Category:Oath Keepers: Difference between revisions

'''Oath Keepers''' is an anti-government<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Beckett|first1=Lois |last2=Laughland|first2=Oliver |title=Specter of election day violence looms as Trump spurs vigilante poll watchers |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2016-11-05 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/05/election-day-violence-donald-trump-poll-watchers |access-date=2016-12-01 |quote="One of America's largest anti-government armed militia groups, the Oath Keepers."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Oath Keepers: Anti-Government Extremists Recruiting Military and Police |work=[[Anti-Defamation League]] |date=2015-09-16 |url=http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/domestic-extremism-terrorism/c/the-oath-keepers.html |access-date=2016-12-01 |quote="The Oath Keepers are a large but loosely organized collection of anti-government extremists who are part of the broader anti-government "Patriot" movement, which includes militia and 'three percenter' groups, sovereign citizens, and tax protesters, among others...The ideology of the Oath Keepers most closely resembles that of the militia movement..."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Skocpol|first1=Theda |last2=Williamson|first2=Vanessa |title=The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism |year=2012 <!--revised 2016, but quote is from orig--> |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5nYRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 |access-date=2016-12-01 |quote="Some anti-government extremists have unquestionably found their way into Tea Party groups--for example, members of the Oath Keepers, a group centered on current and former law enforcement officers.. Expecting the Obama Administration to declare martial law across the country and detain citizens en masse, Oath Keepers proclaim their readiness to engage in armed insurrection to counter this supposed threat from the federal government. ... The possibility of such a confrontation is not entirely rhetorical because members of the Oath Keepers have been tied to various militia groups."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Feuer|first1=Alan |title=Standoff in Oregon Attracts Supporters Bearing Disparate Grievances |newspaper=New York Times |date=2016-01-16 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/us/standoff-in-oregon-attracts-supporters-bearing-disparate-grievances.html |access-date= 2016-12-01 |quote="members of the so-called Patriot movement, an umbrella effort of antigovernment activists that includes groups like the Oath Keepers, an organization of law enforcement officers and military veterans."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Crowley|first1=Michael |title=Trump's long dalliance with violent rhetoric |work=[[Politico]] |date=2016-08-10 |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/trump-violent-rhetoric-history-226873 |access-date=2016-12-01 |quote="the popular anti-government group Oath Keepers"}}

</ref> American [[Wikipedia:Far right politics|far-right]]<ref name="salonferg2015">{{cite news |last1=Tesfaye|first1=Sophia |title=Far-right extremists patrol Ferguson: Oath Keepers militiamen descend on city |work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] |date=2015-08-11 |url=http://www.salon.com/2015/08/11/far_right_extremists_patrol_ferguson_oath_keepers_militiamen_descend_on_city |accessdate=2015-08-14}}</ref><ref name="apctferg2015">{{Cite news |author=<!--AP Wire but Tribune site gives reporter contact info--> |title=Return of armed militia group Oath Keepers to Ferguson raises concern |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |agency=Associated Press |date=2015-08-11 |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-ferguson-oath-keepers-armed-militia-20150811-story.html |accessdate=2015-08-14}}</ref> organization associated with the [[Wikipedia:patriot movement|patriot]] and [[Wikipedia:militia movement|militia movement]]s.<ref name="indepferg2015">{{Cite news |last1=Dearden |first1=Lizzie |title=Oath Keepers: Who are white militia at Ferguson protests and why are they allowed to carry guns? |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=2015-08-11 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/oath-keepers-at-ferguson-protests-who-are-they-and-why-are-they-allowed-to-carry-guns-10449395.html |access-date=2016-12-01}}</ref><ref name="wpferg2014"/> The group describes itself as a [[Wikipedia:Nonpartisanism|non-partisan]] association of current and former military, police, and [[Wikipedia:first responder|first responder]]s, who pledge to fulfill the oath that all military and police take in order to "defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic".<ref name="OathKeepersAboutUs">{{cite web|title=About Oath Keepers|url=https://www.oathkeepers.org/about/|website=oathkeepers.com|publisher=Oath Keepers|accessdate=20 March 2016}}</ref> It encourages members – some of whom are current and former U.S. military and law enforcement officers – not to obey orders which they believe would violate the [[Wikipedia:United States Constitution|United States Constitution]]. The organization claims a membership of 35,000.<ref name=nyt-fear>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/08/us/fear-is-driving-voting-rights-advocates-and-vigilantes-to-watch-polling-stations.html|title=Fear Is Driving Voting Rights Advocates and Vigilantes to Watch Polling Stations|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 7, 2016|first1=Jonathan|last1=Mahler|first2=Michael|last2=Wines}}</ref>

Several groups that monitor [[Wikipedia:Domestic terrorism in the United States|domestic terrorism]] and [[Wikipedia:hate group|hate group]]s describe the Oath Keepers as extremist or radical. [[Wikipedia:Mark Pitcavage|Mark Pitcavage]] of the [[Wikipedia:Anti-Defamation League|Anti-Defamation League]] (ADL) describes the group as "heavily armed extremists with a conspiratorial and anti-government mindset looking for potential showdowns with the government."<ref name="ADL2015">{{cite web|title=Press Release: ADL Report Exposes Tactics of Anti-Government "Oath Keepers"|url=http://www.adl.org/press-center/press-releases/extremism/adl-report-exposes-tactics-of-anti-govt-oath-keppers.html|publisher=[[Anti-defamation League]]|accessdate=20 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/domestic-extremism-terrorism/c/the-oath-keepers.html|title=The Oath Keepers Anti-Government Extremists Recruiting Military and Police|publisher=[[Anti-Defamation League]]|accessdate=2016-05-19}}</ref> The [[Wikipedia:Southern Poverty Law Center|Southern Poverty Law Center]] (SPLC) lists the group's founder as a known extremist and describes his announced plans to create localized militia units as "frightening".<ref name = "AJC2015"/> According to the SPLC, the group espouses a number of [[conspiracy theories|conspiracy]] and legal theories associated with the [[sovereign citizen movement]] and the [[white supremacist]] [[Posse Comitatus (organization)|posse comitatus]] movement.<ref name="Lenz2013">{{cite web|last1=Lenz|first1=Ryan|title=Oath Keepers Rally Reveals Radical Politics of Group |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2013/07/25/oath-keepers-rally-reveals-radical-politics-group|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|accessdate=20 March 2016|date=July 25, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Keller2009Jul">{{cite web|last1=Keller|first1=Larry|title=Evidence Grows of Far-Right Militia Resurgence|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2009/evidence-grows-far-right-militia-resurgence|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|accessdate=20 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="Lenz2011">{{cite web|last1=Lenz|first1=Ryan|title=Are the Oath Keepers Fighting 'Martial Law'?|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2011/are-oath-keepers-fighting-%E2%80%98martial-law%E2%80%99|website=splcenter.org|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|accessdate=20 March 2016}}</ref> SPLC senior fellow Mark Potok describes the group as a whole as "really just an anti-government group who believe in a wild set of conspiracy theories".<ref name="AJC2015">{{cite news|title=Oath Keepers: What anti-hate groups are saying about them|url=http://www.ajc.com/news/news/national/what-anti-hate-groups-are-saying-about-oath-keeper/nnHNy/|accessdate=20 March 2016|publisher=[[Cox Media Group]]|date=August 11, 2015}}</ref>

Oath Keepers had a controversial presence in [[Ferguson, Missouri]] during the 2014<ref name="wpferg2014">{{Cite news |last1=McCoy |first1=Terrence |title=The Oath Keepers: The Little-known Militia Now Roaming the Streets of Ferguson |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=2014-01-01 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/12/01/the-oath-keepers-the-militant-militia-now-roaming-the-streets-of-ferguson |access-date=2016-12-01}}</ref> and 2015<ref name="apctferg2015"/> [[Ferguson unrest|unrest]] in the city, when members armed with [[semi-automatic rifle]]s patrolled streets and rooftops.<ref name="msnbcferg2015">{{cite news |last1=Sakuma|first1=Amanda |last2=Rayford|first2=Bradley J |title='Oath Keepers' armed with guns roam streets of Ferguson |url=http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/oath-keepers-armed-guns-roam-streets-ferguson |accessdate=2015-09-07 |work=[[MSNBC]] |date=2015-08-11 |quote="With their hands resting casually on the assault rifles strapped across their chests, the men formed a diamond around their subjects, surveying the area in search of a threat."}}</ref><ref name="latferg2015">{{cite news |last1=Duara|first1=Nigel |title='Oath Keepers' with rifles roam among Ferguson protesters, raising concerns |url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-ferguson-oath-keepers-20150811-story.html |accessdate=2015-08-31 |date=2015-08-11 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |quote="As protests in Ferguson continued on a sweat-soaked Missouri night, at least three men openly carrying assault rifles approached the south end of West Florissant Avenue – and began to attract a crowd themselves."}}</ref>

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