Eleven members of the organization, including its founder and leader Stewart Rhodes, were indicted for seditious conspiracy in January 2022. Most research determined the Oath Keeper membership to be approximately 5,000 members, while leaked data showed Oath Keepers' rosters claiming membership of 38,000. All Rights Reserved. [125][126][127][128][129], In late November 2014, during the unrest in Ferguson, the Oath Keepers put out a national request to its members to help in the city after the grand jury decision was released in the case of the shooting of Michael Brown. Links Oath Keepers and Proud Boys Ahead of Capitol Riot", "Prosecutors Use Gateway Pundit Interview, 'Magnetic Locks' Conspiracy Theory Against Marine Veteran Charged in Oath Keepers Case", "Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, Forceful on Jan. 6, Privately Are in Turmoil", "Fourth Oath Keeper in Capitol riot pleads guilty, cooperates with FBI", "January 6 committee subpoenas Proud Boys and Oath Keepers", "Oath Keepers sharing with January 6 investigators their efforts to find election fraud, communications with Trump allies", "DOJ charges 11 Oath Keepers, including leader, with seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 Capitol attack", "READ: Seditious conspiracy indictment related to US Capitol attack", "Leader of North Carolina Chapter of Oath Keepers Pleads Guilty to Seditious Conspiracy and Obstruction of Congress for Efforts to Stop Transfer of Power Following 2020 Presidential Election", "Oath Keeper pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy and will cooperate with Justice Department", "Member of Georgia Chapter of Oath Keepers Pleads Guilty to Seditious Conspiracy and Obstruction of Congress for Efforts to Stop Transfer of Power Following 2020 Presidential Election", "Oath Keeper members brought explosives to DC area around January 6 and had a 'death list,' prosecutors say", "Justice Department doesn't want Oath Keepers to blame Trump at trial", "Historic trial for Oath Keepers leader and his top lieutenants over January 6 set to begin | CNN Politics", "Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four codefendants face jury in highest-profile Jan. 6 trial", "Jury seated in high-profile Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial after three days of questioning", "Witness: Oath Keepers head tried to reach Trump after Jan. 6", "Trial bumped for Dunnellon woman charged alongside husband in Capitol attack", "Titusville man and Oath Keepers' founder face new charges of sedition for Capitol riot role", "New charges accuse Ohio bartender of sedition with leader of the Oath Keepers in attack on U.S. Capitol", "Virginia man among Oath Keepers charged in seditious conspiracy during Jan. 6 Capitol riot", "Federal rangers face off against armed protesters in Nevada 'range war', "Bundy ranch dispute with federal land agency draws variety of foot soldiers", "Oregon mine that summoned armed guards in land dispute files appeal", "Armed protesters gather at Medford BLM office over Sugar Pine Mine dispute", "Constitution advocates issue cease, desist order at mine", "Dispatch from White Hope Mine dispute in Montana", "Guns banned from Saturday's 'Patriot Prayer' in San Francisco", "Oath Keepers confirm militia will attend controversial Crissy Field rally", "Oath Keepers Website Warns Clinton Victory Could Lead To 'Outright Civil War', "The Weirdest Possible Outcomes For The Strangest Election In U.S. History", "Militia group calls on members to patrol polls on Election Day", "Militia threat shuts down Oregon Statehouse amid walkout", "Saturday Senate session canceled after potential threat of militia protest violence", "Oregon Capitol building closed as precaution amid partisan dispute", "Let's Check In on Those Oregon Republicans Who Fled the Capital, Shall We? IE 11 is not supported. 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.. "[121], Founder Stewart Rhodes, who has said he is one-quarter Mexican, has disavowed racism and white supremacist ideology on his blog. The deep state conspiracy helps create space for the Oath Keepers to address the dissonance created by their opposition to the federal government and their support for President Trump by reframing events as a struggle between President Trump, who is trying to help the people, and a deep state that is seeking to thwart his efforts. [138], Mike Giglio of The Atlantic reported that at a July 2020 meeting at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Rutherford County, Tennessee, founder Rhodes, speaking of the events of the racial unrest in the United States that year, said that antifa and other protesters "are insurrectionists, and we have to suppress that insurrection" and that "eventually they're going to be using IEDs" and consequently "us old vets and younger ones are going to end up having to kill these young kids and they're going to die believing they were fighting Nazis. Jailed Oath Keeper Fears For Safety Because She Is Transgender 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'. 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). Later that year, Oath Keepers participated in the Bundy Ranch standoff in Nevada, where many armed members of the group confronted law enforcement, including Richard Lee Cook, who was arrested by FBI agents. In the speech, Page boasted, "I'm also a killer. Oath Keepers also claims that the reason Democratic leaders support gun-control legislation is to allow for easy gun confiscation and make the American people both dependent and vulnerable to a takeover. For example, the Oath Keepers believe that a UN Small Arms Treaty will be implemented to bypass the second Amendment and prohibit firearms. Why former Oath Keepers spokesperson broke with the group Regional leader of 'Oath Keepers' pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy Throughout 2020, the group has also posted several calls to action in places like Washington D.C., New Orleans and Texas, looking for volunteers to protect monuments across the United States, arguing that these measures were needed to protect the monuments from Marxist domestic enemies who were seeking to destroy American history. One thing that surprised him was the Oath Keepers don't usually advertise their presence at events like this. WASHINGTON - Prosecutors described members of the right-wing extremist militia group the Oath Keepers as leaders of a long-planned and carefully coordinated scheme to prevent the peaceful. On Dec. 31, 2019, the Oath Keepers issued a call to action for the Lobby Day, stating that they were sending a team to Virginia to assist in organizing resistance to unconstitutional acts and to organize and train armed posses and militia. The Facebook event, The Militias March on the Capital, listed more than 550 attendees. However, a minority of Oath Keepers are so antiauthoritarian that they have been less willing to express support for law enforcement. snap.berkeley.edu [134] St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told the newspaper that the Oath Keepers' "presence was both unnecessary and inflammatory. Caught on tape: Trump ally Roger Stone bolts 'insurrection headquarters' on Jan. 6. "[116], Kim Davis is a former county clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky, who gained international attention in August 2015 when she defied a U.S. federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Most relate to their recruitment and promotional efforts. Kelly Meggs (R) founder of the Florida Oath Keepers from Dunnellon, Florida and husband to Oath Keeper Connie Meggs. During an inventory search of the vehicles trunk, police found nine largecapacity ammunition magazines along with 2,156 rounds of ammunition. Nolan had been released after the magistrate ruled prosecutors had not established it was him who gave an anonymous interview to The Gateway Pundit the previous month describing his activities on January 6, but prosecutors presented evidence in their brief to assert it was Nolan. ", "Racism & Identity in the Patriot Movement Up In Arms", "Incorporation Information for the Oath Keepers, Inc", "Ready To Revolt: Oath Keepers pledges to prevent dictatorship in United States", "Oath Keepers Blog Archive Oath Keepers is Going "Operational" by Forming Special "Civilization Preservation" Teams", "Ferguson unrest: Who are the mysterious 'Oath Keepers'? "[70] Impeachment managers also said that an Oath Keeper member noted that they were "'awaiting direction' from Mr. Trump about how to handle the results of the vote in the days that followed the election," and that another alleged member, Jessica M. Watkins, wrote a text message saying, "[i]f Trump asks me to come, I will. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times) When . [78], On November 23, 2021, Stewart Rhodes and the Nevada-incorporated[32] Oath Keepers entity were subpoenaed by the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. Prior to his arrest, Dyer had posted a YouTube video in which Dyer, a former Marine, said, Join the military? The Oath Keepers reacted on June 20, 2019, by stating: "Gov. The far-right Oath Keepers who call New Jersey home [37], 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. A District of Columbia judge sentenced Kokesh to two years probation on the shotgun charge in November 2013. [27], The Oath Keepers has been identified as one of the "largest and most prominent organizations of the militia/patriot movement. Oath Keepers: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com All three were members of the Oath Keepers for just a few months in the summer and fall of 2020. They expect the same from government officials, both appointed and elected. In contrast, the defenses offered by the five defendants attorneys have been underwhelming. [12][13][14][15] Former SPLC senior fellow Mark Potok describes the group as "an anti-government group who believe in a wild set of conspiracy theories". a federal judge on friday ordered defense attorneys for alleged members of the oath keepers charged with seditious conspiracy to disclose whether their legal fees are being paid by anyone other. 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. 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. "[70], Prosecutors claimed in a March 2021 court filing that the group's founder and leader Stewart Rhodes was in contact with participants before, during and after the assault. But there may be other explanations, like a sprinkler system kicked on during the night. Oath Keepers planning to violently subvert the 2020 election stockpiled 30 days of supplies and a cache of rifles and ammunition just outside of Washington, D.C., prosecutors alleged in a late . Eleven were charged together in January 2022. Lawyers for Stewart Rhodes, founder of . [63], Three suspected members of Oath Keepers were federally indicted in January for conspiracy for planning their activities during the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol with six more being added to the indictment in February. 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. At the beginning of the pandemic, Oath Keepers used COVID-19 to spread fear to their followers, warning that the virus was worse than government officials were saying and pushing people to do whatever they needed to do to remain safe themselves since the government would be unable to help them. The charges followed a March 2011 vehicle stop by the Worcester Police Department due to an invalid license plate and driving with excessive speed. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. On Monday's episode of "The ReidOut," former Oath Keepers spokesman Jason Van Tatenhove said Rhodes viewed his actions whipping up an army of pro-Trump extremists as "a road to authority and. The Oath Keepers have been on the radar of extremism researchers and federal law enforcement for about as long as the group has existed. 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