Fortunately, the collection of correspondents and camera crews had been so taken aback by Jan’s behavior that no one thought to turn their cameras on her. When her own cameraman commented on this later that evening, Jan lit into her. “I wish they had. These people and the zombies that waste their time watching them need to pull their heads out of their collective ass and wake up to what’s going on up here!”

After that no one said much of anything when they were around Jan. They just left her alone, free to dwell on whatever thoughts she chose to center on as they drove about Boise from one interview to another. It was during these drives that Jan began to take note of the increasing number of militiamen. At first she said nothing. Only when she sat up and forced herself to count the number of indifferently uniformed and rough looking characters running around in pickups and SUVs painted in wild camouflage patterns that she appreciated what was actually happening around them.

With nothing to do on the morning of the sixth, Jan decided to drive around in a nondescript rental with her cameraman. Using a hidden camera, Jan went from place to place looking to see if her hunch held up. At the state capital they cruised about the grounds, taping as they went. Next, they circled the executive mansion and other offices belonging to the state executive branch. When they were finished there Jan drove over to the Federal Court House, taken over by the State of Idaho after the expulsions of federal officials. Finally they ended their circuit by going south to Gowen Field, which was now almost totally vacated by the Idaho National Guard. At each location the evidence Jan found supported her supposition.

While a thin veneer of state troopers remained at their posts guarding key state buildings and facilities, Jan’s cameraman was able to capture glimpses of militiamen loitering about in the background. At one point Jan even had her park their car next to a state police car they spotted in the parking lot of a convenience store. Since she was a westerner and Jan’s face was too well known, the two switched roles. While Jan hung back in the car working the camera, the cameraman went into the store with a recorder in her pocket. Through the window Jan watched her impromptu plant buy a soda, then wander over to where the troopers were chatting with the store’s proprietor.

After listening in for a few seconds while pretending to read the headlines of the daily paper, the cameraman joined the conversation. “You guys must be putting in some hellacious hours these days.”

The younger of the two troopers looked at the cameraman and smiled. “Ah, it hasn’t been too bad. The militia boys the Attorney General’s been mobilizing have been a big help.”