Mecham and McVeigh: Fringe political and social movements take root in Arizona

The podcast series "Rediscovering: The Roots of Radicalism" looks at Arizona history and Arizona extremists dating to the state’s time as a U.S. territory after the Civil War.

It makes stops in the Barry Goldwater/John Birch Society era and revists the impact of notable figures such as impeached Gov. Evan Mecham and federal building bomber Timothy McVeigh. It continues through the tumultuous years of Joe Arpaio's immigration crackdowns and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attacks, for which Arizona's QAnon shaman became a symbol.

Wednesday's featured episode is "The enemy Is Us," covering the 1970s to the 2000s.

The upheaval of assassinations, antiwar protests and civil rights advocacy helped define an era that grew out of the late 1960s and included flourishing political and social fringe movements.

In Arizona, far-right guerilla groups like the Minutemen and Posse Comitatus challenged long-accepted ideas of who exactly held power.

Political tumult in Arizona opened a path for a perennial election gadfly with anti-government leanings to win the governor’s race in 1986. Evan Mecham served 15 months as governor before being impeached and convicted, but the fallout from his time in office reverberated in the state’s politics for decades.

The conspiracy-minded held forth in law enforcement in Arizona and in extralegal groups distrustful of government. Arizonans had ties to the Ruby Ridge standoff, to the Oklahoma City bombing, and planned mayhem in Arizona as well.

Read the transcript for episode 3.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mecham and McVeigh: Fringe political and social movements take root in Arizona