Oath Keepers is an American far-right anti-government militia[1][2] whose members claim to be defending the Constitution of the United States. It encourages its members to disobey orders which they believe would violate the U.S. Constitution. Research on their membership determined that two thirds of the Oath Keepers are former military or law enforcement, and one tenth percent are active duty military or law enforcement. Most research determined the Oath Keeper membership to be approximately five thousand members, while leaked data showed Oath Keeper rosters claiming membership of 38,000.
Several organizations that monitor U.S. domestic terrorism and hate groups describe the group as extremist or radical. [8] [9] In 2015, Mark Pitcavage of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League (ADL) described the group as "heavily armed extremists with a conspiratorial and anti-government mindset looking for potential showdowns with the government".[10][11] The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) lists the group's founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes as a known extremist and describes his announced plans to create localized militia units as "frightening".[12]
According to the SPLC, the group espouses a number of conspiracy and legal theories associated with the sovereign citizen movement and the white supremacist posse comitatus movement.< .[13][14][15] SPLC senior fellow Mark Potok describes the group as a whole as "really just an anti-government group who believe in a wild set of conspiracy theories".[12] The FBI describes the Oath Keepers as a "paramilitary organization" and a "large but loosely organized collection of militia who believe that the federal government has been coopted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights."[16]
Oath Keepers were present wearing military fatigues during the 2014 and 2015 unrest in Ferguson, Missouri[17][18][19] when members armed with semi-automatic rifles roamed streets and rooftops.[20][21] Multiple members of the group participated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021; by September 2021, twenty members had been indicted for federal criminal offenses, with four pleading guilty.[22][23] The organization was subpoenaed by the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack in November 2021.
Organizational history
Oath Keepers was founded in March 2009 by Elmer Stewart Rhodes,[24][25][26] a Yale Law School graduate, former U.S. Army paratrooper, and former staffer for Republican Congressman Ron Paul.[27] On December 8, 2015, Rhodes was disbarred by the Montana Supreme Court for conduct violating the Montana Rules of Professional Conduct after refusing to respond to two bar grievances filed against him in the federal district court in Arizona.[28]
Rhodes is reported to have taken inspiration from the notion that Adolf Hitler could have been stopped if German soldiers and police had refused to follow orders.[29] Writing in S.W.A.T. Magazine in 2008, Rhodes asserts, "'It' (a full-blown totalitarian police state) cannot happen here if the majority of police and soldiers obey their oaths to defend the Constitution and refuse to enforce the unconstitutional edicts of the 'Leader'."[30]
In an October 2020 interview, reporter Mike Giglio of The Atlantic stated that in the preceding years, the Oath Keepers regarded President Donald Trump as "someone in the White House that they fully support", in contrast to their skepticism of previous Republican administrations.[31] He also said that in recent years Rhodes's statements had become more "radical" and that because of this some members of the group with military experience, concerned by the possibility of the types of violence they had witnessed overseas occurring in the United States, left the group.[31]
Membership
The organization states that full membership is open to "currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, police, fire-fighters, other first responders (i.e. State Guard, Sheriff Posse/Auxiliary, Search & Rescue, EMT, other medical 1st responders, etc.) AND veterans/former members of those services," and that others who support the organization's mission can become associate members.[32][3]
Oath Keepers claimed 35,000 members in 2016, though researchers estimated the figure was about 5,000.[33][34][35] The ADL estimates there are between 1,000 and 3,000 members but said the group’s influence extends well beyond that figure.[36] In September 2021, hackers breached the group's servers to acquire a large cache of information, some of which was released to press outlets by Distributed Denial of Secrets, including the contact information of 38,000 apparent members. The cache included membership applications from active law enforcement officers, including some who sought to join after the 2021 United States Capitol attack.[37] Dozens of elected officials were also found to be linked to the group.[38]
Several organizations that monitor U.S. domestic terrorism and hate groups describe the group as extremist or radical. [8] [9] In 2015, Mark Pitcavage of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League (ADL) described the group as "heavily armed extremists with a conspiratorial and anti-government mindset looking for potential showdowns with the government".[10][11] The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) lists the group's founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes as a known extremist and describes his announced plans to create localized militia units as "frightening".[12]
According to the SPLC, the group espouses a number of conspiracy and legal theories associated with the sovereign citizen movement and the white supremacist posse comitatus movement.< .[13][14][15] SPLC senior fellow Mark Potok describes the group as a whole as "really just an anti-government group who believe in a wild set of conspiracy theories".[12] The FBI describes the Oath Keepers as a "paramilitary organization" and a "large but loosely organized collection of militia who believe that the federal government has been coopted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights."[16]
Oath Keepers were present wearing military fatigues during the 2014 and 2015 unrest in Ferguson, Missouri[17][18][19] when members armed with semi-automatic rifles roamed streets and rooftops.[20][21] Multiple members of the group participated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021; by September 2021, twenty members had been indicted for federal criminal offenses, with four pleading guilty.[22][23] The organization was subpoenaed by the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack in November 2021.
Organizational history
Oath Keepers was founded in March 2009 by Elmer Stewart Rhodes,[24][25][26] a Yale Law School graduate, former U.S. Army paratrooper, and former staffer for Republican Congressman Ron Paul.[27] On December 8, 2015, Rhodes was disbarred by the Montana Supreme Court for conduct violating the Montana Rules of Professional Conduct after refusing to respond to two bar grievances filed against him in the federal district court in Arizona.[28]
Rhodes is reported to have taken inspiration from the notion that Adolf Hitler could have been stopped if German soldiers and police had refused to follow orders.[29] Writing in S.W.A.T. Magazine in 2008, Rhodes asserts, "'It' (a full-blown totalitarian police state) cannot happen here if the majority of police and soldiers obey their oaths to defend the Constitution and refuse to enforce the unconstitutional edicts of the 'Leader'."[30]
In an October 2020 interview, reporter Mike Giglio of The Atlantic stated that in the preceding years, the Oath Keepers regarded President Donald Trump as "someone in the White House that they fully support", in contrast to their skepticism of previous Republican administrations.[31] He also said that in recent years Rhodes's statements had become more "radical" and that because of this some members of the group with military experience, concerned by the possibility of the types of violence they had witnessed overseas occurring in the United States, left the group.[31]
Membership
The organization states that full membership is open to "currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, police, fire-fighters, other first responders (i.e. State Guard, Sheriff Posse/Auxiliary, Search & Rescue, EMT, other medical 1st responders, etc.) AND veterans/former members of those services," and that others who support the organization's mission can become associate members.[32][3]
Oath Keepers claimed 35,000 members in 2016, though researchers estimated the figure was about 5,000.[33][34][35] The ADL estimates there are between 1,000 and 3,000 members but said the group’s influence extends well beyond that figure.[36] In September 2021, hackers breached the group's servers to acquire a large cache of information, some of which was released to press outlets by Distributed Denial of Secrets, including the contact information of 38,000 apparent members. The cache included membership applications from active law enforcement officers, including some who sought to join after the 2021 United States Capitol attack.[37] Dozens of elected officials were also found to be linked to the group.[38]
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