Elected officials, police chiefs on leaked Oath Keepers list
Oath Keepers is a far-right militant organization operating in the United States.
April 2014: Members of Oath Keepers, including OK leader Stewart Rhodes, joined far-right activists from around the United States in an armed standoff with U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) agents in Bunkerville, Nevada, in support of rancher Cliven Bundy. The militants aimed to prevent BLM from confiscating Bundy’s cattle due to his refusal to pay grazing fees. This was OK’s first major operation (no casualties).
[1] April 2015: After being cited by U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for unauthorized mining activity at the Sugar Pine Mine, Rich Barclay and George Backes requested security support from Oath Keepers. Members from around the country came for a weekslong armed patrol of the site to defy BLM (no casualties).
[2] January 2016-February 2016: Unsanctioned by the Oath Keepers national leadership, some members (exact number unknown) participated in the occupation of Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon to protest the conviction of two men for arson for burning brush on federal land. The OK national leadership approved the establishment of an armed patrol to serve as a buffer between the occupiers and federal agents (1 killed, unknown wounded).
[3] January 6, 2021: Oath Keepers participated in the storming of the U.S. Capitol along with members of other far-right organizations, including the Three Percenters, Proud Boys, adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory, and other supporters of then-U.S. President Donald Trump in an attempt to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. The assault led to the deaths of one police officer and four protesters. One hundred thirty-eight police officers were injured, while the number of rioters injured is unknown (5 killed, at least 138 wounded).
SOURCE :
https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/oath-keepers#text_block_28161
“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. We are already in a fight. It’s better to wage it with you as Commander-in-Chief than to have you comply with a fraudulent election, leave office, and leave the White House in the hands of illegitimate usurpers and Chinese puppets. Please don’t do it. Do NOT concede, and do NOT wait until January 20, 2021. 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
SOURCE : https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/oath-keepers
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.
"The Oath Keepers has grown quickly along with the wider anti-government movement and used the tools of the internet to spread their message during Barack Obama’s presidency, said Rachel Carroll Rivas, interim deputy director of research with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. But since Jan. 6 and Rhodes’ arrest, the group has struggled to keep members, she said.
That’s partly because Oath Keepers had been associated so strongly with Rhodes that the removal of the central figure had an outsized impact, and partly because many associated with the group were often those who wanted to be considered respectable in their communities, she said."
How do domestic groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers compare, in terms of their organization and behavior, to the jihadist extremist groups you have studied and tracked?
“One of the most apparent differences is that Proud Boys and Oath Keepers operate in full openness. They meet publicly and until very recently they were communicating very publicly - posting on Twitter and Facebook and holding meetings in public places.
They are not at all suppressed. It appears there are few secrets. They have chapters and elaborate hierarchies, they wear uniforms and insignia. Their members are running for office and trying to take over the Republican Party.”
SOURCE : https://www.brandeis.edu/now/2022/june/klausen-proud-boys-oath-keepers-jihadists.html
2.) Examining Extremism: The Oath Keepers
June 17, 2021
“The Oath Keepers are an anti-government, right-wing political organization committed to supporting and defending their interpretation of the U.S.
Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. They are associated with the militia movement, an extremist umbrella organization founded on the belief that the federal government is part of an evil conspiracy intent on stripping Americans of their natural rights and freedoms.
They act as a local line of defense against perceived federal tyranny and are inspired by the courage and resolve of the American colonial revolutionist.
The name “Oath Keepers” comes from the oath of service taken by the military, law enforcement, and other first responders—and their message is a call to keep that oath, whether you previously served, are currently serving, or never wore the uniform.”
SOURCE : https://www.csis.org/blogs/examining-extremism/examining-extremism-oath-keepers
The Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and jihadist extremists: What they have in common and what they...
Since 2006, professor Jytte Klausen has led the Western Jihadism Project, which studies and closely tracks the movements and behavior of individuals associated with terrorist groups.
Seamus Hughes, Ilana Krill
30 Jun 2022
Keywords: far-right, Capitol Riot, domestic terrorism, extremism, counter-terrorism
“However, individuals with a military background present on 06 January were around four times more likely to be members of a domestic extremist organisation, such as the Oath Keepers, when compared to the total number of individuals charged for crimes committed that day. Thirty percent of currently arrested 06 January participants with military experience were also affiliated with domestic violent extremist (DVE) organisations, including some with combat experience
SOURCE : https://icct.nl/publication/assessing-us-domestic-extremism-in-light-of-capitol-riot-investigations/
Assessing US Domestic Extremism in Light of Capitol Riot Investigations - ICCT
This Perspective reviews the current state of the federal investigation into the perpetrators of the Capitol Riot and provides an overview of the shifting US counter-terrorism landscape.