Founder of Alaska Peacemakers Militia pleads guilty to misdemeanor assault charge, awaits trial on gun charge

26-year-old Schaeffer Cox of Fairbanks, Alaska is a self-declared "sovereign citizen." He leads a group called the Second Amendment Task Force, whose web site features a variety of videos with guns and offers t-shirts with aggressive messages (see below) for sale.

Cox also founded an organization called Alaska Peacemakers Militia whose members pledge to keep "thugs" from doing "stupid, lawless stuff" in the event of a natural disaster or the collapse of civil society.

Last March Cox rushed to the rescue of one of the members who felt his constitutional rights were being violated.  Police said they were responding to a 911 hang-up, the member claimed the police were conducting a warrantless search of his home.  Cox arrived on the scene armed with a concealed Ruger .380 semi-automatic handgun.  Under Alaska law anyone carrying a concealed firearm must immediately notify any law enforcement officer they come into contact with of the concealed weapon. Cox failed to notify police of his gun and was subsequently arrested for a misdemeanor weapons misconduct charge.
Just two weeks earlier, Cox was arrested for felony assault. His wife filed a complaint against him after he grabbed her by the throat and pinned her up against the door of their car. She said he squeezed her neck to the point where she felt she was going to pass out. When she filed her complaint police noted bruising throughout her neck, a fingernail abrasion on the left side of her neck and redness and swelling on both sides of her neck.
Cox is a law-abiding citizen with no prior criminal record. Cox pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor, and was ordered to attend anger-management classes and placed on probation for two years.
At a pre-trail hearing this month his trial date for the weapons charge was moved to February 14th. Cox indicated that he plans to represent himself.