Lawmakers consider repealing Maine’s new ban on paramilitary training

By Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli, The County Staff

AUGUSTA — A group of Maine lawmakers has proposed rolling back legislation passed last year that prohibited unauthorized paramilitary training. That ban was originally passed in response to a prominent neo-Nazi who started a training camp for his followers in the state.

The bill that would repeal the ban on paramilitary training, L.D. 203, is sponsored by Rep. James Lee White, R-Guilford, as well as eight Republican co-sponsors and one Passamoquoddy Tribal Representative.  

White testified in support of the proposal during a hearing before the Legislature’s criminal justice and public safety committee on March 10 arguing that the ban was unnecessary in part because that neo-Nazi group left the state.

One other private citizen also spoke in support of White’s bill, but several others testified in opposition, including the Maine Sheriffs Association.

In effect, the bill would repeal another piece of legislation, L.D. 2130, which was passed last year in response to the actions of Christopher Pohlhaus, a nationally known neo-Nazi leader of a group called the Blood Tribe who attempted to build a white ethnostate in Maine. 

That law made Maine the 27th state to prohibit unauthorized paramilitary training. It was similar to a bill passed the previous year in Vermont.

During his testimony, White minimized the threat of violence posted by Pohlhaus’ group, who for a time ran a compound in the Penobscot County town of Springfield.

“The Nazis in question were a ragtag group of very unskilled individuals that numbers in the single digits,” White said. “And they were long gone before any of this was brought to light.”

But most of the others who testified on March 10 challenged White’s description of Pohlhaus, citing the neo-Nazi’s growing national presence and his proclamations of violence. 

“Pohlhaus is at the forefront of a dangerous and insidious movement that is rooted in hate, violence and a delusional vision of racial purity,” testified Mira Ptacin, a Peaks Island author who has extensively researched Pohlhaus. “They advocate for the violent overthrow of governments they view as illegitimate.”

White said he objects to the existing paramilitary bill because it lacks clear definitions and does not identify the process for a paramilitary training group to get authorized. Additionally, he said that according to the law, it’s up to the state attorney general to determine the intent of the paramilitary group.

Last year’s legislation, which was sponsored by Rep. Laurie Osher, D-Orono, was amended to require prosecutors to prove that a person was intentionally or knowingly teaching or practicing the use of firearms, explosives or other techniques to cause “civil disorder.”

Speaking for the Maine Sheriffs Association, Hancock County Sheriff Scott Kane also expressed opposition to repealing the ban on paramilitary training.

“Maine’s Sheriffs believe we need to continue to prohibit anti-Semitic and racist activities, and if we remove Sec.1, MRSA Title 25, Chapter 252-B from statute, we are removing critical protections that are in place for the very people who most need them,” Kane said. 

Members of various religious and racial minority groups throughout Maine are frequently terrorized by those who intend to intimidate and bully them, Kane said, pointing to the training facility Pohlhaus intended to open for his followers. 

“Thankfully, the 131st Legislature passed language that would prohibit these unacceptable activities,” Kane said. “Attorney General [Aaron] Frey noted previously that without this prohibition in statute, there would be no way to charge a person that was using military training with the specific goal of creating civil unrest.”