Issue Brief: Unaffiliated Armed and Unidentified Militia Actors at Demonstrations, January 2020 – June 2021

Following the high profile role of unlawful paramilitary and “organized” armed groups in the events of January 6, much public attention and research has rightly turned to examining specific named, unlawful paramilitary groups. However, the majority of people arrested in connection with the Capitol attack were not affiliated with militia organizations. This brief looks at 416 instances of armed actors and incidents involving guns at protests, where the armed actors were not reported to be affiliated with a named paramilitary or militia organization.