Financing The Three Percenters

Movement Financing Profile

On August 1, 2022, an individual associated with the Three Percenters was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for his involvement in the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol. Guy Reffitt now faces the longest prison sentence issued throughout the proceedings thus far. At least 4 other self-identified members of the Three Percenters have also been indicted on conspiracy charges related to the Capitol breach.

How did members of the Three Percenters have the resources to participate in the January 6th insurrection? While conducting research for the United States House of Representatives Select Committee, we created a profile on the Three Percenters to analyze and assess their financing mechanisms. Keep reading to explore our findings.

Ideology and Origins

According to the founder, anti-government activist Mike Vanderboegh, the Three Percenters are gun advocates with right-wing and libertarian values. The name of the movement stems from the unproven claim that only 3% of American colonists fought against the British during the American Revolution. Vanderboegh promoted the Three Percenter ideology on his blog starting in 2008, and published the movement’s doctrine online in 2014. While something of a coherent ideology exists, the Three Percenters lacks an organizational structure, and are therefore best conceived of as a common belief system, falling within the larger anti-government militia movement (rather than a group or organization).

The Three Percenters movement “officially dissolved” in February 2021, but is still active as decentralized local chapters and individuals. Supporters of the Three Percenters ideology are mostly based in the US, but maintain a presence in Canada as well. Most individuals who identify with the doctrine are unaffiliated and simply act on an individual basis with inspiration drawn from the broader anti-government militia movement. The financing of the Three Percenters resembles much of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, relying largely on self-funding but with less overall structure.