News from Pennsylvania.

A meeting of “like-minded and able-bodied” lovers of “freedom” and “the 2nd Amendment” from Mountain Top has been canceled after police raised concerns about what sounded like the formation of a militia.

Police spoke to the organizer of the event Tuesday morning about their concerns based on a newspaper notice announcing the event and the man agreed to cancel the Sept. 29 meeting, Wright Twp. Police Chief Royce Engler said.

“He was originally going to start a crime watch program. But the way that was worded, it didn’t sound like it was going to be a crime watch to us,” Engler said. “So we put a stop to that.”

The notice was published in the free Mountain Peaks Newspaper’s Sept. 17-30 edition.

Addressed to “all Mountain Top residents ages 21 to 65,” the notice urged interested parties to sign up at the banquet room at King’s Ristorante and Pizzeria at 49 S. Mountain Blvd. the night of Sept. 29.

“Are you concerned about violence in the streets, mob rule, public safety, family safety, destruction of property and these things coming to our community?” the notice says. “Do you love America, God, and the 2nd Amendment? Support our police and want a safe community for your children and family to live in? Do you love American freedom as we have known it? If you are like-minded and able bodied, please join this cause in a proactive approach forming a Mountain Top Watch community to prepare for the unthinkable, which has already become a reality in many cities.”

Fairview Twp. police Chief Phil Holbrook said he had concerns about the wording of the notice and that he felt it sent the wrong message.

“He originally approached us about starting a crime watch, and we were all for that. A crime watch is a good thing, a good idea. The way he worded things, it obviously got a lot of people concerned and upset,” Holbrook said. “I think he just worded it wrong. From everything he said, I don’t think he was looking to start anything like a militia, or do anything like that. I think he just maybe worded it a little aggressively.”

The announcement of a Mountain Top Watch organization comes as a group of local youths has been working to hold a Black Lives Matter rally on the mountain.

Engler said he suspects the group’s formation was motivated by the rally, which has been in the planning stages for weeks.

Rally organizer Thomas Beurmann, 18, of Rice Twp., said he took the notice as a call to arms and a threat against his group’s efforts.

“It definitely seemed scary,” he said. “People (on Facebook) are saying that if something happens they’re going to go out with their guns and protect businesses and stuff, so just to see that it’s being organized was definitely a little scary.”

There are a number of significant failings here.  First of all, under 10 US Code 246, the militia exists, has a right to such, is legal, and the police chief had absolutely no right to interfere.

Second, the organizer had no right to back down because of this interference.  Third, the organizer should never have gone to the police to begin with.  It’s none of their business.

Fourth, I want to know what it means to have “put a stop” to the meetup.  What did the police chief do?  Is there a potential lawsuit here?

Fifth, given prog police chiefs like this, probably with “we’re special because we’re the police” officers working for him, any militia in this area should work more discretely and clandestinely.

Finally, give how spooked the people in this area are from mild-mannered wording like this man used, they’re light years from being prepared for what’s coming their direction.

David Codrea:

LTC Robert Bateman presumes to lecture us on the militia and the Constitution, choosing Esquire Magazine as his forum so that, near as I can figure, we can also educate ourselves on the latest fashion tips for men, join in “progressive” attacks on conservatives, and catch up on all-important information about pop star Prince and his surprise concert tour. Bateman’s bottom line: The militia is what the government says it is, and if you join with others to defend against criminal acts of usurpation committed against you by those with government titles, you’re committing treason.

[ … ]

The Second Amendment only protects a well regulated militia, he argues. “As of 1903,” he maintains, “the ‘militia’ has been known as the National Guard.”

Actually, the resulting United States Code also recognized the “unorganized militia” to include “members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia,” but Bateman dismissed that, claiming, “Weapons are there for the ‘well regulated militia.’ Their use, therefore, must be in defense of the nation.”

There are two problems with Bateman’s assertions in addition to the obvious one that he doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about: First, as the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the United States Senate Ninety-Seventh Congress documented, “Congress has established the present National Guard under its own power to raise armies, expressly stating that it was not doing so under its power to organize and arm the militia.”

There’s more.  Make sure you read David’s analysis.  We’ve run into Bateman before on issues of concealed (or open) carry, the offense he takes at seeing someone who carries, and his idiotic proposals for national gun control.  Finally, we’ve caught him lying about gun control during Operation Iraqi Freedom when my son explained what really happened there (I suppose Bateman didn’t believe anyone who was there would jump into the conversation to call him out).

Bateman has a long history of telling you he is good at everything and that he is a scholar and historian and that he’s special.  But Bateman fails miserably on what constitutes the militia, and David provides him a bit of teaching.  To see just how badly David spanks him, read David’s piece, which is both educated and educational.