Hundreds of law enforcement officers, military members, and elected officials appeared on a leaked membership list of the Oath Keepers, a right-wing conspiracy group, according to a new report released Wednesday.
More than 370 people who work for law enforcement agencies, including top positions such as sheriffs or police chiefs, were identified as being members of the group at some point since its inception, according to an analysis by the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. The group examined the full list of 38,000 members and found more than 100 others are members of the military and at least 80 people are running for or have held office as of early August.
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“The range of individuals represented in the Oath Keepers leak shows the extent to which this extremist ideology has gained acceptance,” the Anti-Defamation League said in the report. “Even for those who claimed to have left the organization when it began to employ more aggressive tactics in 2014, it is important to remember that the Oath Keepers have espoused extremism since their founding, and this fact was not enough to deter these individuals from signing up.”
Some of the identified members may have joined the Oath Keepers shortly after it was created in 2014 and have since disowned it, it acknowledged.
The right-wing group was created in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes as an anti-government movement, and it is accused of playing a key role in the violence that ensued at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. At least 26 members of the Oath Keepers have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack, including Rhodes and four others who are set to face trial later this year on seditious conspiracy charges.
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Rhodes and other members of the Oath Keepers have maintained they did not commit any wrongdoing.
The data raise concerns about the influence the conspiracy group has on law enforcement and elected officials, particularly as several are running for office in November and have promoted claims that the 2020 election was stolen. However, several candidates have noted they were previously members but cut ties with the group in recent years.
