AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine is one step closer to becoming the 27th state to ban paramilitary training, after the House of Representatives gave final passage Wednesday to a bill driven by a neo-Nazi developing a training ground in Penobscot County last year.
The bill from Rep. Laurie Osher, D-Orono, outlaws “unauthorized” paramilitary training and was amended to require prosecutors prove a person was intentionally or knowingly teaching or practicing the use of firearms, explosives or other techniques to cause “civil disorder.”
The House voted 72-71 to enact it Wednesday after both chambers voted mostly along party lines to initially pass the bill last month, with Sens. Craig Hickman of Winthrop and Nicole Grohoski of Ellsworth the lone Democrats in the upper chamber to oppose it. The measure faces a final Senate vote before reaching Gov. Janet Mills. Attorney General Aaron Frey, a Democrat like Mills, testified in favor of the bill in January.
Osher and supporters have said it would prevent extremist groups from organizing for the purpose of terrorizing marginalized residents, while opponents argued it would infringe on constitutional rights and get weaponized against those with contrasting political views.
Last year, Christopher Pohlhaus, founder of the white supremacist group Blood Tribe, was building a training ground and compound for his followers in rural Springfield. But he sold the property and said it was too dangerous to build after a Bangor Daily News story revealed its location. In August, about two dozen neo-Nazis also rallied near the State House in Augusta.
Rep. Tavis Hasenfus, D-Readfield, noted that an amendment to Osher’s bill made it a higher threshold to prove a violation, which would be a less-severe Class D misdemeanor instead of an initially-proposed Class C felony. But Rep. Tracy Quint, R-Hodgdon, whose district includes the Springfield site Pohlhaus had purchased, said it was still “way too broad.”
“Civil disorder can be many things, but what happens if it disagrees with your political stance?” Quint asked.
