What county these boys from?
All over.
Sterling Heights, Belleville, Cadillac, Canton, Charlotte, Clarkston, Grand Rapids, Hartland, Luther, Munith, Orion Township, Ovid, Shelby Township and Waterford Township.
You weren't kidding. I graduated from Charlotte (moved there for my last two years.) Pretty sure we had zero black families in K-12, maybe 1-2 Asian families. Legit probably never heard the term Latino until after I graduated and moved away. Lots of Mexicans but they were usually only around during growing season.
They are on record as hating Trump, so it is unlikely they were influenced by anything Trump said.
Well a couple of them (Croft and Musico) were very pro-Trump in their social media postings on Tik Tok and YouTube. In general though, they seem more anit-government extremist than pro-anything. I don't think it's a stretch that Trump tweeting "LIBERATE MICHIGAN" after the
American Patriot Rally at the state capitol was viewed as validation by most in the group.
TBH I don't know much about Boogaloo or 3 Percenters other than they're pretty far out there; basically anarchist seems to fit better than fascist.
Have seen a few things online trying to tie this movement to feeling disconnected from society and driven by the powerlessness that accompanies economic struggles. Not sure I buy that. I know lots of low income country folks and the percentage that are drawn to this level of radicalism is miniscule.
No one grew up in a more homogenous culture than I did. Yet somehow I was progressive and open minded from go. I think travelling when I was young plus living in different parts of the country helped broaden me.
I liked to hunt as a youngster and we had a locked gun case in our house, as did most of my relatives. Ain't nothing wrong with country living if that's your thing, I love leaving the concrete behind. But I took a look around and quickly realized staying where I was would likely never yield an opportunity to live a good life. After I was discharged I lived in a Lake Michigan beach town (Grand Haven), after I finished university I lived exclusively in urban/suburban areas (Kentwood, Grosse Pointe Woods, West Bloomfield, NYC.) That's where the jobs were. Would have been great to live on a freshwater lake in a cottage or on my own ten acres but that life isn't sustainable in an area of farms and small towns.
Anyway, not buying these guys were driven to or forced into anything. They chose to be the way they are IMO. Because when you don't like what is going on in your life, it's up to you to make the necessary changes to improve your situation. To not take any personal responsibility and shift blame to the government or society is lazy rationalization. That's b.s.