Ads and small public events attempting to recruit members for an anti-government group have been popping up in obscure Aroostook and Penobscot County locations, though it’s unclear how big a reach the organization has nationwide and if it’s gaining traction in Maine.
Tactical Civics has been listed as an extremist anti-government group by the Southern Poverty Law Center since 2023, when it saw the organization forming new branches around the country, said Travis McAdam, a senior investigator at the advocacy center.
The anti-government group claims it wants to teach people how to lobby municipal governments to pass ordinances and create local grand juries and militias. Its mission is similar to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 initiative and campaign promises of former President Donald Trump, and includes defunding federal agencies it sees as violating the constitution, ending subsidies and securing the nation’s borders, according to its training documents.
The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the Tactical Civics Institute, the fundraising arm of the group, in the same category as potentially dangerous anti-government organizations such as the Three Percenters, The Righteous Army and the Oath Keepers, McAdam said.
Tactical Civics is the latest right-wing group to try and recruit members in rural Maine, which is believed to attract extremists because of the state’s loose gun laws and high percentage of white residents. Whether Tactical Civics has had any success in Maine is unclear, as the only membership numbers are being reported by the group itself.
In August 2023, the Bangor Daily News reported that neo-Nazi Chris Pohlhaus, founder of the Blood Tribe, was building a training ground facility for his followers in Springfield. Pohlhaus sold the property in October after public pressure made it “too dangerous” for him to continue operating out of the location, he said.
Prior to that, Tom Kawczynski, then the town manager of Jackman, sought in 2018 to create a white ethnostate in Somerset County named New Albion. He was fired from his municipal position after the BDN reported his involvement with the group.
Ads for Tactical Civics have appeared in copies of the Coffee News found in a Houlton laundromat and in the Fort Fairfield Journal, a conservative news organization. An April article in the same paper reported a Tactical Civics seminar at a Fort Fairfield home for about a dozen people.
Last month, six members rode on a float in the Potato Blossom Festival Parade in Fort Fairfield, and they also manned an informational booth at the Loring Air Museum’s open house on Aug. 2.
Tactical Civics appears to be the first fringe group to emerge in Maine since the state Legislature passed an anti-paramilitary training law this year. If violated, the law gives the Maine attorney general authority to restrain or prevent the actions by temporary or permanent injunction.
Special Assistant to the Attorney General Danna Hayes said she can’t comment on Tactical Civics or its effort, but said local ordinances would not supersede state law.
Tactical Civics Regional Coordinator Jon Ellis, co-owner of Ellis Family Market in Patten and East Millinocket, oversees the group’s Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont activities. Ellis posted a digital call for potential members in the Patten store and holds weekly Zoom recruitment and member meetings. On July 23, 16 people, including a BDN reporter, were in Ellis’ Zoom meeting.
During that session, members chatted about their mission, God, the Constitution and former President Donald Trump.
The Aroostook County Tactical Civics coordinator, Kevin Bushey, said he plans to hold more in-person seminars in Presque Isle on a monthly basis.
There are 83 members in Maine, with 30 new members added in the last 60 days, according to Pennsylvania-based Tactical Civics spokesperson Bill Ogden. He claims the group has 8,000 members nationwide.
Self-reported numbers are regarded as suspicious, McAdam said.
It’s hard to say how the organization is funded. It solicits a $5 monthly member fee, and Ogden claims that co-founder David Zuniga sold his real estate and personal property to support the endeavor.
The Tactical Civics Institute is registered in Dover, Delaware, and it lists itself as a nonprofit 501(c)(3). The institute’s nonprofit status was revoked on May 15, 2021, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
Tactical Civics’ agenda is being pushed in at least one state legislature.
This spring, the Montana Legislature tabled two House bills, HB 405 and HB 589, sponsored by Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway, R-Great Falls. The bills called for a Constitutional Amendment to allow citizen grand juries.
When both bills failed to pass, a ballot initiative was started. McAdam said the Southern Poverty Law Center is waiting to see if it qualifies.
“This isn’t a grand jury scheme, this is a Spanish Inquisition scheme,” testified Brian Thompson, representing the Montana County Attorneys’ Association during a hearing on the bills. “This is a forced prosecution of individuals that anyone can bring.”
Last month, several members of the Park County Republican Central Committee of Colorado endorsed Tactical Civics during a candidate forum, despite opposition by a vocal minority.
A publicly advertised Tactical Civics meeting in Vale, Oregon, was canceled after owners of the venue told them they could not use that location because of a public outcry against the group.
This story was updated to include the correct location of Jon Ellis’s market in East Millinocket and to include Penobscot County.
