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Oath Keepers

The Oath Keepers focus on recruiting current and former police, emergency services and military members.

A US federal judge slammed the founder of the far-right militant Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes on 25 May 2023 with an 18-year prison sentence, after a court found him guilty in November 2022 of "seditious conspiracy" for his role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol Riots. The 57-year-old Rhodes defiantly faced the judge, insisting he was a "political prisoner." The sentence is believed to be the highest to date over involvement in the Capitol Riots.

Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group, and 10 others were charged 13 January 2022 with seditious conspiracy related to their involvement in the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. Rhodes was the highest-ranking member of a far-right group to be arrested in relation to the deadly siege, and this was the first time the US Department of Justice has brought a seditious conspiracy charge in connection with the riot. Seditious conspiracy is defined as attempting “to overthrow, put down or to destroy by force the government of the United States” and carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

He was charged along with more than a dozen other members and associates of the Oath Keepers, who authorities said came to Washington, DC intent on stopping the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory. The Oath Keepers case was the largest conspiracy case that federal authorities have brought so far over the Capitol attack, when thousands of supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed past police barriers and smashed windows, sending lawmakers running.

Beginning in late December 2020, Rhodes used private encrypted communications to plan to travel to the US capital on January 6. He and others planned to bring weapons to the area to help support the operation, they said. “While certain Oath Keepers members and affiliates breached the Capitol grounds and building, others remained stationed just outside of the city in quick reaction force (QRF) teams,” the Department of Justice said in a statement. “According to the indictment, the QRF teams were prepared to rapidly transport firearms and other weapons into Washington, D.C., in support of operations aimed at using force to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power.”

Oath Keepers is a network of active duty military personnel, veterans, and peace officers pledged to defend the Constitution. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit civil rights organization, has described the "Oath Keepers" as a "fiercely anti-government, militaristic group". Since its founding in 2009, anti-government "patriots" have flocked to Oath Keepers. The group wants law enforcement officers and military personnel to sign their oath, which encapsulates many of the ideas promoted by the "patriot" movement's one-world government conspiracy theories.

While Oath Keepers is a national organization with active state chapters. "The Oath Keepers' mission is not new," says the Human Rights Network's Travis McAdam. "The anti-government 'patriot' movement has tried to recruit law enforcement and military personnel for over a decade."

Its founder Stewart Rhodes 'warns of an insidious global oligarchy bent on destroying America's constitutional republic'. He said in an interview with far right conspiracist Alex Jones that he believed violence would be necessary on election day and his group was prepared to protect the White House.

Oath Keepers was viewed as a "patriot" group by national watchdog organizations, including the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.' The group has also been criticized on the political right by people including Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly.

J.J.MacNab, Fellow, Program on Extremism, George Washington University, noted in July 2020 that "Once a vibrant organization that boasted tens of thousands of active supporters, the Oath Keepers have a smaller base today and their activities range from providing armed support to small businesses violating stay-at-home COVID-19 pandemic orders to organizing armed guards to protect neighborhoods from “leftist violence.”

"In the past, the Oath Keepers participated in armed standoffs against Federal agents in Nevada, Oregon, and Montana. Recently, the Oath Keepers have been extremely active in building up the image of Antifa as a violent, organized, domestic terrorism group and their founder recently expressed frustration that President Trump did not retake the cordoned off protest area in Seattle (CHAZ/CHOP) with force.

"Ironically, they are advocating the use of guns against law enforcement trying to enforce stay-athome orders and federal land laws, but they consider themselves a pro-police organization. Their membership includes several police officers, active duty military, and military veterans. The group was recently de-platformed on Discord but they still have a very active Facebook presence with 551,000 followers on their main page."

"'The Oath Keepers have been particularly 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," according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

According to the Human Rights Network, Oath Keepers was one of the primary groups responsible for promoting the supremacy of the county sheriff in Montana. During 2009, Oath Keepers and other'patriots" in the state peddled the Posse-Comitatus inspired belief. Posse Comitatus, a white supremacist group, viewed the sheriff as the highest legitimate law officer in the land. It believed citizens were not subject to state or federal authorities. For Posse Comitatus, it was up to the sheriff to use force, if necessary, to prevent any perceived encroachment by federal institutions, especially when it came to income tax and firearm regulations.'

"Oath Keepers and other Montana 'patriots' are increasingly focused on the county sheriff," said McAdam. "This tactic was initially pioneered by the Posse Comitatus. We really hope that law enforcement workers, along with military personnel, will not be drawn into the 'patriot' movement's web of conspiracy theories and thinly-veiled advocacy of insurrection".

Started in March 2009, Oath Keepers was created by E. Stewart Rhodes, an attorney in Nevada and Montana who used to be a staffer for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). Rhodes' organization frames itself as wanting to rem,ind law officers and active duty soldiers that they swore an oath to defend the "Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help us God." It asks active personnel to sign an oath to not follow "unconslitutional (and thus illegal) and immoral" orders that are "acts of war against the American people."

The oath encapsulates many of the one-world government conspiracy theories that undergird the "patriot" movement. These theories claim America will be invaded by troops acting on behalf of various international cabals and/or the federal government. In these theories, martial law was declared and Americans are rounded up and put in detention camps. Anti-govemment "patriots" believe they alone understand the truth about these upcoming developments, and it will be up to them to fight off this "New World Order" attack.

Oath Keepers wants law officers and military personnel standing on the frontlines with "patriots" for this battle. The group's oath is a "Declaration of Orders We Will NOT Obey." This includes not following orders to disarm citizens, place citizens in detention camps, or assist foreign troops on American soil. Oath Keepers' fundamental agenda was not new.

At the height of the militia movement during the 1990s, former lawmen like Jack Mclamb and Richard Mack made their reputations by trying to recruit active duty personnel into the "patriot" movement. One watchdog group called Mclamb the "self-appointed ambassador and evangelist from the Christian Patriot Movement to the law enforcement community," and he's been a steadfast supporter of forming militia groups. Mclamb has publicly endorsed Oath Keepers, and the group's website sells a promotional DVD featuring Mclamb, Rhodes, and Richard Mack.

Three individuals associated with the Oath Keepers were indicted January 27, 2021 in federal court in the District of Columbia for conspiring to obstruct Congress, among other charges. Jessica Marie Watkins, 38, and Donovan Ray Crowl, 50, both of Champaign County, Ohio; and Thomas Caldwell, 65, of Clarke County, Virginia, were indicted on charges of conspiracy, obstructing an official proceeding, destruction of government property, and unlawful entry on restricted building or grounds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1512, 1361, and 1752.