William Norman Grigg

William Norman Grigg argues in the following viewpoint that federal officials and organizations that monitor “hate groups” are too eager to depict militias and other Patriot groups as “violent subversives.” Many charges and arrests against members of these groups have proved to be unfounded, he maintains, and some federal agents who have infiltrated the groups have been shown to instigate or urge the groups to take violent actions. Most members of Patriot groups are peaceful, law-abiding Americans, he concludes. Grigg is the senior editor of the New American magazine published by the John Birch Society.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. How does The New York Times describe the face of domestic terrorism, as cited by the author?
2. What is the “Patriot menace...