Also in 2015, Oath Keepers in Montana put out anothercall to action, summoning members to help another local miner fight the government even though the Forest Service had been working with the miner for some time to resolve the issue. 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. 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. 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. 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. Stoking Fears about Antifa: Oath Keepers use the specter of antifa as a substitute for their former foe, the federal government. He had a duty and responsibility to step up. 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. Documents shared by the ADL claimed that politicians, police officers, firefighters, EMTs and other public officials were members of the extremist group. 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. The Oath Keepers did denounce the Malheur occupation because, asRhodes wrote, It is not being done with the consent of the locals or at their request, without the request of the Hammond family and because it is not in direct defense of anyone.. Phillips was eventually convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. And go out into public on election day, dressed to blend in with the public with video, still camera, and notepad in hand, to look for and document suspected criminal vote fraud or intimidation activities. And he made clear that it was the Democrats, not the Republicans, who might steal the election. 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. At the same time, Oath Keepers have also organized or participated in armed confrontations with law enforcement in different parts of the country, such as the Bundy Ranch standoff in Nevada in 2014. The Oath Keepers are a large but loosely organized collection of antigovernment extremists; membership data is closely guarded. Rhodes wasdisbarredafter practicing law in Arizona without a license by writing letters threatening a lawsuit on behalf of the ejected residents. 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. Thirteen people associated with the Oath Keepers have. Recently, these activities have increasingly taken the shape of natural disaster management. Im going to use my training and become one of those domestic terrorists that youre so afraid of from the DHS reports. He still has many supporters within the Patriot movement. 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. He would deny you the right for trial to jury, but we would give him a trial by jury. 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 are labeled as a "large but loosely organized militia" by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Oath Keepers is a far-right citizen militia and anti-government group that sprang into existence as the Tea Party Movement powered up its reform-blocking machine and the racist birther. 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. 19, 2009, in the wake of the country electing Barack Obama as its first Black president. He also admitted to persuading his girlfriend to purchase assault rifle parts for him in order to avoid a background check. In May 2012, a federal judge in Knoxville sentenced Huff to four years in prison. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies. Most of this is derived from the Oath Keepers' list of 10 laws or mandates titled, "Declaration Of Orders We Will Not Obey." Support MassLive.com, Heather Morrison | hmorrison@masslive.com. Two elected officials in Wilbraham and Cape Cod are listed as being members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group. 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. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Oath Keepers, along with many of thesame right-wing personalitiesat these events, took part in the Capitol insurrection weeks later. He should be tried for treason before a jury of his peers which he would deny you. Local police released a statement announcing that the group broke the law byproviding security without first obtaining a license.They called on the group to cease their activities. Previously, Ritzheimer participated in the2014 Bundy standoff in Bunkerville. 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. ADL estimates there are between 1,000 and 3,000 Oath Keepers, though the groups influence extends well beyond that number. 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. Community Preparedness Teams (CPT) and Post-Disaster Response: In October 2013, the Oath Keepers announced the formation of civilization preservation cells (since renamed Community Preparedness Teams), which Rhodes claims are necessitated by the countrys impending (and possibly government-created) economic collapse. Massachusetts the site of the first battle of the American Revolutionary War. I have a difficult time believing that 100 percent of the people were cleared or were 100 percent controllable.. Countering Black Lives Matter: Some of the Oath Keepers most notable mobilizations have occurred in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. Barbeau pleaded guilty to possessing a machine gun and was sentenced to 27 months in prison in September 2017. When some of. But he failed to do that and he allowed a ChiCom puppet into the White House and I think we now need to just declare that to be illegitimate and refuse to comply with anything that comes out of his mouth, anything he signs, anything passed as so-called legislation. But the files showed that Rhodes had tapped into a deep current of anxiety, one that could cause a surprisingly large contingent of. 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. 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. They are also proponents of the sovereign citizen movement, believing that they are not subject to any laws of the U.S. government. 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. 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. 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. The organization has publicly labeled lockdown measures Orwellian violations of liberty and urges their members to defy these measures. 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.. The organization urged members to form security networks within their communities to block neighborhoods with vehicles and armed men, and following one protest in El Paso, the group claimed that they successfully served as a deterrent to anyone looking to inflict damage, thereby taking credit for peaceful protests. In a report published this week, COE identified 373 people in the Oath Keepers database believed to be active law enforcement officers, 117 people who seem to be currently serving in the military . Prior to his arrest, Dyer had posted a YouTube video in which Dyer, a former Marine, said, Join the military? The events of Jan. 6 also highlighted fresh . More recently, the Oath Keepers have offered armed security to individuals attending Trump Rallies, Free Speech rallies and other pro-Trump events. The group advocates for Americans to prepare for inevitable conflict with the government by stockpiling goods and supplies, engaging in paramilitary training and working to create small, self-reliant community networks. The driving theory behind the Oath Keepers is that the federal government has been overtaken by a mass liberal conspiracy in an effort to strip Americans of their rights. When. 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. Fairfield was sentenced to 20 years in prison. A few days later, he was arrested after police found a shotgun and illegal drugs in his Virginia home. Rhodes himself participated in aprotest outside the Dallas County Jailin Texas where Luther was being held. AntiUnited Nations Sentiments: Oath Keepers view the United Nations (UN) as a tool of the New World Order trying to undermine American sovereignty by imposing a globalist agenda. 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 . Rhodes formally launched the Oath. The Oath Keepers also joined scores of other anti-government extremists in a show of force for Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy during a 2014 grazing dispute with the Bureau of Land Management again with the intention of preventing the agency from enforcing laws and regulations. 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. 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. In November 2017, Ritzheimer was sentenced to spend a year and a day in federal prison. 0:57. 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. 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 . 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 . 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. 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 . Rhodes was a 2004 graduate of Yale Law School, and former classmates later recalled that he had demonstrated a particular interest in the Second Amendment. Oath Keepers is an essential contribution to our understanding of the growing appeal and violent potential of ever-evolving forms of domestic extremism. 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. Instead, many simply dismiss the events of January 6thas the work of antifa or a false flag operation. The Arizona Supreme Court reprimanded Rhodes andfined him $600. During an inventory search of the vehicles trunk, police found nine largecapacity ammunition magazines along with 2,156 rounds of ammunition. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. 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 . Oath Keepers spent $400 at Olive Garden after storming the Capitol News Feds concerned about armed people at Arizona ballot boxes US Crime News Officer testifies to 'unprecedented' Jan 6 riots at. According to the Chicago Tribune, the state of Illinois had the most members. Huff was given a four-year prison sentence. 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. In his book Oath Keepers: Patriotism and the Edge of Violence in a Right-Wing Antigovernment Group, Sam Jackson says this creates in an inherent contradiction for the group the police and military organizations from which their members come are some of the same organizations the group likely would have to attack in order to carry out its self-proclaimed mission against the government. CPTs are armed community teams, or militias, meant to prepare for disasters, natural or otherwise, and defend Americans against the New World Order. With help from Infowars host Alex Jones, the group increasingly promoted far-right conspiracies as the 2020 election approached. Do NOT concede, and do NOT wait until January 20, 2021. 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. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people. . 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. 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 January 2010,Charles Dyer, an ex-Marine and rising member of the Oath Keepers, was arrested for raping his 7-year-old daughter. On May 30, John Shirley, a constable in Hood County and a member of the Oath Keepers board, issued a call to action, encouraging members toshow up armedwith rifles to provide security outside Luthers salon. 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. Please dont do it. 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. Examples of these orders include the government imposing martial law, confiscating citizens guns and forcing Americans into concentration camps. At the White Hope mine in Lincoln, Montana, the U.S. Forest Service took issue with an unauthorized shed and surface disturbances related to the cutting of firewood. The Oath Keepers found members in all corners of Massachusetts, from the Berkshires to the Cape and Islands. 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. 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. The Oath Keepers organization claims to be defending the U.S. Constitution and fighting tyranny, but as former Oath Keepers spokesman Jason Van Tatenhove describes, the group is actually selling the revolution. The threats to American liberties that Oath Keepers say the federal government is responsible for are in reality a set of baseless conspiracy theories. Stewart Rhodes, a Yale Law School graduate, founded the Oath Keepers in 2009, with a mission to resist unlawful exercises of government power. Rhodes eventually left his job at the court and began looking toward forming an anti-government movement. But we will spot, document, and reportanyapparent attempt at vote fraud or voter intimidation as is our duty.. 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. 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. 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. In February 2015, Irish was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Virginia Lobby Day: On January 20, 2020, the Virginia Civilians Defense League (VCDL), hosted a gun rights Lobby Day on the steps of the state capitol in Richmond, Virginia, where a reported 22,000 people demonstrated, including various militia groups and other right-wing extremists. 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. In the run up to the election, the group openly posted aboutplans to go to polling locationsto stand up against and protect voters from anti-Trump left-wing groups. Since 2015, various Oath Keepers CPTs have held militia-like training sessions on topics such as weapons use, patrolling techniques, first aid, and emergency communications. 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