Mark Pitcavage
Encyclopedia
Mark Pitcavage is a historian and critic of far right
wing groups and a player of the boardgame Advanced Squad Leader (ASL). He works with the Anti-Defamation League
and was the creator of the now archived Militia Watchdog website. The site has been an archive since 2000 when Pitcavage took the position of Director of Fact Finding for the Anti-Defamation League.
and operated until 2000. The site's subscription list, which mainly included law enforcement officers and other "watchdog" groups, is still being utilized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The site also worked in cooperation with other "watchdog" groups such as The Center for New Community, The Center for Democratic Renewal, the Southern Poverty Law Center
and the Simon Wiesenthal Center
.(p34) Pitcavage's Militia Watchdog profiles have been used as a source for writers on militias and their activities. With the success of the Militia Watchdog project, Pitcavage was made the Director of Investigative Research for the SLATT program.(p34) The SLATT program is an FBI domestic intelligence gathering apparatus that utilizes both paid and unpaid informants, primarily from organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and The Center for New Community. The SLATT program is funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) of the U.S. Department of Justice.
. Pitcavage has given interviews for radio stations such as KCBS (AM)
. In 2006, a student radio station at St. Petersburg College
interviewed Pitcavage for an episode titled "Militia Movement".
as "invaluable to the development" of his possibly fraudulant anti-firearms "history" book Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture. Bellesiles subsequently lost his professorship over the book's erroneous claims.
(ASL). He was named an ASL Gaming Laurelist in 2008.
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
wing groups and a player of the boardgame Advanced Squad Leader (ASL). He works with the Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
and was the creator of the now archived Militia Watchdog website. The site has been an archive since 2000 when Pitcavage took the position of Director of Fact Finding for the Anti-Defamation League.
Militia Watchdog
The Militia Watchdog website was founded by Pitcavage in 1995 following the Oklahoma City bombingOklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...
and operated until 2000. The site's subscription list, which mainly included law enforcement officers and other "watchdog" groups, is still being utilized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The site also worked in cooperation with other "watchdog" groups such as The Center for New Community, The Center for Democratic Renewal, the Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
and the Simon Wiesenthal Center
Simon Wiesenthal Center
The Simon Wiesenthal Center , with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, was established in 1977 and named for Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi hunter. According to its mission statement, it is "an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to repairing the world one step at a time...
.(p34) Pitcavage's Militia Watchdog profiles have been used as a source for writers on militias and their activities. With the success of the Militia Watchdog project, Pitcavage was made the Director of Investigative Research for the SLATT program.(p34) The SLATT program is an FBI domestic intelligence gathering apparatus that utilizes both paid and unpaid informants, primarily from organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and The Center for New Community. The SLATT program is funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Anti-Defamation League
The ADL absorbed Pitcavage's Miltia Watchdog group and now maintains the site as an archive of his work between 1995 and 2000.Commentator on terrorism, gangs, and extremism
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Pitcavage was cited as a terrorism and extremism expert by mainstream media. In 2002, he was interviewed and quoted at length about prison gangs by the Southern Poverty Law CenterSouthern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
. Pitcavage has given interviews for radio stations such as KCBS (AM)
KCBS (AM)
KCBS is an all-news radio station in San Francisco, California, that is a key West Coast flagship radio station of the CBS Radio Network and Westwood One. Its transmitter is located in Novato, California. KCBS currently has studios on Battery Street, where it shares the location with co-owned KPIX...
. In 2006, a student radio station at St. Petersburg College
St. Petersburg College
St. Petersburg College is a fully accredited post-secondary educational institution located in St. Petersburg, Florida, serving some 65,000 students annually...
interviewed Pitcavage for an episode titled "Militia Movement".
Association with Michael A. Bellesiles
Pitcavage's work was cited by Michael A. BellesilesMichael A. Bellesiles
Michael A. Bellesiles is a former professor of American colonial and legal history at Emory University best known as the author of Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture , a book that won the prestigious Bancroft Prize in 2001...
as "invaluable to the development" of his possibly fraudulant anti-firearms "history" book Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture. Bellesiles subsequently lost his professorship over the book's erroneous claims.
Board wargamer
In 2002 and 2003 Pitcavage was the author of strategy and tactics articles for a magazine on board-gaming. Pitcavage hosts his own website regarding the board wargame Advanced Squad LeaderAdvanced Squad Leader
Advanced Squad Leader is a tactical-level board wargame, originally marketed by Avalon Hill Games, that simulates actions of approximately company or battalion size in World War II. It is a detailed game system for two or more players . Components include the ASL Rulebook and various games called...
(ASL). He was named an ASL Gaming Laurelist in 2008.
Academic journal articles
- Ropes of Sand: Territorial Militias, 1801-1812 , Journal of the Early Republic, Vol. 13, No. 4, University of Pennsylvania Press (1993) (pp. 481-500)
- Camouflage and Conspiracy: The Militia Movement From Ruby Ridge to Y2K, American Behavioral Scientist, 44, no. 6 (2001): 957-981
Board game magazine articles
- The Fine Art of Bushwackin’: Ambush and Close Combat—ASL Style, ASL Journal 4 (Advanced Squad Leader board wargame player's magazine) Multi-Man Publishing (2002)
- Up Close and Personal: The Jungle Isn't Neutral, ASL Journal 5 (Advanced Squad Leader board wargame player's magazine) Multi-Man Publishing (2003)