that are at high risk and North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, California and New Mexico as the states that are at moderate risk to see active militias.

It also mentions the names of Three Percenters, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Light Foot Militia, Civilian Defense Force, American Contingency, Patriot Prayer, Boogaloo Bois and People’s Rights as the nine militias that could take action leading up to or after the election.

"Throughout the summer and leading up to the general election, these groups have become more assertive, with activities ranging from intervening in protests to organizing kidnapping plots targeting elected officials,” the report added.

“There is an increasing narrative and trend that groups are organizing to ‘supplement’ the work of law enforcement or to place themselves in a narrowly defined ‘public protection’ role in parallel with police departments of a given locale,” it warned.

This comes after the law enforcement officials announced last week that Domocraitc voters in different US states have received intimidating emails from the Proud Boys, warning them to vote for Donald Trump in the upcoming election. 

The Proud Boys is a far-right and neo-fascist group that is known for street violence against left-leaning protesters.  The members often show up to counter protests against Trump and racial injustice.

During the past months, many experts have expressed concern about Trump and his supporters' commitment to peaceful transition of power.  So far, the Republican president has repeatedly evaded to answer questions regarding the power transition just by saying that “we’re going to have to see what happens.”