Who are the Oath Keepers?

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Who are the Oath Keepers?
By John Green
Hearing the Department of Justice describe them, one would think that the Oath Keepers are the scariest bunch of anti-American knuckleheads to come down the pike since the Ku Klux Klan. Given that a bunch of them were just arrested for plotting an insurrection -- that the FBI assured us wasn’t an insurrection -- this is a good time to get to know who they actually are.


Media coverage of the group is sprinkled with terms like “right-wing extremists,” “anti-government extremists,” and “far right militia.” Like any story, the reporting about the Oath Keepers can be spun to support a narrative or to give an unbiased assessment. The MSM has chosen to go with the narrative. One has to look beyond the scare quotes, and assess what the organization has actually done to get a true sense of its nature.

The Oath Keepers was founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes. It is a national, but loosely knit organization, created to resist violations of civil liberties by the government. In 2009, that sounded like conspiracy nut thinking. But since the organization’s founding, we’ve been treated to Crossfire Hurricane, two impeachment show trials, COVID shutdowns, election 2020, and our own government targeting parents as domestic terrorists. What sounded crazy in 2009 sounds prescient in 2022.

Stewart Rhodes is an army veteran (a paratrooper) and a Yale Law School graduate. He understands what our Founders intended for America, and has served to defend it. He believes that the Democrats see illegal immigration as a way to get more votes -- pay no attention to those canceled border wall contracts. He also believes the Democrats would like to confiscate everyone’s guns -- because that’s exactly what they’ve said. He considers BLM to be a communist front organization -- which isn’t a big leap given that its leaders are trained Marxists. Such crazy thinking can’t be tolerated -- if you’re a Democrat or a deep state operative. In short, Rhodes is only an extremist if the ideas of freedom, limited government, and self-determination are now extreme.

The organization’s name is a reference to the oath that all soldiers and law enforcement officers swear -- to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Although anyone can join, a large percentage of the membership is comprised of people who have taken that oath in either law enforcement or the military. Is that what the propaganda ministry calls “extremist”? Consider this: If all of our government officials complied with the oath they have sworn (looking at you Merrick Garland), would America be better or worse?

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What has the Oath Keepers done to earn the “far right militia” label?

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...Bundy ranch in Nevada. Cliven Bundy was in a conflict with the government over grazing rights for his cattle.

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In 2015, the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson MO triggered widespread rioting. The Oath Keepers provided protection to store owners from vandals and looters after the police refused to do so.

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In 2016, the Oath Keepers proved just how subversive they were -- they endorsed Donald Trump for President.

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Rhodes has also accused Joe Biden of being in the pocket of the Chinese government. Where could he have gotten that idea?

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