Like most right-wing authoritarians, “Patriot” militiamen are fond of portraying themselves as moral beacons, people whose adherence to the law and to social standards is beyond reproach, mainly because it’s essential to their self-conception as heroes. Ah, but then reality kicks in.
James Russell Bolton Jr. was one of those militiamen. Living in rural Stevens County in northeastern Washington state, an hour north of Spokane, where he had organized a local militia called the Stevens County Assembly, Bolton was widely admired as an upstanding citizen. He even ran for sheriff once.
Yet according to Stevens County sheriff’s detectives and the county attorney, Bolton is the same man who tried to extort members of his militia with threats of violence and murder, supposedly at the hands of a Mexican cartel drug lord. He also tried to claim that his own wife had been kidnapped and held for ransom. Later, he allegedly pushed an associate down a flight of stairs and attempted to suffocate him.
When the charges came down last week, Bolton fled the region. He was arrested this week in West Virginia, and waived extradition back to Washington state. He faces six charges of extortion and attempted theft.
