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. Me? Thirty-nine seconds later, defendant Kelly Meggs, who was then leading about 14 Oath Keepers toward the Capitol, also called Rhodes. The Arizona Supreme Court reprimanded Rhodes andfined him $600. ). 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. Once these thugs turned to burning, killing and looting, they became domestic enemies.. Recently, these activities have increasingly taken the shape of natural disaster management. Two elected officials in Wilbraham and Cape Cod are listed as being members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group. 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. . 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 urge military and law enforcement personnel to step up to stop the conspirators. The group is rooted in conspiracy theories, including the belief that the federal. I have a difficult time believing that 100 percent of the people were cleared or were 100 percent controllable.. The Oath Keepers regularly denounce FEMA and their response to natural disasters, highlighting notable failures during Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Harvey. The Oath Keepers seem to be trying to resolve this tension by focusing their confrontational tactics primarily on various federal law enforcement agencies, while often siding with local law enforcement officers in other controversies. 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 this case, the Oath Keepers and other rightwing extremists opposed the Bureau of Land Managements efforts to impound Bundys cattle, which had been illegally grazing on federal land. In a bold move, Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the right-wing militia group, sat for an interview with federal agents after they seized his phone in May. The Oath Keepers say that their mission is to defend the . Do NOT count on the state or federal gov [sic] to give you all you need.. 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. In January 2019, Fairfield had an additional four years added to his sentence after officials determined that he interfered with another investigation. But that wasnt the case in early 2016, when members of the same Bundy family who were at the center of the 2014 Nevada standoff got interested in another conflict with the federal government, this one in Harney County, Oregon. The main message of these events is the false notion that Muslims are attempting to replace the American legal system with Sharia law. 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 At least nine people associated with the Oath Keepers have been. On October 27, he appeared on far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones program The Alex Jones Show and said that members of the Oath Keepers will be at polling stations to protect Trump voters from the left. The Oath Keepers claim it is their mission to protect Trump Rally attendees and provide them escorts to and from their vehicles. 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. 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. 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. 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.. 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. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext. Members told us at least 40 Oath Keepers were at the January 6 rally with some seen providing security to Trump associate Roger Stone. In cases of an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction. This estimated size would still make the Oath Keepers larger than any single traditional militia group. Please dont do it. The organization has publicly labeled lockdown measures Orwellian violations of liberty and urges their members to defy these measures. C. Ryan Barber. Shane Burley, the author ofFascism Today: What It Is and How to End It,wrote forNBC Newsthat the outcome of the trial was undoubtedly "a net benefit" for democracy. In February 2015,Matthew Opaliski, a member of the Oath Keepers, previous leader of the Sussex County, Delaware, Republican Party, and former three-time Delaware state Senate candidate wasindicted on gun charges, including dealing firearms without a license and unlawfully transferring firearms. in 2014, Oath Keepers garnered attention from the media for their involvement in the unrest that erupted in Ferguson, Missouri after a St. Louis County grand jury decided not to indict police . Seven of the defendants were visible wearing combat gear and participating in a tactical stack as they moved through the crowd towards the Capitol. Simply put: because many of them were reportedly there. There are two Massachusetts elected officials listed as being members of Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group, according to the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism. t. e. Social conservatism in the United States is a political ideology focused on the preservation of traditional values and beliefs. Some of these have resulted in hostile and violent confrontations with government agents, others have materialized into nothing more than show-of-force demonstrations. He should be tried for treason before a jury of his peers which he would deny you. 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. 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. The Nevada-basednonprofitwas founded by Yale Law School graduate and former U.S. Army paratrooperElmerStewart Rhodes. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. He subsequently pleaded guilty in August 2016 to a felony charge of federal conspiracy to impede federal workers for his prominent role in the 2016 armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. A handful of members, including Rhodes,showed up in Newburgh, New York,on May 30, 2020, to support Minuta. Though it is not alleged that Rhodes entered the Capitol building, Rhodes led Oath Keepers planning and coordination in advance of January 6 which included the formation of armed teams prepared to use force and he was at the building and allegedly in communication with members of the group during the insurrection. This militaristic group consists of national leadership and state, county and local chapters scattered across the country. While the Oath Keepers official statement regarding the death of George Floyd was to condemn the actions of the officers involved, they have stated that they oppose looting and arson and have expressed a general distrust for the Black Lives Matter protests. Later in 2014, members of the Oath Keepers showed up in Ferguson, Missouri, during the unrest that followed the death of Michael Brown, a Black man, by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. 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. Providing Security: The Oath Keepers frequently solicit volunteers to provide security in a variety of different contexts. Documents shared by the ADL claimed that politicians, police officers, firefighters, EMTs and other public officials were members of the extremist group. In 2014, members formed their own patrol in Ferguson, Missouri, after the killing of an unarmed Black man in 2014, and they provided security to an Infowars reporter during the anniversary protest a year later. The Oath Keepers were founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes, a former U.S. Army paratrooper who was honourably discharged after suffering an injury in a training exercise. In return, prosecutors agreed not to reimpose the other three charges, which had been recently dropped, against Irish. He was charged with conspiracy to impede officers of the U.S. from discharging their duties via force, intimidation or threat. 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. At a rally in Lexington, Massachusetts on April 19 . 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. Though Twitter has not stated which specific posts they determined violated their policy, in the weeks leading up to their ban, the Oath Keepers Twitter account declared in the wake of the murder of Patriot Prayer member Aaron Danielson that there is a Marxist rebellion against the United States, with the oft stated intent to overthrow its government under the Constitution. The account urged President Trump to declare that there is an ongoing Marxist insurrection led by antifa and Black Lives Matter and to respond by calling the militia into federal service to suppress the rebellion.. Despite this, the Bundys and a number of other heavily armed militants decided to break away from a pro-Hammond rally in Oregon and occupy the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, a famous birding location. Similarly, the owners of Sugar Pine Mine in Josephine County, Oregon, were in a dispute with the Bureau of Land Management over unauthorized surface structures. The far-right paramilitary group the Oath Keepers claims to have thousands of members across the country. When executing a search warrant, law enforcement officers discovered a live napalm bomb and dozens of other explosives in a storage locker; he eventually was indicted on 97 different charges, including 18 counts of unlawful possession of dangerous ordnance, 23 counts of receiving stolen property, 23 counts of possession of criminal tools, 10 counts of failure to secure dangerous ordnance, one count of perjury, and 21 counts of pandering obscenity involving child pornography. The FBI arrested the leader of the hard-right Oath Keepers group in Texas after prosecutors charged him and 10 . Jackson, an expert on far-right extremism, is a professor in the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University of Albany in New York. Instead, many simply dismiss the events of January 6thas the work of antifa or a false flag operation. In April 2015,Richard Lee Cook, a Nevada Oath Keeper and participant in the 2014 Bunkerville, Nevada, standoff with the government, was arrested and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, following the standoff. He was charged with carrying a firearm in interstate commerce with intent to use it for civil disorder, as well as a second count of using a firearm in relation to another felony. 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. As part of the groups mission, Oath Keepers have directed their recruiting effort toward members of the military, law enforcement and other public-safety positions. 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. Over a dozen members of the Oath Keepers who were present on Jan. 6 were charged with conspiracy for planning to obstruct an official proceeding, along with other related charges. 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. The Oath Keepers, who believe themselves to be " the last line of defense against tyranny ," are more aptly described as a conspiracy group, or extremist militia, who have set aside their anti . 2022 Anti-Defamation League. The extremist group is accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. They are also proponents of the sovereign citizen movement, believing that they are not subject to any laws of the U.S. government. But the Hammonds said they were planning on reporting to prison, did not want their help and asked them to return to Nevada. Thirteen people associated with the Oath Keepers have. While criticizing the occupation, the Oath Keepers did take part in a coalition of militias in the Pacific Northwest called the Pacific Patriots Network, which served as a buffer between the occupiers and government forces. These incidents underscore the internal tension between the Oath Keepers antigovernment ideology and their focus on military and police personnel. The Oath Keepers did not have 25,000 soldiers at the ready. In a separate incident, the U.S. Park Police arrested Kokesh for bearing arms at the Freedom Plaza in violation of Washington D.C. law by loading a shotgun. All told, at least 25 Oath Keepers are facing various charges in connection with their actions on January 6, 2021. 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. Members have provided security for events and individuals promoting Stop the Steal after the 2020 election, including Roger Stone. In 2015, Rhodes said they would protect notorious Kentucky clerk Kim Davis from arrest. The Oath Keepers declared theirmission accomplishedand ended the security operation in what they touted as a victory against the government. Though the Oath Keepers have generally been less hostile towards law enforcement during the Trump administration, it is likely that their vitriol would return under a Democratic administration. Members of the Oath Keepers have been arrested in connection with a wide range of criminal activities, including various firearms violations, conspiracy to impede federal workers, possession of explosives, and threatening public officials. But we will spot, document, and reportanyapparent attempt at vote fraud or voter intimidation as is our duty.. The Oath Keepers was officially launched with a rally in Lexington, Massachusetts, onApr. 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 Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism received more than. Massachusetts the site of the first battle of the American Revolutionary War. Barclay later said the BLM would have destroyed his mine if he had not called for help. 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. However, those who knew him said he soon started using his time at the court to express his disillusioned views and complain of government overreach,The Associated Presswrites in its history of the group. 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. 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 core idea of Elmer Stewart Rhodes' group, the Oath Keepers, is that its members vow to support the oaths they took on joining law enforcement or the military to defend the Constitution forever and the group's own list of 10 "Orders We Will Not Obey."The list is a compendium of perceived, unrealized threats from the government - orders, for instance, to force Americans into . Washington CNN Prosecutors on Monday presented opening arguments in a second trial against members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group accused of joining a monthslong plot to keep Joe. 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. In November 2017, Ritzheimer was sentenced to spend a year and a day in federal prison. Extremists Engage in Political Violence During Pro-Trump Rallies, Extremists Face Arrests, Uncertain Future Following January 6 Insurrection, reference militiarelated conspiracy theories. However, their decision to retreat from the. Oath Keepers is an essential contribution to our understanding of the growing appeal and violent potential of ever-evolving forms of domestic extremism. Judah Cohen, Director of Seasonal Forecasting at AER (Atmospheric and Environmental Research), is a climatologist who focuses on long-range forecasts and is the guest for both episodes. 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. According to the Chicago Tribune, the state of Illinois had the most members. Opaliski subsequently pleaded guilty to one count of dealing firearms without a license and was sentenced in July 2016 to one year and one day in prison. 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. does surroundings have an apostrophe, Supreme Court reprimanded Rhodes andfined him $ 600 officially launched with a rally in Lexington Massachusetts. 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