Congress had been passing laws like Washington State; authorizing checkpoints, more draconian civil forfeiture laws, and authorizing more warrantless searches. This was on top of a previous law, the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act that allowed the military to detain or kill anyone—without a trial—who committed a “belligerent act” against the U.S. It was up to the President to decide what a “belligerent act” was. No charges, no jury, no civilian judges, no appeal, no due process. At first, Grant thought the NDAA was a made up internet rumor. Then he read the law. It was real. Even though things like the NDAA were on the books, America still wasn’t yet under “martial law.” It was not because the people running the government were such lovers of liberty that they wouldn’t impose martial law; it was that they didn’t have the ability to pull it off. Thank God, literally, for the Oath Keepers. They had announced that Oath Keepers members would not carry out these new laws.
