January 1, 1862 - James T. Ellison
Ellison founded and led the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord, a paramilitary compound in the Ozarks that functioned as both a separatist religious community and a base for weapons stockpiling and planning violence. What began as a Baptist congregation evolved over roughly a decade into an organization federal investigators connected to weapons violations and terrorist acts. The 1985 siege of the compound — resolved without bloodshed — ended in arrests and convictions that dismantled the group entirely.
From Wikipedia
The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA) was a far-right survivalist anti-government militia which advocated Christian Identity and was active in the United States during the 1970s and early 1980s. The CSA developed from a Baptist congregation, the Zarephath-Horeb Community Church, which was founded in 1971 in Pontiac, Missouri. Over time, Zarephath-Horeb evolved into an extremist militant group and it was rechristened the CSA. The group operated at a large compound in northern Arkansas which was known as "the Farm".
In April 1985, federal and state law enforcement officials who had been investigating the CSA for weapons violations and terrorist acts carried out a three-day siege of their compound. Following a peaceful resolution, officers arrested and later convicted the CSA's top leaders, eventually causing the organization to dissolve.
- Last updated on .