if i finish editing this chapter by 12am, i'll do a thread on how Flat Earthers illegally overturned a 1909 election to preserve a vicious Illinois autocracy that led to an armed standoff between 2 guys who both claimed to be police chief. this is my threat to you

11:57, real Wilbur Glenn Voliva hours. In 1906 he took over the fundamentalist Christian city of Zion, IL by framing its leader (his old mentor) for polygamy and Satanism. Voliva literally buried this guy—Zionites entombed the rival in 6 ft. of concrete so he couldn't rise again.

Voliva was also soon to come out as a Flat Earther who only ate Brazil nuts and buttermilk. Once he ate poached eggs and the event made the newspaper. Guy was no party. He ruled Zion with an iron fist, banning everything from bathing within 50 ft. of your spouse to driving >5mph.

Issues ensued. Voliva did shit like building an enclosure for his followers to stand in and yell anti-smoking slogans at factory workers. This led to bat-wielding brawls of 200+ people, arson of anti-smoking billboards, assaults with rotten eggs, ect.

By 1909, the anti-Voliva faction ran against his stooges in local elections and actually won a majority. But rather than peacefully transition power, the Theocrats (I'm not being mean, literally the name of Voliva's party) just said lol and barricaded themselves in City Hall.

Voliva's illegitimate police chief barricaded himself in the jail with enough food to last a siege, leading to an armed standoff with the real police chief, who asked him to please come out of there without murdering anyone.

Just a couple of normal police chiefs and 200 other cops, screaming over a prison wall at each other.

"I'm the regularly appointed chief of police!"
"You are not!"
"I demand that you give up the city jail!"
"You'll never get this jail! I'm here to stay for two more years!"

Anyway, this went on for a month until the anti-Voliva set (which had paper ballots proving their victory) physically chased Voliva's people off the floor of city hall.

That should've ended it, but due to a land scam, Voliva was private owner of almost everything in Zion. He retook power, put Flat Earth in schools and ruled for decades, during which he wrote to the teen who would later head the Flat Earth Society. But that is a story for a book!