Minutemen (anti-Communist organization)

The Minutemen was a militant anti-Communist, nativist organization formed in the United States in the early 1960s. The founder and head of the group was Robert DePugh, a biochemist from Norborne, Missouri. The Minutemen believed that Communism would soon take over the United States. The group armed themselves and prepared to violently suppress persons and groups they deemed un-American. The Minutemen organized themselves into small cells and stockpiled weapons for an anticipated counter-revolution.

For other uses, see Minutemen (disambiguation).

In February 1968, DePugh was indicted by a federal grand jury in Seattle, Washington for conspiracy to commit bank robbery. Also in 1968, he was arrested for violation of federal firearms laws. He skipped bail and went underground for over a year until he was caught in 1969 in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. He was released from prison in May 1973. DePugh later wrote a survival manual, Can You Survive?, and was associated briefly with Liberty Lobby.

DePugh, 86, died at home June 30, 2009.[1]

Publications

The Minutemen's publication was a newsletter called "On Target".

  • Principles of Guerrilla Warfare, Robert DePugh. Published by the Minutemen, San Diego, CA, 1961. 10 pages.[2]
  • Blueprint for Victory, Robert DePugh. 1966.
  • Can You Survive? Robert DePugh. Published by Desert Publications, El Dorado, AZ, 1973. 214 pages. ISBN 0-87947-442-4

References
  1. T.J. Greaney, "Minuteman outlasted notoriety, died with regrets", Columbia Daily Tribune, Thursday, August 6, 2009.
  2. Google books, no preview

See also

Further reading
  • J. Harry Jones, Jr. The Minutemen. Doubleday & Company, Inc.: Garden City, NY, 1968. 426 pages. Expanded paperback edition published as A Private Army 1969.
  • Interview with former Minuteman Robert N. Taylor
  • Eric Beckemeier. Traitors Beware: A History of Robert DePugh's Minutemen, Eric Beckemeier Publications, Hardin, MO, 2008. ISBN 978-0-615-17283-5

FBI files on the Minutemen and DePugh, obtained under the FOIA and hosted at the Internet Archive

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