Flame and Steel inside the Capitol

Abstract

This chapter examines the long history of conspiratorial belief systems in the white power movement, a broad alliance of militant right activists active from the late 1970s to the present. It also examines the category of conspiracy and its efficacy, or lack thereof, in the criminal prosecution of such groups. Seditious conspiracy, or the organized attempt to overthrow the government, has featured in both white power tactics and in attempts to hold such activists accountable for criminal behavior, ranging from a 1987–88 seditious conspiracy trial in Fort Smith, Arkansas to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol.