South of Redding, residents formed the Cottonwood militia more than a decade ago when five local businesses in the town were robbed on five subsequent nights, according to one of the group’s founders and leaders, Woody Clendenen. It has since grown from 11 members to a sizeable political force, including Zapata, with an increasingly savvy media reach across Northern California and beyond.
Its members are well-known in the community, offering a scholarship each year, hosting a boys’ camp, and sometimes being called in lieu of the police, said Clendenen.
“It grew into almost kind of a political action committee,” said Clendenen, a Cottonwood barber and bit actor in Hollywood B-movies. Candidates for office would call and court militia members for support, he said. Before the pandemic, he said, “our fundraiser dinners, the sheriff and the supervisors come.”
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Shasta deputies searching for a suspect they warn is dangerous
Shasta County Deputies searching for a man they say attacked his family in Castella Thursday night.
Posted: May 14, 2021 7:43 AM
Updated: May 14, 2021 5:32 PM
Posted By: Brayden Crosswhite
SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. - Deputies are searching for a man they describe as dangerous. The Shasta County Sheriff s Office says 30-year-old Curtis CJ Bartoo attacked family members with a weapon.
Deputies say they responded to a call about a family disturbance at a home on Main St. in Castella, around 5:29 p.m. Thursday. Callers reported that Bartoo was assaulting his family members in the home.