Although the far-right patriot movement had long been a fringe factor in American politics , cultural factors paved the way for the wide-scale growth of the ideological militia movement . The catalysts came in the form of the FBI 's 1992 shootout with Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge , and the government 's 1993 siege and eventual destruction of David Koresh 's compound and the Branch Davidians at Mt. Carmel in Waco , Texas . Critic Mark Pitcavage described the militia movement of the 1990s : During the 1990s public attention to the militia movement began to grow . The Oklahoma City bombing on April 19 , 1995 , the second anniversary of the Waco fire , drew nationwide attention to the militia movement as Timothy McVeigh was erroneously associated with the Michigan Militia . This increased public scrutiny and law enforcement pressure , and brought in more recruits due to the heightened awareness of the movement
Oklahoma City bombing
Oklahoma City bombing
Militia organizations in the United States