Small-government group takes root in Spokane county, Muslims need not apply
News Story by Aaron Hedge | FāVS News
On a cold November night last year, Chris McIntosh, a conservative activist who primaried Mary Kuney for her seat on the Spokane Board of County Commissioners in 2022, introduced the national small-government group Tactical Civics (TC) to Spokane County.
Tactical Civics is an organization that has been recruiting members across the United States and has been listed as a “hate and antigovernment extremist group” in some states by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Spokane County GOP precinct committee officer (PCO) Kim DeLisle helped McIntosh organize the local movement. McIntosh is a local Republican delegate who, in a January interview, spoke of American law as a Christian concept.
In that interview, McIntosh wasn’t speaking as an official TC representative. However, he did discuss the organization’s deeply held belief that America is a Christian nation — a view that its members frequently express.
DeLisle’s brother, Brad Boardman, who is based out of Everett, is TC’s chief administrative officer. Boardman hosts online trainings and prayer calls for TC’s members.
TC’s end goal and vision of govermemnt
As the 20 elderly attendees seated in the real estate offices McIntosh owns in Spokane Valley learned, TC’s end goal is threefold: First, it will disciple enough Americans about its view of the United States Constitution, which claims most of the modern federal government is illegal, that a critical mass of Americans — 0.5%, or about 1.7 million Americans — will be able to push to codify TC’s vision.
Second, implement the vision, which is to get county governments around the country to officially establish standing grand juries and militias by a formal vote. It has crafted draft legislation stating that “Whenever one-half of 1% of the registered electors of a county have signed a petition to summon a grand jury and have submitted the petition signatures to the county election administrator, a grand jury shall be summoned and empanelled [sic] by the judge of the district court for the county receiving the petition.”
It’s sort of a parallel system of representation to hold elected officials accountable. The militia and grand jury would act as the highest government of the land, made up of locals, a sentiment that echoes far-right notions of small government like constitutional sheriffs or the Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates: philosophies that reserve little room for federal power.
Finally, TC will advocate for a constitutional amendment — which has been ratified in some states — that would cap the number of Americans a politician in the federal government can represent at 50,000 people, meaning Washington’s Fifth Congressional District would have 16 representatives rather than the one it currently does. It would be cheap, TC claims, because they’ll all be brought to work from home, rather than a Washington D.C. office, justifying a reduction in salary.
In this way “We, the People” becomes the highest authority. However, only some people are allowed to be part of “We”: TC’s “bedrock policy” holds that Muslims are not allowed to be members.
Transforming the country, one member at a time
TC is currently trying to establish chapters in each county. It’s doing that through a “seminar culture,” using canned presentations, like the one McIntosh showed, to get the message out through local networks that host the seminars.
TC’s advocacy is hyper-focused on consistent branding and messaging, using cheaply- but consistently-designed logos and memes. Both Boardman and local coordinator Kerri Kruiswyk declined to be interviewed for this article, referring FāVS to TC spokesperson Jeff Calhoun to maintain consistency.
There are 338 members of TC in Washington state, according to a recent newsletter out of the Western Division, and more than 8,000 nationwide, according to Calhoun.
There are national, regional state and county coordinators. They are all volunteers and pay $5 each month for membership.
Monthly newsletters list chapters by county; the October newsletter for Washington state listed chapters in 10 of the state’s 39 counties: Asotin, Clark Cowlitz, Garfield, Kittitas, Lincoln, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane and Stevens. It also sometimes announces local chapters in press releases, like this one, published in the Times Virginian.
McIntosh signed a few members up for TC that November night; now, almost a year later, there are about 35 TC members in Spokane County, many of whom are Republican PCOs. To reach its 0.5%, the county would need to add more than 2,600 members, a long way from their goal membership but are growing fast in size.
As Calhoun said, they’re in it for the long haul.
Not just about structure
TC is an overtly Christian organization with explicit religious restrictions. While its main literature states that some non-Christians are welcome — including Jews, Buddhists and Hindus — Muslims are specifically banned from membership.
When asked about this policy via the organization’s member-screened app, founder David Zuniga responded by deleting FāVS’s account — an action repeated twice when seeking comment from him and another member.
TC spokesperson Calhoun later agreed to discuss this stance in two interviews totaling three and a half hours.
He offered this uncompromising rationale, which is reflected in the organization’s book “The Great We Set”: “A survey of America’s original colonial documents of government, law, economics, and social life demonstrates that America was founded in Christianity and no other belief system, but we only exclude Muslims because that is a system of government and law at war with ours; not merely a religion.”
Ideology and political stance
TC’s mission is deeply rooted in contemporary right-wing culture war issues and skepticism of the 2020 election results. While Zuniga has publicly denounced the Jan. 6 insurrection and insists the movement is peaceful, members are drawn to what they see as an antidote to perceived conspiracy-driven threats.
This worldview was evident in a recent podcast where Zuniga spent roughly a third of the episode in fervent prayer, asking Christians to repent for allowing abortions.
The organization’s central text, “The Great We-Set” — a play on the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset Initiative, which right-wing groups view as a covert attempt at establishing a one-world government — outlines their philosophical framework.
While emphasizing the constitutional principle of “We the People,” TC embraces Christian nationalism, advocating for America’s identity as a Christian nation both historically and presently.
Local organization and affiliations
McIntosh introduced TC to Spokane County through his role with the East Washington Freedom Alliance (EWAFA), a conservative networking group.
EWAFA has been active in local politics, hosting Trump & Patriot Car Parades and bringing Republican gubernatorial candidate Semi Bird to multiple primary events in Spokane County.
The organization promotes “woke free & liberty focused” services, including a payment system for conservatives concerned about political discrimination by banks. They also actively opposes state laws permitting minors to seek healthcare, including gender-affirming care, without parental consent.
“The Great We-Set” is one of many Zuniga has penned himself; another Zuniga title: “No King but King Jesus: A Call to America’s Remnant for Tactical Civics™.”
Far-right Christian rhetoric
At the Spokane Valley unveiling of TC, McIntosh prayed and cued up a presentation for the room.
The voice of Zuniga, acting as narrator, filled the air: “It’s the most brazen crime since 9/11 … Everybody knows that election 2020 and our entire Republic was hijacked by enemies of the Constitution.”
The copy contains a deep grievance about politicians and bureaucrats.
“Tactical Civics is the action mission and national brand of AmericaAgain! Trust,” Zuniga says. “A private Christian member organization with an online training center that teaches Americans how to stop organized crime by sociopaths, communists, perverts, atheists, vandals and politicians who have been openly arrogantly violating our highest law for generations.”
TC claims it is mobilizing a “repentant remnant” to turn the United States in the direction Zuniga believes it should go. That phrase comes from the Bible and refers to a nation that has turned back to the Christian God.
Zuniga carries his colorful language in all his writing and speaking. He is something of a meme artist, and he applies his talents to TC. He posts memes, sometimes more than one time a day.
For example, a flattering black-and-white image of Donald Trump pointing at the camera, framed by the text: “I’ll do what I can from the White House. But the real power and duty to fix America is yours, boss.”
Tax havens
TC was founded about 16 years ago by Zuniga and several others. It is incorporated as a nonprofit in the tax haven state of Delaware and organized under the parent company AmericaAgain! Trust.
At a recent Spokane County chapter meeting, members spoke in awe of Zuniga because, they said, he has not paid income taxes in four decades, which Zuniga writes about in one of his many books.
There is no financial disclosure data on TC’s tax records, but its app lists a several charities that revenue to AmericaAgain! goes toward. Calhoun told FāVS that Zuniga gets paid “what a decent social security check would be — that isn’t very much.”
Everyone else doing work for TC is a volunteer, Calhoun said.
Freedom Fox
TC’s leadership maintains close ties to prominent far-right figures.
Regional director Jon Ellis recently passed Zuniga’s books to Donald Trump Jr., while Idaho State Coordinator Tim Taylor met with former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn.
Western Division Coordinator JerriAnn Tod, known as ‘Freedom Fox’ on her Rumble show, promotes conspiracy theories about government weather manipulation.
When FāVS attempted to contact Tod through TC’s app about these claims, the account was removed from the network — the third such deletion during reporting.
What’s next
TC has experienced dramatic growth since its founding more than a decade and a half ago.
“Take our growth from January of 2023 to now,” Calhoun said. “We went from 500 members to, we’re maybe getting close to 8,300.”
Despite this expansion, the organization remains years away from reaching Phase Two of its three-phase plan.
Zuniga describes the organization as “the only full-spectrum solution, taking America back one county at a time.”
Their immediate goal, according to Calhoun, is establishing grand juries and militias “to implement enforcement and hold our servants accountable and to bring the relationship between the people and our servants in government back to how it’s supposed to be — that they really are servants and trustees that have an obligation to function according to the terms of the trust they’ve been given.”
On the Aug. 25 edition of Liberty Cast, Zuniga and Calhoun discussed preparing for a potential 2024 election where “they,” meaning Democrats, would “cheat again.”
They emphasized the need to build infrastructure, particularly podcasts, to accommodate “millions of new members.”
While they alluded to activities happening “behind the scenes” that most TC members didn’t know about, Calhoun later characterized these comments as “a half-baked idea that didn’t go anywhere,” declining to elaborate further.
Correction: This story updated language regarding the governmental process TC advocates for capping the number of people a politician in the federal government could represent.
