Virginia National Guard Investigating Guardsmen Over Militia Activity

Staff Sgt. Daniel Abbott steps off the bus to travel to Black Rapids Training Center in Alaska on July 10, 2023. Staff Sgt. Tori Miller/U.S. Army

The Virginia National Guard (VNG) is investigating two service members over their involvement with the Campbell County Militia (CCM), following the publication of a news article last week that claimed that they are involved in an anti-government organization.

Military.com published an article on Sept. 5 focusing on the involvement of a married couple, VNG Staff Sgts. Daniel Abbott and Alexandra Griffeth, in the militia.

The CCM was formed in early 2020. In March 2020, the Campbell County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution formally recognizing the militia and the right of county residents to train in firearms and other skills “that enhance the individual’s ability to defend himself, his family, his community, and the militia’s ability to respond effectively to a crisis.”

VNG spokesman Alfred Puryear told The Epoch Times in a Sept. 10 emailed statement that the Virginia National Guard is aware that the couple is active with the CCM and has launched an internal investigation into the matter.

“The VNG will take appropriate action, in accordance with U.S. Army guidelines and directives, once the investigation is complete,” he said.

The article said Abbott has been with the CCM since 2020 and has offered multiple public appearances and media interviews to discuss the group. It quotes several of his alleged past comments about the CCM and militia activity more broadly. He’s quoted as describing the purpose of the CCM as “a military organization; this is force of arms.”

Speaking with The Epoch Times, he said that the quote was taken out of context from a discussion about the CCM’s legal status during a January speaking event. During that event, Abbott said the CCM isn’t an illegal paramilitary group, but rather a legal military organization under Virginia law.

He said a more complete version of the quote is: “We’re not a paramilitary organization. This is a military organization. This is force of arms in the hands of local government.”

The Epoch Times asked Puryear what effect the article had on VNG’s decision to open an investigation, but he declined to comment further.

Abbott said he has made no secret of his involvement in the CCM.

“I’ve had conversations with all sorts of senior officers, all the way up through the chain of command, about my involvement,” Abbott said. “It’s never been an issue.”

He joined the U.S. Army in 2013, before transferring to the National Guard in 2018. He said his military service record has been spotless, and he’s even represented the VNG at national military competitions.

Abbott expressed frustration at being the subject of an investigation, describing it as a “witch hunt.”

The CCM began at a time when lawmakers in Virginia were considering legislation limiting the type of firearms that residents in the state could own. Counties across the state began adopting resolutions declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries.

Staff Sgt. Daniel Abbott, a horizontal construction engineer with the Virginia Army National Guard, begins the Army National Guard Best Warrior Competition's Water Survival Test at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, on July 7, 2023. Robert DeBerry/Alaska National Guard

The 2020 resolution recognizing the CCM also states that Campbell County won’t expend resources “for any effort to enforce unconstitutional laws enacted after January 20 of 2020.”

The same March 2020 resolution describes the CCM as an asset that the president of the United States or the governor of Virginia may call upon for lawful purposes.

Griffeth, who said she joined the CCM within the last year, rejected the idea that it’s an “anti-government” organization.

“We’re a community support organization. We do train with firearms so that people are capable of defending themselves personally, their homes, their communities, if necessary,” Griffeth said in an interview with The Epoch Times on Sept. 10. “Hopefully, that’s not necessary, but bad things happen.”

Staff Sgt. Daniel Abbott, a horizontal construction engineer with the Virginia Army National Guard, fires an M17 pistol during the 2023 Army National Guard Best Warrior Competition at Fort Greely, Alaska, on July 11, 2023. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Kinsey Geer

Griffeth said the CCM has positive relationships with local government, as well as state and federal representatives. She also noted that the militia has assisted the county with storm cleanup, blood donation drives, and highway litter pickup events.