In what country, now or in ancient times, did a 12% minority tell the 72% majority what to do? Especially when that majority controls most of the government, the economy, the food, the firearms, the culture and the police. Name just one instance. Do they have no idea the fire they’re playing with or do they not believe it’ll ever come to that?
Some haven't done the math, some operate on hatred alone - regardless of the likely outcome. Others also believe that the federal government will back them and serve as a force multiplier.
One problem with that last part - any attempt to halt "ethnic cleansing" here will make the Balkans look like a Sunday School picnic, and the U.N. knows it. They do not want to walk into that meat grinder.
When “...did a 12% minority tell the 72% majority what to do...?”
Uhhh...almost always, everywhere in the world. The usual state of affairs is an aristocracy/oligarchy with the monopoly on military force. It is only in the last 250 years that the model has changed, thanks to the example of the US and its Constitutional Republic. And the elites still try to maintain their power, only now they have to do it covertly.