Posse members were actively engaged in a variety of criminal activities during the 70s and 80s.  Thomas Stockheimer, chairman of the Wisconsin Posse, was convicted of assaulting an I.R.S. agent in 1974.  Since that date, numerous Posse members have been convicted of tax evasion, weapons possession, and trying to pass counterfeit bills.  Posse members forcibly prevented the confiscation of farms whose owners had defaulted on their debts and issued "indictments" against judges who they claimed had violated their rights by forcing them to follow federal laws.  In 1983, police killed Posse leader Gordon Kahl in a shootout after Kahl had evaded police custody for several months.  Kahl is a martyred hero in the eyes of Posse movement and the extremist right as a whole.<p>For over a decade, the Posse Comitatus movement was extremely strong.  In 1975, the FBI opened an investigation of the group after a Posse member threatened the life of Nelson Rockefeller.  They estimated the group's membership at between 12 and 15 thousand, with ten times that number of sympathizers.  Posse leader James Wickstrom ran for Wisconsin state senate in 1980 and received 16,000 votes.  In the early 1980s, some experts estimated that one third of the sheriffs departments in Kansas and Nebraska were sympathetic to the Posse.<p>In the late 1980s, the popularity of the Posse ideology declined dramatically.  Posse leader James Wickstrom attempted to bring the Posse back to life in the 1990s, although he emphasized the racist aspects of the Posse's ideology to the near-exclusion of the rest of the group's principles.

Chilean Committee of Support for the Peruvian Revolution -- Supported Cause
Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement -- Rival
Workers' Revolutionary Party -- Suspected Alias/Ally

In the 1960's, Sendero Luminoso grew out of the Communist movement in Peru.  Sendero Luminoso's radical Marxist ideology was shaped by its founder and long-time leader, Abimael Guzm&#225;n Reynoso.  Abimael Guzm&#225;n, a former university professor, was able to use his position within academia to gain credibility and entice students to his fledgling Communist movement.  In fact, for a decade and a half, Sendero Luminoso primarily waged a war of militant Maoist ideas and propaganda.   It was not until 1980 that Sendero Luminoso turned to violence.  Once Shining Path turned to violence, the group unleashed a brutal terrorist campaign within Peru.  The group has been implicated in countless deaths of Peruvian citizens.   <p><p>Sendero Luminoso's stated goal is nothing short of an entire re-ordering of Peruvian society and institutions.  Under Guzm&#225;n, Sendero Luminoso pushed for the destruction of all existing Peruvian institutions.  SL will then, theoretically, replace the destroyed institutions with organizations based on communist ideals.  At times, Sendero Luminoso imposed rigorous regulations on the rural populations it has sporadically controlled.  This has included the prohibition of alcohol and capitalist ventures.  In addition, Sendero Luminoso is opposed to influence by any foreign governments within Peru.