Militia report warrants a complete investigation

On March 20, reporters broke the astonishing news that a report from the Missouri Department of Public Safety was distributed to law enforcement agencies across our state that depicted Christians, anti-abortionists, advocates for protecting our borders and supporters of certain political candidates as potential "threats" to public safety.

The report was developed by the Missouri Information Analysis Center and was titled "The Modern Militia Movement." By title alone, the imagination conjures up images of commando renegades on remote outposts in secluded mountainous terrain.

However, while this "Modern Militia" report did touch on such radical ideologies, the groups purported to be "threats" were supporters of such political candidates as Bob Barr and Ron Paul. There are certainly individual extremists in many religious and political groups (both conservative and liberal), but Gov. Jay Nixon and director of public safety John Britt have created a dangerous precedent of profiling lawful citizens as threats to public safety simply based on their political or religious beliefs.

On Tuesday, Nixon and Britt said they stood by the content of the report, while both said they hadn't read it. Then, on Wednesday, Col. Jim Keathley of the Missouri State Highway Patrol issued a statement saying the review process for future MIAC memos would be changed. Shame on Governor Nixon and Britt for making a noble public servant and iconic law enforcement leader like my friend Colonel Keathley take the fall for their bureaucratic and political failures.

Keathley, the men and women of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and law enforcement officials across this state put their lives on the line each and every day to keep our communities safe. We should honor these everyday heroes for their sacrifices and never allow them to be used in a political ploy.

By Thursday, as conservatives across this state made their voices heard, Nixon decided to pass the blame to the previous administration. This is unacceptable. I am calling for Governor Nixon to place Britt on administrative leave pending a full investigation and accounting of acts of profiling under his supervision at MIAC.

All Missourians should rest assured that we are protected by the freedoms of our constitution and should never have to fear being monitored by their government based upon a person's race, place of birth, political beliefs or their spiritual convictions. Unfortunately, that confidence was shaken by the governor. Nixon remains ultimately responsible for his administration. Nixon should fully answer and apologize for what has been allowed to occur on his watch.

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Rush Limbaugh gave brief remarks concerning Missouri and this report:

"Remember we told you not long ago that the state of Missouri had told the highway patrol that if you see a bumper sticker for a third-party political movement it's obviously a militia group and you gotta be worried, like anybody for Ron Paul or anybody for pro-life, or anybody NRA, and it caused an uproar, so the Missouri Highway Patrol this week retracted a controversial report on militia activity and will change how such reports are reviewed before being distributed to law enforcement agencies. The highway patrol also will open an investigation into the origin of the report, which linked conservative groups with domestic terrorism and named former presidential candidates Ron Paul, Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin as dangerous reactionaries. The highway patrol's announcement followed a news conference in which Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican, suggested putting the director of public safety on administrative leave and investigating how the report was produced. So the fur flew out there over this, and they've rescinded it."

Peter D. Kinder of Cape Girardeau is the lieutenant governor of Missouri.