Amish Farmer Turned Republican Hero Becomes Flash Point in Culture War

Amos Miller, an Amish farmer in Pennsylvania, has become a flash point in America's culture wars.

Conservatives have been building support for Miller ahead of his February 29 hearing in a lawsuit brought by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. A rally for the farmer has been planned for outside the courthouse next week, and a GiveSendGo fundraiser for the Amos Miller Organic Farm has raked in over $200,000.

Miller has repeatedly refused to comply with food safety regulations, and last month state troopers seized Miller's edible products as part of a search warrant that was obtained after the state Agriculture Department was notified the products had been linked to E. coli outbreaks in two other states. A couple of weeks later, the state of Pennsylvania announced it was suing Miller to stop him from selling raw milk and other unregulated products, saying that his violation of food safety laws endangers public health.

Miller has argued that he does not sell his products to the public, only to his farm's "private membership association," and that exempts him from having to comply with government regulations.

The January 4 raid at Miller's farm caught the attention of several prominent Republicans, who criticized law enforcement officials for cracking down on small businesses and taking action against farmers like Miller instead of dangerous criminals.

Representative Thomas Massie, who called the raid "shameful" last month, told Newsweek in a Wednesday statement, "It's a shame that small farmers have been pushed into these situations by overbearing government regulatory agencies and lawmakers captured by corporations and monopolies."

The Kentucky Republican continued: "I support all small farmers and consumers who wish to engage in voluntary transactions. It's imperative that Congress take up my PRIME Act to ameliorate the plight of small farmers like Amos." Massie's bill seeks to exempt meat products from federal inspection after slaughter and preparation at a custom facility.

Donald Trump Jr. also weighed in on last month's raid, writing in a post on X (formerly Twitter), "Imagine what law enforcement could accomplish if they went after oh I don't know, say, members of elite pedophile rings rather than farmers selling to their neighbors??? Can I be the only person sick of this s***?"

Newsweek reached out for comment via email to Miller and the Patriots of Lancaster County group, which is organizing the February 29 rally for him.

Susanne Schwarz, an assistant professor of political science at Swarthmore, told Newsweek that while Republicans have run on an anti-government platform since the Reagan era, the recent outrage over Miller's case as an example of government overreach comes amid a renewed push for limited government that was spurred by the FBI raid on Donald Trump's Florida home in August 2022.

Schwarz said part of the reason Miller's story has gone viral is because it provides conservatives with an "identifiable victim" that could help incite the Republican base.

"Miller, an otherwise law-abiding small-business owner from a politically and socially conservative community, is being targeted by government authorities for selling homemade products," she said. "His story leaves conservative voters wondering, 'If this happened to him, could it happen to me?'—thus reinforcing their notion that government harms rather than serves its constituents."

Lancaster County, where Miller's farm is located, has long been a Republican stronghold. The county has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate only once since 1880, and that was Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Trump carried the county by more than 56 percent of the vote in both 2016 and 2020.

Political expert John Pitney told Newsweek that this could be another reason Miller's story has become the rallying cry that it is.

"Pennsylvania is pivotal in the electoral vote," he said. "If Trump can increase his support in the rural areas of the state, he might have a better chance of winning. The case also has potential appeal to religious conservatives who fear government intervention."

But some have argued that Miller is not the hero that conservatives have made him out to be. In a press release announcing the lawsuit, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said that Miller's refusal to comply with the law has been ongoing "for years." She emphasized that other foodborne illness outbreaks had been tied to Miller's farm, including a death from listeria, and pointed to the legal action he's faced for noncompliance.

"We cannot ignore the illnesses and further potential harm posed by distribution of these unregulated products," Henry said. "We have long had food safety laws in this Commonwealth to protect the public from harm. Pennsylvanians should know what is in the products they and their families are consuming."

Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, a Democrat, said his department has "really worked hard to try to bring Mr. Miller along" but has been frustrated by his "complete sort of avoidance [and] rejection, quite frankly, of his interest in doing that."

"When you're contacted by other states' health departments, right, that is not a good look for Pennsylvania. And unfortunately in this case there's illness involved," Redding said at the Pennsylvania Farm Show last month.

Even some Pennsylvania Republicans have sided with the state. Representative Dave Zimmerman, whose district includes Lancaster County, said in a January 17 statement that it would "not be fair" to allow Miller to "violate basic regulations that all other farmers must follow."

"Miller is not a champion of liberty — he's someone who seems to believe that the rules and regulations to which other farmers adhere don't apply to him," the Lancaster Online editorial board wrote in a January 10 op-ed. "There's a word for that, and it's arrogance, not courage. And it's an arrogance that puts others at serious risk."

The board went on: "Miller's disdain for government regulation makes him a threat not just to consumers, but also to other farmers. An outbreak of foodborne illness caused by raw milk, for instance, could harm the businesses of other Lancaster County dairy farmers, who are operating on thin profit margins and couldn't withstand a hit to the county's reputation as a producer of safe and healthy foods.

"There's a very good reason why the nation's food supply is subject to government regulation — so that people don't die," the op-ed said.