Liberty Order Cult

The **Liberty Order Cult** is an American anarchist religious cult based in Paulo Springs, Washington. Following the 1977 bushfires that burned most of the homes and public infrastructure in the county, the cult was formed to bring order and authority to the neighborhoods that lost all forms of municipal governance and law enforcement. Shortly after its creation, the cult began organizing self-appointed police known as Martial Officers who would routinely bear arms in public and patrol the streets in non-service vehicles.

Throughout the years passing the wildfire, the Liberty Order became distrustful of the government (especially due to their poor handling of the disaster) and began preaching their faith in a higher power who had "spared [their] lives and homes from the destructive rage of the devil below".

## History

Paulo Springs county had regularly been experiencing dry seasons in the decade leading up to the 1977 wildfire. Many citizens whose communities were embedded within the thick forests expressed their disdain towards the state government's handling of the threat. One of these men, Paul Veltman, became increasingly untrusting in the authorities and their procedure, so he spent much of the year preceding the disaster preparing by stocking up on food, gas, and weapons. Expecting doomsday to be looming, he enlisted the help of his friend and neighbor Simon Kiernan to prepare their street against the possibility of both natural disaster as well as larceny.

The duo later introduced several new friends and relatives into the group and later named themselves the Liberty Order who claimed to be a "Watchdog on the man". During the events of the wildfire, the group reportedly remained barricaded in their homes and refused aid to anyone who attempted to pass through their road. Several incidents even arose where the men allegedly pointed firearms at passerbyers in need while shouting remarks including "this is what you get for siding with the pork". When later interviewed by a journalist regarding the claims, Veltman asserted that the people passing by were threatening him and his family, and he was simply exercising his right to protect his property. No charges were filed after these encounters.

In the year following the disaster, Veltman and Kiernan onboarded upwards of thirty more members into the group. Most of the joining members were described as "young white boys with a fiery rage and an affinity for firearms" by neighbors. The group spent much of the year salvaging as many resources as they could from the damaged properties. After accumulating enough material to fortify every home on the street, the organization began acquiring motor vehicles to use as self-appointed law enforcement vehicles to patrol the surrounding areas for people they believed were out to loot and rob their homes.

The power vacuum left by the destruction of public infrastructure in the county enabled the Liberty Order to enforce their own rules on the surrounding areas under the designation of maintaining law and order. As the group recruited more members from the surrounding communities, their power reached most towns excluding the last major population center. The organization appeared to act more as a militia than as a community watch group.

### Cult Beginnings and Anarchism

After 3 years of isolation from the rest of America, Veltman began preaching to the Liberty Order members about the higher power that he believes saved them and their families during the wildfires, and how they should all be forever indebted to this god. Having full faith towards Veltman, the members of the organization became steadfast in following his words of wisdom.

Members of the Liberty Order were reported on several occasions to have kidnapped people of minority groups and engaged in ritualistic sacrifices to the unnamed god they prayed to. As little resistance was met by the cult due to the lack of formal law enforcement, the group engaged in even more inhumane acts at a much greater frequency. The cult leaders and headmasters sectioned off portions of the county into zones controlled and maintained by sub groups. Many of these smaller organizations of the cult blocked interference from outsiders including media crews who were creating investigative pieces on the abandoned area. By 1981, the cult had almost complete control over the land area of Paulo Springs.

Citizens who attempted to report the incredibly illegal and immoral actions of the group were reported to have gone missing or were coerced into silence. Visitations from state detectives following the fires dwindled after the years, so little aid was available to the remaining population against the violent actions of the cult.