As Black Lives Matter protests spread across the United States during the summer of 2020 in reaction to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, Oath Keepers offered protection to various restaurants and businesses from alleged looters and arsonists and in several cases, they showed up to provide armed security. CNN A lawyer with close ties to the right-wing militia group the Oath Keepers has been charged with four counts related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack, including conspiracy to. 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. 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 In June 2017, Oath Keepers participated in March Against Sharia rallies organized by ACT for America, an anti-immigrant hate group. 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. In response, the group posted acall to actionon its website. The group gained notoriety for their armed participation in disputes between ranchers or miners and federal agencies, particularly in 2014 and 2015. The Oath Keepers claim it is their mission to protect Trump Rally attendees and provide them escorts to and from their vehicles. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes . 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. Thirteen people associated with the Oath Keepers have. "While legal methods like lawsuits have proven effective, and prosecutions have dismantled some of the most dangerous far-right terrorist groups, the effort to fully unseat the rise of white nationalism willonly come from a mass wave of organized resistance. [1] In the United States, one of the largest forces of social conservatism is . 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. 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. In 2015, armed Oath Keepers along with various individuals from the broader Patriot movement traveled to mines in Montana and Oregon during regulation compliance disputes related to mining rights versus surface rights in the hopes that their presence would intimidate federal officials from taking action. CPTs are armed community teams, or militias, meant to prepare for disasters, natural or otherwise, and defend Americans against the New World Order. 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. 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. Extremists Engage in Political Violence During Pro-Trump Rallies, Extremists Face Arrests, Uncertain Future Following January 6 Insurrection, reference militiarelated conspiracy theories. The Oath Keepers was officially launched with a rally in Lexington, Massachusetts, on Apr. 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. He had a duty and responsibility to step up. The Nevada-based nonprofit was founded by Yale Law School graduate and former U.S. Army paratrooper Elmer "Stewart" Rhodes. Protests broke out in the city following the grand jurys decision not to indict Wilson. The ADL has summarized the Oath Keepers' main points, noting the group mainly adheres to a general anti-government plan. 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. All rights reserved (About Us). Since shifting their approach, the Oath Keepers have provided security to businesses that have refused to follow state lockdown orders while maintaining a presence at anti-lockdown rallies across the nation. 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. 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 group claims to have tens of thousands of members across the country and has notably directed most of its recruiting efforts toward people in public safety positions whotend to lean conservative. . 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. 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. Dyer was extradited back to Oklahoma and subsequently sentenced to 30 years in prison. Mack is a founding member on the Oath Keepers board of directors. 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. But they chose Massachusetts as the site for the group's formal launch in 2009. After the results of the 2020 election were announced, Rhodes and the Oath Keepers urged Trump to use the Insurrection Act to maintain his position of power and reject the results of the election. 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. 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. 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. The Oath Keepers found members in all corners of Massachusetts, from the Berkshires to the Cape and Islands. 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. Two elected officials in Wilbraham and Cape Cod are listed as being members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group. In May 2012, a federal judge in Knoxville sentenced Huff to four years in prison. But it remains to be seen what the effects will be of putting Rhodes behind bars. A wide variety of conspiracy theories and fringe beliefs. The number of active duty police and military personnel who have publicly admitted to being Oath Keepers is very small; the number of closeted members may be larger. Las Vegas, Nevada, April 2015: Nevada Oath Keeper (and Bundy standoff participant) Richard Lee Cook was arrested and indicted on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Minuta later was connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, acting as a security guard for Roger Stone earlier that morning before participating in the insurrection himself later that day. 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. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. He talks. Its 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. More recently, the Oath Keepers have offered armed security to individuals attending Trump Rallies, Free Speech rallies and other pro-Trump events. A few days later, he was arrested after police found a shotgun and illegal drugs in his Virginia home. 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 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 by the Anti-Defamation League. 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. The Oath Keepers urge military and law enforcement personnel to step up to stop the conspirators. Label it pretend legislation like the Founding Fathers did.Stewart Rhodes, during an interview on Infowars The Alex Jones Show, Jan. 20, 2021, It is CRITICAL that all patriots who can be in D.C. get to D.C. to stand tall in support of President Trumps fight to defeat the enemies foreign and domestic who are attempting a coup, through the massive voter fraud and related attacks on our Republic. According to the Chicago Tribune, the state of Illinois had the most members. We dont want to see things escalate, especially over an issue that we have been working all along in a very cooperative way to resolve. Ultimately, again, no real confrontation occurred. Simply put: because many of them were reportedly there. Rhodes "saw this titanic struggle between people like him who wanted individual liberty and the government that would try to take away that liberty," Matt Parry, who clerked alongside Rhodes, toldAP. 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. With help from Infowars host Alex Jones, the group increasingly promoted far-right conspiracies as the 2020 election approached. 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. Most relate to their recruitment and promotional efforts. He also discussed the possibility of a second civil war and said that his battle-hardened supporters were prepared to fight the street soldiers of the radical left.. Examples of these orders include the government imposing martial law, confiscating citizens guns and forcing Americans into concentration camps. 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 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. 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. Minuta has beenindictedon the conspiracy charge. Please dont do it. 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). 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