The Facebook post was chilling in its tenor and its ominous intent:
“For the sake of my kids and grand kids (sic), let’s just do this Civil War thing now before I get to (sic) old to fight. I just can’t believe what these antifa (sic) leftist little punks are doing and getting away with right now. I’m fed up with it.
Where do I sign up..”
The menacing message was posted on June 11 by Denham Springs realtor Brandon Browning, who was an unsuccessful candidate for Livingston Parish Assessor in last October’s election. His message apparently ignored the fact that Antifa is an anti-fascist political movement and that nearly 417,000 American military died in World War II, 276.600 of those fighting fascism and Nazism in Europe.
Be that as it may, no sooner had his message appeared than someone recommended something called the Cajun Guard to him.
Curious, I set out to find out what I could about the Cajun Guard—mainly because Browning’s message originated here in Livingston Parish where I live. I quickly found the Cajun Guard (not to be confused with the Cajun Navy, which did a heroic job rescuing families during the 2016 flood) has its own web page. You can see that web page HERE. (You should take note of the outfit’s logo which says Sivis Pacem Para Bellum—Latin for “If you want peace, prepare for war.”
Inside an outline of a map of Louisiana, there is what appears to be a skull and “III%,” which I’ll come back to later.
When I clicked on the “Contact Us” heading, I was taken to a page with the phone number 225-305-1911 and an email address info@cajunguard.org.
On the Cajun Guard Patriot Supply page, I found a PHYSICAL ADDRESS: 8241 Fairlane Drive, Denham Springs.
That just happens to be the residence of one Robert C. Witt, II, according to Livingston Parish property tax records.
No one has responded to my email inquiry now for five days and when I called their number, the call is eventually rolled over to another telephone number: 225-910-1094 where I was invited to leave a message. I did. Again, no response after five days.
So, what, exactly, is Cajun Guard to which Browning was directed to satisfy his thirst for adventure and possible insurrection?
Well, to get that answer, again we go to Cajun Guard’s own web page.
“We are a civilian volunteer organization that trains, educates, prepares, responds to disasters, and defends the constitution (sic).
“We strive to partner with our local law enforcement and elected officials to ensure that we are kept abreast of where our help can best be utilized.
“We work with local and regional disaster response teams to effectively assist established governmental agencies wherever possible.
“Many of our members are CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) credentialed and active within the community CERT program.”
Okay, so far so good. Sounds like a good civic-minded organization.
But then, the narrative continues:
“The militia is classified as a civilian volunteer organization and therefore will carry out operations in absence of orders as dictated by necessity during a crisis. All Cajun Guard personnel will conduct themselves with professionalism, integrity and the utmost respect for others at all times.”
Militia? Well, that got my attention.
“It is our assertion that Cajun Guard constitutes and fulfills the roll (sic) of the Unorganized Militia for the State of Louisiana as defined by Louisiana state law (LRS 29:3 which through Act 622 of 1974, defines organized and unorganized militia in their respective military roles).
After reading about the term militia—in 2019, the Southern Poverty Law Center identified 181 armed militia groups in the US—I moved on to the obligatory OUR MISSION page:
“Today’s militia has a wide spectrum of missions, from disaster relief to terrorism prevention (emphasis mine).
“…One role of the militia is defense of the state from terrorism or invasion…”
Membership, the web page said, is open to all ages, genders, and races so long as the applicant is “of good moral character” and who “is not any of the following:
- A fugitive from justice;
- An alien illegally in the United States;
- A convicted felon;
- A user of any unlawful drugs;
- Adjudicated mental (sic) defective.”
Turns out there could be a problem with the third requirement in those by-laws because in 2016, one Robert C. Witt, age 49, was arrested for possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon by a convicted felon and for aggravated assault (emphasis mine).
That was in 2016. Today, four years later, Robert C. Witt of 8241 Fairlane Drive, Denham Springs, is listed as 53 years of age.
While it was not immediately clear what felonious charge Witt was convicted of, it would seem to make him ineligible for membership in his own organization.
And, what’s so important about Robert C. Witt anyway?
- Well, for openers, he’s listed as an officer of the Cajun Guard, according to records on file with the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office.
- Robert Witt is also listed as an officer for Gulf Coast Preppers, an outfit that trains paramilitary personnel. Here’s the web page for SOUTH ALABAMA PREPPERS.
- He’s also an officer for Minuteman Gear, LLC.
- Robert Witt and Robert Witt II are both listed as officers for CCD Ventures, LLC and for CCD Holdings, Inc.
- Robert Witt is listed as an officer for something called St. Paul Life Ministries
- He is also listed as an officer for Compuworks, LLC.
Each of those entities listed as their address 8241 Fairlane, Denham Springs.
One other entity no longer active for which Robert C. Witt and Robert C. Witt II were listed as officers is Southern Signworks of 8275 Vincent Road, Denham Springs.
When Robert Witt was arrested in 2016, his address was given as 7628 Vincent Road.
But of all the words of community service and benefits to humanity in times of crisis claimed by the Cajun Guard, nothing says quite as much about the organization as “III%,” the commonly-used symbol for the Three Percenters.
Tomorrow: A Louisiana congressman hypes III%
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