We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances. The Oath Keepers aim much of their propaganda at members of military and police, reminding them that they swore an oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic, and asking them to pledge to disobey theoretical unconstitutional orders they might get from superiorsorders that explicitly or implicitly reference militiarelated conspiracy theories, such as mass gun confiscation or rounding up Americans to put them in concentration camps. t. e. Social conservatism in the United States is a political ideology focused on the preservation of traditional values and beliefs. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. 19, 2009, in the wake of the country electing Barack Obama as its first Black president. In April 2010,Matthew Fairfield, a suburban Cleveland man described by prosecutors as the president of a local Oath Keepers chapter, was arrested for storing bombs at his and a friends home and for obstructing justice. However, as the pandemic progressed, Oath Keepers changed their narrative, shifting from concern about the government failing to contain the virus to fearing government involvement altogether. This includes conspiracy theories involving the confiscation of Americans' guns and rounding people up into concentration camps. The groups fears around government overreach are most clearly exemplified in its list of 10 Orders We Will Not Obey a compendium of perceived but unrealized threats from the government. The group has ties to other antigovernment extremist groups, including former Arizona SheriffRichard Mack, the founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA). Peoria, Arizona, January 2016: Jon Ritzheimer, a former member of the Oath Keepers, voluntarily surrendered to local authorities. ANCHORAGE, Alaska The plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the eligibility of state Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla, to hold office said Tuesday that he will not appeal a judge's decision The indictment alleges that Rhodes conspired with co-defendants and others to oppose, by force, the execution of the laws enabling the transfer of presidential power. Addresses from cities, suburbs, and rural areas all appeared on the list. Throughout his presidency, Oath Keepers fully embraced Trump, including Rhodes, who was seated in the VIP section at Trumps 2019 rally in El Paso, Texas. The popularity of Oath Keepers social media accounts illustrates clearly that many more people support the Oath Keepers without ever officially joining (which requires paying dues). WASHINGTON At the height of the chaos at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, two dozen members of the Oath Keepers militia met outside the building with their leader, Stewart Rhodes. As part of their support for President Trump, the Oath Keepers have decried the deep state, an alleged network of institutions and bureaucracies within the federal government that a range of right-wing actors and groups believe is trying to undermine and even destroy the Trump administration. FILE - Stewart Rhodes, founder of the citizen militia group known as the Oath Keepers speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washington, on June 25, 2017. Though the Oath Keepers will accept anyone as members, what differentiates them from other anti-government extremist groups is their explicit focus on recruiting current and former military, law enforcement and first responder personnel. Two elected officials in Wilbraham and Cape Cod are listed as being members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group. In 2014, Rhodes claimed the group had an unlikely 35,000 dues-paying members who are said to be mostly, although not exclusively, current and former military, law enforcement and emergency first responders. SPLC is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization (EIN: 63-0598743), Local Policing and Immigration Enforcement, Request for Legal Assistance Economic Justice, Stewart Rhodes, during an interview on Infowars The Alex Jones Show, Jan. 20, 2021, Stewart Rhodes, posted on the Oath Keepers website, Jan. 4, 2021, Stewart Rhodes, Open Letter to President Trump: You Must Use Insurrection Act to Stop the Steal and Defeat the Coup, on the Oath Keepers website, Dec. 14, 2020, Stewart Rhodes, during an interview on Infowars The Alex Jones Show, Oct. 27, 2020, Stewart Rhodes, Oath Keepers Call to Action: Border Operation, on the Oath Keepers website, Dec. 4, 2018, Stewart Rhodes, in an Oath Keepers press release following the mass murder of 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, June 13, 2016, Stewart Rhodes, at an event in Tempe, Arizona, May 5, 2015, Stewart Rhodes, My Personal Pledge of Resistance Against Any Attempt to Disarm Us by Means of an Assault Weapons Ban, on the Oath Keepers website, Dec. 19, 2012, providing security without first obtaining a license., David Smith, regional spokesman for the Forest Service. The Oath Keepers claim it is their mission to protect Trump Rally attendees and provide them escorts to and from their vehicles. He warned about a possible Benghazi-style attack targeting President Trump and said that the Oath Keepers will be stationing its best men outside of Washington, D.C. around the election because they are anticipating the government to enable a coup against Trump. Hundreds of elected officials, military members, and law enforcement officers appear on the membership lists of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, according to a new report published Wednesday by the Anti-Defamation League.. Why it matters: The Oath Keepers have risen to national prominence for their alleged role in the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Men sporting gear identifying them as Oath Keepers are among the massive crowds gathering in Washington, DC, on Jan. 6, 2021. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps. ", Trump's 'MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT' was a line of $99 NFT trading cards with 'no inherent monetary value', U.S. In May 2012, a federal judge in Knoxville sentenced Huff to four years in prison. He should be tried for treason before a jury of his peers which he would deny you. Stewart Rhodes, founder of the citizen militia group known as the Oath Keepers speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washington, on June 25, 2017. Documents purported to be from the Oath Keepers, leaked by whistleblower group Distributed Denial of Secrets, show . A few days later, he was arrested after police found a shotgun and illegal drugs in his Virginia home. Along with the Proud Boys and the Three Percenters, the Oath Keepers are among the most prominent, heavily armed extremists known to have taken part in the deadly mob that tried to delay. Bay County, Florida, October 2018: A group identifying themselves as Oath Keepers were arrested after violating curfew and for openly carrying a firearm. In June 2020, a police officer who was on duty and policing a George Floyd protest inCosta Mesa, California, was caught donning a Three Percenterpatch with the words Oath Keeper.This is one example of a larger trend and strategy among antigovernment extremist groups to recruit and infiltrate law enforcement and military organizations. In January 2017, the Oath Keepers, along with Three Percenters, coordinated volunteer security operations forTrumps inaugurationto protect against any possible violence from jihadist terrorists or radical leftist groups. Oath Keepers provided similar armed security details for Trump rallies inMinnesotaandTexasin October 2019. All rights reserved (About Us). Stewart Rhodes, founder of Oath Keepers, and 10 alleged accomplices charged with seditious conspiracy stemming from January 6 Capitol riot . Republican voters are flocking to Ron DeSantis but why? The Bundys and other sympathizers tried to get Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son, Steven Hammond, 46, on their side, denouncing the Hammonds resentencing and the management of public lands by federal agencies. The Oath Keepers wereparticularly active in 2020, participating in various anti-lockdown protests, providing vigilante-style security for local communities and businesses during the Black Lives Matter protests that spread in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, and warning about a potential takeover by the Marxist left during the 2020 election. Founder Stewart Rhodes is a former Montana attorney and Army veteran who acts as the groups main spokesperson. In 2013, four years after its formation, the Oath Keepers announced the planned formation of Citizen Preservation Teams, which now are called the more sanitized name ofCommunity Preparedness Teams(CPTs). The Oath Keepers say that their mission is to defend the . In December 2015, Schuyler Barbeau, a member of the Oath Keepers and participant in the 2014 Bunkerville standoff aspart of the security teamassigned to protect Cliven Bundy, was arrested on charges of possessing an unregistered firearm related to allegedly altering an AR-15s barrel, allowing the weapon to operate as a fullyautomatic machine gun. The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism received more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists, according to the Associated Press. In response to the racial unrest that followed, Rhodes postedthe following statementto the groups Facebook account: I see some of you conflicted about how to handle whats going on in the streets of this country, I too was conflicted but let me say this. Kokesh entered an Alford plea and was given a suspended sentence for the initial drug and gun charges. Some of these have resulted in hostile and violent confrontations with government agents, others have materialized into nothing more than show-of-force demonstrations. What differentiates the Oath Keepers from other antigovernment extremist groups is that the Oath Keepers explicitly focus on recruiting current and former military members, police officers and first responders (although they accept anyone as members). He had a duty and responsibility to step up. A federal jury convicted him on the carrying a firearm charge but acquitted him of using a firearm in relation to another felony. Amplifying Fears of the Deep State: Though the Oath Keepers espouse an anti-government ideology, the Oath Keepers largely support President Trump and his administration. Each theory goes back to the idea that the U.S. government has fallen under global governance and will at some point use police and military members to enforce the New World Orders plans. Stoking fears of Black Lives Matter as part of Marxist NWO program: Oath Keepers have framed the civil rights movement that emerged following the death of George Floyd as part of a Marxist agenda that they allege is being used to destroy the United States. The group also has a long history of engaging in and promoting their own form of vigilantism by providing voluntary armed security, not affiliated with any law enforcement entity, at various protests and venues. We Oath Keepers are both honor-bound and eager to be there in strength to do our part. Stewart Rhodes, posted on the Oath Keepers website, Jan. 4, 2021, You must act NOW as a wartime President, pursuant to your oath to defend the Constitution, which is very similar to the oath all of us veterans swore. Members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia group, are on trial in one of the most high-profile cases stemming from the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol. Barbeau pleaded guilty to possessing a machine gun and was sentenced to 27 months in prison in September 2017. However, their decision to retreat from the. Previously, Ritzheimer participated in the2014 Bundy standoff in Bunkerville. They would eventually form "community preparedness teams" to monitor anti-government sentiments across the country. In 2014, the Oath Keepers highlighted the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa on their web site, questioning the Obama administrations response and raising concerns that it could be used to justify medical martial law in the U.S. As early as January 2020, Oath Keepers began posting about the seriousness of COVID-19, which was spreading at the time within China, and in the first two months of the pandemics spread in the U.S., they provided advice and information regarding COVID-19 to their followers. 0:57. The group has also long warned that voluntary UN sustainable development plans like Agenda 21 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which was implemented in 2015 will be used to take away private property and civil liberties in the name of sustainability. In many ways, Jan. 6, 2021, was the day that Stewart Rhodes had been waiting for his whole life. As Rhodes tweeted in early March 2020, Its critical that towns and counties do all they can with their own resources now to prepare. This activity mirrors the Oath Keepers behavior in 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, when a small of group of armed local Oath Keepers, led by Sam Andrews, took to the streets during the unrest following a grand jurys decision not to charge a former police officer for the shooting death of a Black teenager, Michael Brown, Jr. The ADL noted that the Oath Keepers have adhered to the general tenets of the militia movement, and believe the goal of this conspiracy is to form a tyrannical New World Order to enslave Americans. In September 2014, following an Alford plea by Kokesh, a Fairfax County, Virginia, judge ordered a suspended sentence for the warrantrelated felony drug and gun charges. The first order, for example, that they refuse to follow is any order to disarm the American people. They also pledge to disobey any order to impose martial law or to support foreign troops on American soil. Two elected officials in Wilbraham and Cape Cod are listed as being members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group. WASHINGTON The founder of a right-wing group whose members have been charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol spent about six . He was subsequently convicted of knowingly transmitting a threatening communication and received an eightmonth sentence. Rhodes formally launched the Oath. The Oath Keepers, which claims tens of thousands of present and former law enforcement officials and military veterans as members, is one of the largest far-right antigovernment groups in the U.S. today. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is seen on video during the hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol, on Capitol Hill in . The Pacific Patriots Network also includes antigovernment extremist groups aligned with the Three Percenters, and the Oath Keepers contingent is the very same chapter that took part in Operation Gold Rush in Oregon in 2015. COVID-19 Advice: The militia movement has long been preoccupied with the idea that a pandemic (possibly one that was manufactured) could be used as a pretense to infringe on American liberties, and the Oath Keepers are no different in this regard. Usually these calls for security go unanswered, and merely serve as displays of support for various causes and a means of garnering attention. In cases of an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction. At least 20 members of the group were eventually accused of conspiring to block President Biden's election certification, including Rhodes and four of his top associates. The group's name refers to the oath to "defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic," sworn by members of the U.S. military and police force. This change brought them in line with other militia groups that were taking a hardline approach in opposing public health efforts to curb the pandemic. Well videotape them and turn it over to law enforcement.Stewart Rhodes, as quoted in The Times article, Primed by Trump, Militias Gear up for Stolen US Election, June 29, 2020, This is a military invasion by the cartels and a political coup by the domestic Marxist controlled left, which sees open borders and mass-illegal invasion as their ticket to permanent illegitimate political power. According to their Facebook, Oath Keepers has provided disaster relief in five hurricanes and have also issued calls for action following various other floods, tornadoes and wildfires. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext. Springdale, Washington, December 2015: Schuyler Barbeau, who was filmed in at least one video while wearing Oath Keeper attire and shared several posts in favor of Oath Keeper Charles Dyer (see below), was arrested after he tried to sell a short-barreled rifle he had converted into an illegal machine gun to an individual secretly working with law enforcement. All told, at least 25 Oath Keepers are facing various charges in connection with their actions on January 6, 2021. This includes disobeying any law that would "disarm the American people," any efforts to impose martial law, any orders to invade a state that "asserts its sovereignty," any efforts to confiscate property from Americans, and more. The ideology of the Oath Keepers most closely resembles that of the militia movement, whose adherents believe that the United States is collaborating with a oneworld tyrannical conspiracy called the New World Order to strip Americans of their rightsstarting with their right to keep and bear arms. Oath Keepers also responded to a request for protection by salon owner Shelley Luther when she reopened her business on April 24 against public health mandates and then tore up a cease-and-desist letter from local authorities. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Massachusetts the site of the first battle of the American Revolutionary War. WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia has returned an indictment, which was unsealed today, charging a member of the Oath Keepers with conspiracy and other charges for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The Oath Keepers have become indelibly tied to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and their leader, . Antigovernment rhetoric energized his defense and underpinned his lack of cooperation in the case. Massachusetts, in 2009. Duncan, Oklahoma, January 2010: Charles Dyer, an Oklahoma Oath Keeper, was arrested by local law enforcement on charges of raping a young child; during his arrest, authorities also discovered an unregistered grenade launcher in his residence that had been stolen from a military base in California. The pro-gun group was named after the oath of service that police, military. While the most notable of these remains the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, they reportedly have a long history of involving themselves in vigilante justice. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as unlawful enemy combatants or to subject them to military tribunal. Stewart Rhodes has spoken at anti-lockdown protests in Texas, New York and California. Under his leadership, the Oath Keepers are essentially an updated and more successful version of a similar 1990s group, Police Against the New World Order, started by retired police officer Jack McLamb, who died in 2014. But it remains to be seen what the effects will be of putting Rhodes behind bars. ). Stewart Rhodes, My Personal Pledge of Resistance Against Any Attempt to Disarm Us by Means of an Assault Weapons Ban, on the Oath Keepers website, Dec. 19, 2012. From Oath Keepers Twitter: Offering protection at a Trump rally, 2019. Phillips was eventually convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. The Oath Keepers rose to prominence when handfuls of heavily armed members showed up at racial justice protests in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, and their profile grew thanks to a series of . He has since been arrested onseveral chargesand is included in the larger conspiracy case with over a dozen other Oath Keepers for their coordination efforts ahead of Jan. 6. Impending Martial Law: One of the most prominent Oath Keeper theories is that a large scale pandemic, natural disaster or terrorist attack will give the government an excuse to impose martial law resulting in (but not limited to) door to door gun confiscation, the ban of interstate travel and detainment of citizens in concentration camps. The Oath Keepers urge military and law enforcement personnel to step up to stop the conspirators. He formally launched the Oath Keepers in Lexington, Massachusetts, on April 19, 2009, where the first shot in the American Revolution was fired. The "oath" they have sworn to keep is the oath they once took as police officers and soldiers to "support and defend the constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies foreign. The name Oath Keepers comes from the groups core principle that members vow to uphold the oath they took as law enforcement or military personnel to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The Oath Keepers urge members to obey the Constitution, as they understand it, even if that interpretation goes against that of U.S. lawmakers and judges. These include: Impending Takeover of the U.S. by the Marxist Left: On September 10, 2020, Twitter announced that it had banned the accounts belonging to the Oath Keepers for violating the platforms policies on violent extremist groups as part of the platforms wider effort to limit the presence of militias on its platform. Well, I think what we have to realize is that, you know, Trump actually failed. Strike now. Stewart Rhodes, Open Letter to President Trump: You Must Use Insurrection Act to Stop the Steal and Defeat the Coup, on the Oath Keepers website, Dec. 14, 2020, Frankly, were concerned about a Benghazi-style attack. On July 26, 2013, upon posting bail and being released from jail, Kokesh was re-arrested on charges related to the Freedom Plaza stunt by violating a D.C. gun law that prohibits carrying a firearm outside of ones home. Do NOT count on the state or federal gov [sic] to give you all you need.. Me? Three individuals associated with the Oath Keepers, a paramilitary organization focused on recruitment of current and former military, law enforcement, and first responder personnel, were indicted today in federal court in the District of Columbia for conspiring to obstruct Congress, among other charges. Most of this is derived from the Oath Keepers' list of 10 laws or mandates titled, "Declaration Of Orders We Will Not Obey." The main crux of the groups messaging asserts that the government is engaged in attacks against its own citizens, working to strip them of their civil liberties. The Oath Keepers regularly denounce FEMA and their response to natural disasters, highlighting notable failures during Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Harvey. We are already in a fight. "Back in 2014, they appeared to be a pretty solid conservative group, I can't speak to them now," he said. The Oath Keepers belief that the allegedly tyrannical American government will use law enforcement and military personnel against its people leads to their avowed purpose of opposing such conspiracies. Founded in 2009, Oath Keepers (OK) is one of the largest and most prominent organizations of the militia/patriot movement with chapters across the country. But well make sure that were within range because I dont trust the Pentagon, I dont trust the brass, I dont trust even the Secretary of Defense to stand behind the President [Trump] and dont be surprised if you dont get the same kind of standdown order you saw with Benghazi. Stewart Rhodes, during an interview on Infowars The Alex Jones Show, Oct. 27, 2020, Well go undercover and look for people we think are committing voting fraud. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Divisions Counterterrorism Section. In April 2010,Darren Huff, a militia member and Oath Keeper, was arrested on a firearms charge after he traveled from Georgia to Tennessee to put certain government officials under citizens arrest for refusing to indict President Obama. At 2:31 p.m.18 minutes after rioters breached the west front of the Capitol buildingthe Oath Keepers' operations leader that day, Michael Greene, called Rhodes. The Southern Poverty Law Center further describes the Oath Keepers as "often confrontational," noting that they have been involved in a number of armed standoffs involving the government. Herndon, Virginia, July 2013: Gun rights activist and Oath Keeper Adam Kokesh was arrested in Washington, D.C., on weapon charges after a search warrant on his Virginia home turned up firearms and illegal drugs. According to Jacksons book, the group has engaged in real-world activities in response to events they perceive as threats to Americans rights and liberties, claiming to be pushing back against a government they see as tyrannical. During the pandemic, and the installation of public health safety measures, Oath Keepers responded by claiming to protect and supportbusinesses and business ownerswho reopened in defiance of these guidelines. He received two months of probation for charges related to the Freedom Plaza incident. But they chose Massachusetts as the site for the group's formal launch in 2009. According to the Chicago Tribune, the state of Illinois had the most members. As the election neared, Rhodes ratcheted up his rhetoric. Were looking for indicators that theyve got people who arent US citizens voting; then we can go and suppress that behaviour by letting it be known that were watching. News never stops. "Even if the most extreme actors are eliminated, the consequences of their ideas could remain," Burley added. Rhodes formally launched the. Fairfield was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The pledge, which refers to the honorable vow of service given by those in uniform, reminds Oath Keepers that they swore an oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. By taking this pledge, Oath Keepers vow that they will refuse to cooperate with the tyrannical government by making a declaration that there are certain orders from superiors that they will refuse to obey. Prior to his arrest, Dyer had posted a YouTube video in which Dyer, a former Marine, said, Join the military? Their first major showdown with the government occurred in 2011 in the town ofQuartzsite, Arizona. They also offered security to business owners who defied COVID-19 public health safety measures. Obviously, were not in a confrontation,David Smith, regional spokesman for the Forest Service, told the Southern Poverty Law Center. In 2015, Rhodes said they would protect notorious Kentucky clerk Kim Davis from arrest. When some of. For a dyed-in-the-wool conspiracy theorist who had been planning for dystopian collapse for . The Oath Keepers was officially launched with a rally in Lexington, Massachusetts, onApr. In response to various controversial shootings by and of police since 2014, most Oath Keepers have sided with law enforcement against activist groups like Black Lives Matter. While Rhodes reportedly framed the early days of the Oath Keepers as "just a pro-Constitution group made up of patriots," he would eventually help the group evolve into what it is today. Washington, D.C., January 2021:Federal authorities have arrested at least 25 people associated with the Oath Keepers, charging them in connection with their efforts to impede the processes governing the transfer of presidential power in the lead up to and during the January 6 insurrection. Huff was given a four-year prison sentence. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty. Stewart Rhodes, a Yale Law School graduate, founded the Oath Keepers in 2009, with a mission to resist unlawful exercises of government power. It was incorporated in 2009 by founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes, a lawyer and former paratrooper. After failing to appear for his trial, Dyer fled Oklahoma as a fugitive, leading police on a multi-state chase that ended with his capture in Houston, Texas. To prove the imminent threat of martial law, Rhodes often points to the World War II internment of Japanese Americans and to the gun confiscation by police and military members in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (a federal court subsequently ordered New Orleans officials to return all confiscated firearms). Rhodes insists the government wants to track gun owners like it does sex offenders and uses mass shooting incidents as an excuse to violate Second Amendment rights. Though there is a formal national leadership, on the local level many Oath Keepers are essentially selforganized, forming official, semiofficial or informal groupings of Oath Keepers in specific, sometimes even overlapping, geographic areas. Oath Keepers is an essential contribution to our understanding of the growing appeal and violent potential of ever-evolving forms of domestic extremism. However, the outlet also noted that the tactics of the Oath Keepers were constantly shifting in an effort to evade law enforcement. The main message of these events is the false notion that Muslims are attempting to replace the American legal system with Sharia law. Stewart Rhodes denies planning Oath Keepers' Jan. 6 Capitol riot involvement in testimony Men sporting gear identifying them as "Oath Keepers" were among the crowds that gathered in Washington, D . In January 2016,Jon Ritzheimer, a member of the Oath Keepers and participant in the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Burns, Oregon, surrendered to authorities. The Oath Keepers, founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes, is a loosely organized conspiracy theory-fueled group that recruits current and former military, police and first responders. Since the election of President Trump, the Oath Keepers have routinely stoked fears regarding the Democratic Party, stating that the party is in fact a Marxist-Islamist organization, where an unholy alliance of communists and jihadists aim to defeat their common enemy Western Civilization. This aid includes providing bottled water and food, clearing roads and helping with rescue missions. In January 2019, Fairfield had an additional four years added to his sentence after officials determined that he interfered with another investigation. We think a good first step is to have the veterans stand up in every community and go help form and train neighborhood watches, to get the people to take back into their own hands their own personal self-defense and security.. The Oath Keepers view themselves as defenders of the U.S. Constitution, but organizations that monitor right-wing extremists say the group is a dangerous militia. They even ventured into QAnon territory, adopting and circulating QAnon-related conspiracies on their website. The other orders they refuse to follow are of a similar sort. Dallas, Georgia, and Madisonville, Tennessee, April 2010: Darren Huff, a Georgia militia member and Oath Keeper, traveled to Tennessee with an AK47 and a .45 caliber Colt handgun in order to make citizens arrests of government officials who had refused demands to indict President Obama. The BLM was stunned by this response, as they had made it known they had no plans of taking action until the appeal had been decided. A large part of Rhodes' and the Oath Keepers' defense was that they believed the attack on the Capitol was based on eventual orders from former President Trump. Westfield, Massachusetts, March 2011: Oath Keeper David M. Phillips was arrested in Massachusetts on charges of possession of ammunition without the required Firearms Identification Card and four counts of possession of a large capacity firearm feeding device. In 2015, an Oregon chapter of the Oath Keepers acted in support of Rick Barclay and George Backes, two Oregon gold miners whose operations the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) alleged were in violation of government regulations. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to keep the peace or to maintain control.. In August 2011, Rhodes and his Oath Keepers traveled to Quartzsite, Arizona, to join in a protest in support of local residents who were ejected from a town council meeting after speaking past the allotted time and refusing to leave the meeting. The groups response to the 2020 outbreak of the coronavirus is discussed in more detail below; however, it is worth noting that the national organization initially shared material on its website and Twitter account calling for increased state government involvement in stemming the viruss spread before shifting its messaging and labelling the virus as a weapon used by leftists to attack President Trump and by the government to strip away Americans rights. Such behavior was in line with the Oath Keepers efforts to focus on opposing state governments rather than the Trump administration. The group has also recruited from among people already involved in the anti-government extremist movement. In the days leading up to the 2016 election, the organization issued a call to action seeking volunteers to position themselves at polling stations to ensure that the left did not steal the election from then-candidate Donald Trump, and since his election they have expressed support for the president, largely redirecting their ire away from the federal government and towards the broader left. 19, 2009, in the wake of the country electing Barack Obama as its first Black president. All Rights Reserved. He also admitted to persuading his girlfriend to purchase assault rifle parts for him in order to avoid a background check. Here's everything you need to know: They are described by the Anti-Defamation Leagueas "a large but loosely organized collection of right-wing anti-government extremists who are part of the militia movement." The Oath Keepers was officially launched with a rally in Lexington, Massachusetts, on Apr. A wide variety of conspiracy theories and fringe beliefs. Thirteen people associated with the Oath Keepers have. He was charged with conspiracy to impede officers of the U.S. from discharging their duties via force, intimidation or threat. This includes targeting military and veterans' groups, police officers, and other law enforcement divisions, as opposed to other far-right groups who tend to target a general audience. The five members were driving around Mexico Beach patrolling the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in a Ford automobile that was decorated to look like a patrol cruiser; every member wore military-style clothing, including one vest that read tactical officer.. Founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes, the Oath Keepers is a large right-wing anti-government extremist group. Luther was arrested for her violation of public health orders and fined $7,000. Despite this clear evidence of involvement, themilitia movementhas by and large not reckoned with the role their conspiratorial beliefs and violent rhetoric played in the leadup to the insurrection. He eventually reached a plea deal on local charges against him, pleading no contest to one charge in exchange for the state dropping other charges. A Washington, DC, jury on Tuesday convicted Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and associate Kelly Meggs of seditious conspiracy for their role around the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Seven of the defendants were visible wearing combat gear and participating in a tactical stack as they moved through the crowd towards the Capitol. As the Oath Keepers believe the New World Order will eventually take over, the ADL reports that they ask their members to disobey any orders they see as unconstitutional. This estimated size would still make the Oath Keepers larger than any single traditional militia group. He was tracked down and arrested the following week in Houston, Texas, extradited back to Oklahoma, where (after several abortive attempts) he finally stood trial, was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison. But the Hammonds said they were planning on reporting to prison, did not want their help and asked them to return to Nevada. Some looming UN transgressions anticipated by Oath Keepers include the implementation of global taxation and a global currency that would end the use of the dollar. Greenwood, Delaware, February 2015: Oath Keeper Matthew Opaliski was charged with three counts of dealing firearms without a license and two counts of unlawful transfer of firearms after he allegedly sold, traded or gave firearms to a person who was not a Delaware resident. With help from Infowars host Alex Jones, the group increasingly promoted far-right conspiracies as the 2020 election approached. Rhodes has said that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to preserve the ability of the people, who are the militia, to provide for their own security and to preserve the military capacity of the American people to resist tyranny and violations of their rights by oath breakers within government. Another Oath Keeper theory claims the Veterans Administration is busily deeming veterans mentally unfit in order to legally disarm Americans trained to fight, thereby paving the way for a foreign (New World Order) takeover. Following the 2020 election, in which former President Donald Trump lost to President Biden, the Oath Keepers began working on a weeks-long campaign to have the election overturned. This includes attendance at racially charged events, with NBC News reporting a number of armed Oath Keepers turned up at the 2015 protests in Ferguson, Missouri. Ritzheimer pleaded guilty and received a prison sentence of one year and a day. Stewart Rhodes, the leader of . Based on its monitoring of the Oath Keepers, ADL estimates that the group has up to several thousand members, though the Oath Keepers have claimed far more. This sentiment is encapsulated in the socalled Oath Keepers Pledge, which they ask all members and supporters to take. These incidents underscore the internal tension between the Oath Keepers antigovernment ideology and their focus on military and police personnel. He was convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Then after we convict him he should be hung by the neck until dead. Stewart Rhodes, at an event in Tempe, Arizona, May 5, 2015, It is the height of Orwellian perversion of language and logic to say that disarming you of the most effective arms for combat that you still have is somehow not really disarming you, because you still have hunting rifles and shotguns. The Oath Keepers are part of the militia movement, a subsection of the broader antigovernment Patriot movement which consists of sovereign citizens and tax protesters, among others that believes the federal government has been coopted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip Americans of their rights. The Oath Keepers are labeled as a "large but loosely organized militia" by the U.S. Department of Justice. He talks. Once these thugs turned to burning, killing and looting, they became domestic enemies.. The list of orders the Oath Keepers vow to refuse reveals their extreme conspiratorial mindset, because the orders are not instructions likely to ever be actually handed down by officials; instead, they are reflective of the antigovernment conspiracy theories embraced by the extreme right. A leaked Oath Keepers membership list contains more than 38,000 names, including those of elected officials, police chiefs, and members of the military, according to a report published Tuesday. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Some Oath Keepers have claimed that the government may even stage a terrorist attack or other incident as an excuse to declare martial law. The officer towed the vehicle after a check revealed that the vehicle registration and insurance had been cancelled. During the 2016 presidential election, the Oath Keepers were at it again, with RhodesannouncingOperation Sabot 2016as a method to prevent the election from being stolen from Donald Trump, something the candidate repeatedly predicted. In December 2018, the Oath Keepers website advertised acall to actionfor a Border Operation, encouraging engagement in paramilitary activity to prevent the invasion of illegals into the country and to provide security for border ranches and families, presumably against immigrants, another exaggerated and unsupported claim propagated by the group. The Oath Keepers have become indelibly tied to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and their leader, Stewart Rhodes, was convicted of seditious conspiracy related to that day. The Oath Keepers have had more success in recruiting former military personnel, which is a much larger pool to draw from; many Oath Keepers speak of past military service. Cook had previous convictions for possessing stolen property, grand larceny and attempted possession of a controlled substance. Stewart Rhodes, founder of the . On Jan. 6, 2021, members of the Oath Keepers from around the country participated in the insurrection and breach of the U.S. Capitol building. Beyond this, members of the Oath Keepers have reportedly participated in a variety of other far-right movements, including the "Stop the Steal" campaign associated with efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Rhodes, in a blog post on the groups website, claimed authoritiesbacked offonce they knew Oath Keepers and others had shown up. Ultimately, there was no standoff. The Oath Keepers rose to prominence when handfuls of heavily armed members showed up at racial justice protests in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, and their profile grew thanks to a series of . This is a matter of national security and also a matter of national survival. He would deny you the right for trial to jury, but we would give him a trial by jury. Before 2019, the Oath Keepers Twitter platform used the term deep state only once, but since then the term has been used at least 79 times on the platform, which suggests that the organization finds this rhetoric to be a useful tactic to appeal to the large pool of right-wing actors who believe in the conspiracy. UPDATE: OnJanuary 13, 2022,federal authorities arrestedOath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes oncharges ofseditious conspiracyfor his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Protests broke out in the city following the grand jurys decision not to indict Wilson. The evidence of guilt is remarkably strong, the defenses offered are just as weak, and witness testimony even offers some reason for hope beyond this case. Since then, the Oath. The most recent is the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when members of the group, including its leader, Stewart Rhodes, were arrested and accused of conspiring to oppose the presidential transfer of power by force. Recent investigations have found direct ties between major police departments and the extremist right-wing militant group the Oath Keepers, which was a major player in the January 6 attack on the Capitol and regularly participates in violent intimidation of left-wing protesters.. Rhodes himself participated in aprotest outside the Dallas County Jailin Texas where Luther was being held. The organization has publicly labeled lockdown measures Orwellian violations of liberty and urges their members to defy these measures. 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