Bridgewater Township Supervisor Jolea Mull has twice sought help from militia members this year to search for missing township residents.
The move is drawing criticism from militia watchdog groups, who say Mull is legitimizing an extreme right-wing movement that has a history of being associated with criminal activity.
And the partnership comes as the militia movement is exploding across the country, driven by fears of economic collapse and the potential for a crackdown on gun rights under the Obama administration, watchdog groups say.
About 50 militia members from five units live in Washtenaw County, militia leaders say. They are survivalists, who favor larger local government and a smaller federal government. Members are fiercely protective of their free speech and gun rights.
When Mull learned from Washtenaw County sheriff's deputies that a township woman was missing Jan. 13, she contacted local militia leader Jimmy Schiel.
“She said, ‘Hey, we need help to do a ground search for Anna-Maria Wheeker,” Schiel recalls of their phone conversation that morning. “I said, ‘So you want the militia?' And she said, ‘Yes.”
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Fritz Hartgers, a member of the West Michigan Volunteer Militia, practices firing his AR-15 at the firing range during the Michigan Militia training at Island Lake Recreation Area March 6.
Angela Cesere | AnnArbor.com
Schiel, a member of the Washtenaw County-based Michigan Militia Corps Wolverines, 9th Division, 13th Brigade, started making phone calls. He quickly rounded up three members from his unit and three from the Lenawee County-based Hutaree, 8th Division, 20th Brigade.
They responded to the township hall with two search dogs, backpacks containing medical supplies and a non-militia volunteer on horseback. They met with deputies, firefighters and other volunteers before fanning out in the area to search for Wheeker.
Wheeker, a 45-year-old mother of four, was found dead on her roughly 20-acre property. She died of hypothermia, but the manner of death was not determined, the county medical examiner's office said. Wheeker had taken more anxiety medication than normal, officials said.
While the result was tragic, Schiel said, it was a significant event in his 15 years with the militia unit. “That was the very first time we were deployed in an official capacity,” Schiel said.
Mull, who said she was pleased with the militia’s response, contacted Schiel again Feb. 17 when deputies told her 56-year-old Robert Melvin Wise was missing.
Four members from Schiel’s unit, one from Hutaree and a member from a Livingston County unit responded. They were given the task of driving around Jackson County to look for Wise on state hunting grounds.
Wise was found dead in the driver’s seat of a car in Freedom Township. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning, and the manner of death was suicide, the county medical examiner’s office said.
Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors extremist groups, questioned why an elected official would reach out to the militia.
The militia movement has been involved in an “enormous amount of criminal violence” and “huge number of domestic terror plots,” Potok said.
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Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia member Rusty W. stands with a group of militia members in the parking lot of the firing range for training.
Angela Cesere | AnnArbor.com
“It certainly seems poorly advised to be kind, to ask people who believe in completely false conspiracy theories and see the government largely as an enemy to help in law enforcement matters,” Potok said. “I don’t see how that could work out well.”
Mull, a Republican, turned to the militia because of their training in search and rescue techniques, familiarity with the local community and willingness to help, she said in a prepared statement. About 1,700 people live in Bridgewater Township in southwestern Washtenaw County.
“Unfortunately, in both cases, the searches ended tragically, but there’s an old cliché that says, ‘You are either part of the problem or part of the solution," she said. "It is clear to me from these experiences that our local militia is part of the solution."
“Based on what I have observed of our local militia’s efforts, I highly recommend that other municipalities coordinate with and get to know their local militia members."
The sheriff’s department was grateful for the help, said Derrick Jackson, the department’s director of community engagement.
“The volunteers were helpful whether they were militia, whether they were residents of that community or friends of elected officials,” Jackson said. “They did exactly what we asked of them.”
