I recently put out a feature over at BearingArms.com about two members of the Campbell County Militia.
The article was to give two people who were being scrutinized via hit-pieces an opportunity to tell their side of a story concerning several allegations. Resultant from the 50 or so minute interview, was a 3000+ word feature discussing their views.
It’s not every day that I’m going to pull from my mailbox, correspondence that I receive. But, I did get a message from someone that wanted to express their concerns on my reporting.
As a matter of fact, one of her statements was, “As a journalist, you should…” In reference to “evidence” that I should have looked at prior to writing my piece. Naturally, the evidence was something that “supported” her claims. There was an insinuation that I did a shoddy job covering a soft news story.
Lucky for all of us, Donna StClair from Forest, Virginia is a public figure. She ran for office in Virginia in 2023 for a state senate seat.
Ms. StClair wants the facts to get out there.
StClair asserted that the militias cite The Code of Virginia, Title 44, Chapter 1, Article 1, § 44-4, to create their organizations. Section 44-4 states, “The unorganized militia shall consist of all able-bodied persons as set out in § 44-1, except such as may be included in §§ 44-2 and 44-54.6 and except such as may be exempted as hereinafter provided.” StClair expressed her concern that these militia members would “march to their own drummer.”
Keep in mind that the featured story was about two individual militia members expressing their opinions, and answering to allegations. None of which seemed to phase StClair, nor did she seem to think that the duo had the right to answer to allegations. What do we actually get from StClair’s email? More allegations.
We’re already dealing with a massively uphill battle with mainstream media attacking any traditional American ideals that are prevalent in the U.S. Administrations, the talking heads, the progressive ruling class, bloggers, flunkies for the progressive movement, et al. will peg self-reliant and freedom-loving Americans as “racist,” “anti-government,” and even go as far as to comparing them to the KKK.
The actual glimmer of hope is that groups like the Campbell County Militia do exist and are becoming more involved in our civic process and communities. Rugged individualism and the fundamentals of founding American ideals are being embraced more and more. That’s not to say that the megaphones won’t cause damage or try to squash the message of freedom lovers.
StClair’s primary concern seems to be via her statement, “When I listen to these guys express their belief that it’s important for the government to be afraid of you, it’s hard not to hear the threat of insurrection.” [emphasis added] She continued by saying that “paramilitary activity” is forbidden in Virginia, and cited a statute.
As noted above, Donna StClair is a public figure. What can we learn about her? In her bio from her 2023 run for state senate, we have the following:
Donna waded full-throttle into activism, creating a strong presence on social media, and serving as co-chair of the Bedford County Democratic Committee. She is committed to the preservation of democracy as we have known it. Now running for Virginia Senate in the 8th District, she is committed to upholding women’s reproductive rights and enacting measures to promote safe, responsible gun ownership.
One report quotes StClair on her position on firearms:
“Don’t tell me you care about a fetus when it’s real clear to me you don’t care about children,” she said. “They’re dying from guns.”
Despite her Democratic ideologies, StClair said Republicans “aren’t going to know what to do with me” on the issues of gun safety.
“I’m a Democrat who likes guns. I own guns and once upon a time I was the best skeet shooter at Fort McClellan, Alabama,” StClair said. “I like guns in the right hands for the right reasons.”
Once a member of the Women’s Army Corps, the veteran said she does not “understand why anybody thinks they should own” AR-15 style “assault rifles.”
StClair’s answer to Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey in 2023 stated:
With guns being the leading cause of death among children K-12, we must stop wrapping ourselves in the 2nd Amendment — and get serious about enacting common sense gun laws that can help to address our widespread problems of gun violence.
The Ballotpedia survey asked, “What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?” StClair responded with, “Women’s Rights, Gun Control, and Climate Remediation.”
To summarize: StClair, a public figure, is involved in politics with the Democratic party and she is “committed to…enacting measures to promote safe, responsible gun ownership.” She further “does not ‘understand why anybody thinks they should own’ AR-15 style “assault rifles.”” And she wants “common sense gun laws,” which she admits is really another word for “gun control.”
When asked if there were a lot of Democratic party affiliates in the Campbell County Militia, I was told that they don’t have any in the group, “No, we don’t. Of course, politically speaking, there’s not a lot of Democrats in this whole part of the state, honestly. Certainly not in Campbell County,” Dan Abbott stated in our interview.
StClair running for state senate is not the only time she’s graced the pages of the news. In 2021, StClair was a party in a lawsuit that revolved around, wait for it, allegations, “Four people from the greater Lynchburg say their character has been defamed following going to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6.” The report stated, “The group is suing three people – Donna St. Clair of Forest, Hyangman Supernaw of Lynchburg, and one unnamed defendant.”
The lawsuit states the defendants allegedly called them insurrectionists and to “punish them” in these Facebook groups.
Allegations are also made that one of the defendants made a post that Caylor could not be trusted by his clients in his profession as a financial advisor.
In the lawsuit, the Lynchburg group states they have suffered losses to their reputations, monetary losses from work, and fear for their safety.
Before signing her email, StClair offered her advice. Some journalism advice.
Attached to the email was a copy of the Bedford County resolution. Towards the end of that resolution, it’s noted that the militia should be available “in the event they are called or ordered out for lawful purposes by the President of the United States or Governor of Virginia.”
StClair’s statement on that resolution was that “These so-called militia members don’t want to read those parts. As a journalist, you should.”
To help alleviate some of StClair’s concerns – and questioning of my abilities as a journalist – I think the first fact we’ll look at is that the militia I was reporting on was the Campbell County Militia. Not the Bedford.
Further, what was being reported on had to do with the two members dealing with allegations – ironically. Those allegations were similar to someone saying they might be, oh I don’t know, insurrectionists.
What I was reporting on in the BearingArms.com piece is something that StClair didn’t “want to read,” apparently. Or did not comprehend. I made the following observation:
The real alarming trend is the smearing of libertarian groups that advocate for self-reliance. These freedom loving ideals somehow make them implicitly racist. Or negative just for being. There is a growing narrative discrediting any group that’s gaining popularity and might go against the fray of progressive politics.
Add “insurrectionist” to the list of titles that militia members might be named. It sounds like StClair has ideological differences with all of these militia members/groups.
In closing out the BearingArms.com piece, I made a few statements. I think those statements are important to echo in this context. “Let’s be honest here,” I opened. “The anti-civil liberty camp is only attacking groups like this because they are exercising both their First and Second Amendment rights. And that’s a threat to their agenda.”
When I replied to StClair, I simply said, “Thanks for writing in. I appreciate you expressing your opinion to me on the topic.” And, I do appreciate that opinion. I did not know that I was going to receive validation that day, that as a journalist, my observations could be so spot on.
What do you guys think? Sound off in the comments below.
To catch my interview with the Abbotts from the Campbell County Militia, click HERE. Or, catch it in the embed below.
It’s laughable that anyone would even try to argue that militias are somehow unlawful, or that their purpose is anything other than what the Framers wrote that it is. The word is literally in the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution. Based on what I’ve read, nothing anything these people are saying is any more “extreme” than what the *men who founded the country* wrote.
This “Donna” sounds like quite a character. I’ll leave it at that.
If school safety is the concern (and why shouldn’t it be), then why do most democrats (and some Republicans) fight every opportunity to legally arm ONLY the teachers and administrative staff that accept the responsibility to safely and discreetly carry a concealed handgun? That simple defensive measure would have stopped every school shooting. Do democrats fight this because they prefer the negative publicity over savings lives?
Her and the Democrats are the REASON why our Founding Fathers gave us the Constitution. I think there is an old adage about “the people should not be afraid of their government but the government should be afraid of it’s people” as well as something about when the people fear it is tyranny but when the government fears it’s freedom? I may be wrong on the verbiage but I think Ms. Donna St.Clair never had a Government class or even a Constitutional one since her statements sound much like Stalin and Mao and trying to show that just because “she”… Read more »