oath keepers massachusetts

On July 4, 2013,Adam Kokesh, an Oath Keeper who had promoted the group on his Internet talk show, loaded a shotgun in D.C.s Freedom Plaza in protest of the citys gun laws. The Oath Keepers did not have 25,000 soldiers at the ready. In 2014, members formed their own patrol in Ferguson, Missouri, after the killing of an unarmed Black man in 2014, and they provided security to an Infowars reporter during the anniversary protest a year later. Barclay later said the BLM would have destroyed his mine if he had not called for help. A large part of Rhodes' and the Oath Keepers' defense was that they believed the attack on the Capitol was based on eventual orders from former President Trump. The Oath Keepers claim it is their mission to protect Trump Rally attendees and provide them escorts to and from their vehicles. Rhodes, in a blog post on the groups website, claimed authoritiesbacked offonce they knew Oath Keepers and others had shown up. Barbeau pleaded guilty to possessing a machine gun and was sentenced to 27 months in prison in September 2017. 19, 2009, in the wake of the country electing Barack Obama as its first Black president. The Nevada-basednonprofitwas founded by Yale Law School graduate and former U.S. Army paratrooperElmerStewart Rhodes. On June 21, 2020, Stewart Rhodes wrote in a now-deleted tweet that Black Lives Matter is a communist front organization with the central goal of the destruction of the United States and repeatedly refers to the movement as a communist insurrection. But the Hammonds said they were planning on reporting to prison, did not want their help and asked them to return to Nevada. Founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes, the Oath Keepers is a large right-wing anti-government extremist group. The Oath Keepers found members in all corners of Massachusetts, from the Berkshires to the Cape and Islands. Rhodes formally launched the. Because the government ultimately stood down in the face of armed threats from Bundys defenders, the standoff wound up being a highlight of the radical right but one that the Oath Keepers got no glory from. A handful of members, including Rhodes,showed up in Newburgh, New York,on May 30, 2020, to support Minuta. This change brought them in line with other militia groups that were taking a hardline approach in opposing public health efforts to curb the pandemic. It was incorporated in 2009 by founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes, a lawyer and former paratrooper. While this terminology reflects some of the language used by explicitly antisemitic groups, antisemitism is not a foundational issue for the Oath Keepers. Most of this is derived from the Oath Keepers' list of 10 laws or mandates titled, "Declaration Of Orders We Will Not Obey." The officer towed the vehicle after a check revealed that the vehicle registration and insurance had been cancelled. A wide variety of conspiracy theories and fringe beliefs. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Divisions Counterterrorism Section. But they chose Massachusetts as the site for the group's formal launch in 2009. This militaristic group consists of national leadership and state, county and local chapters scattered across the country. In April 2010,Darren Huff, a militia member and Oath Keeper, was arrested on a firearms charge after he traveled from Georgia to Tennessee to put certain government officials under citizens arrest for refusing to indict President Obama. While the Oath Keepers official statement regarding the death of George Floyd was to condemn the actions of the officers involved, they have stated that they oppose looting and arson and have expressed a general distrust for the Black Lives Matter protests. It asks its . In June 2020, a police officer who was on duty and policing a George Floyd protest inCosta Mesa, California, was caught donning a Three Percenterpatch with the words Oath Keeper.This is one example of a larger trend and strategy among antigovernment extremist groups to recruit and infiltrate law enforcement and military organizations. These include: Impending Takeover of the U.S. by the Marxist Left: On September 10, 2020, Twitter announced that it had banned the accounts belonging to the Oath Keepers for violating the platforms policies on violent extremist groups as part of the platforms wider effort to limit the presence of militias on its platform. Documents shared by the ADL claimed that politicians, police officers, firefighters, EMTs and other public officials were members of the extremist group. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies. This invasion/coup must be stopped, and with the ongoing failure of the RINO dominated Republicans to finance a wall, stopping it will now require full scale military action, which we strongly encourage President Trump to take under his authority as Commander In Chief. Stewart Rhodes, Oath Keepers Call to Action: Border Operation, on the Oath Keepers website, Dec. 4, 2018, This wave of Islamist terror attacks will be part of a perfect storm of intentionally orchestrated Cloward-Piven chaos inducing economic devastation, social and political disruption and violence, and the use of intentionally undefended borders and mass illegal and refugee immigration as weapons of destabilization (and to provide cover for and facilitate more violence and terrorism by multiple proxy agents of the elites, including the cartels, gangs, well-funded Marxist and racist agitators such as La Raza and Black Lives Matter and radical Islamist cells and individuals). Stewart Rhodes, in an Oath Keepers press release following the mass murder of 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, June 13, 2016, John [Mc]Cain is a traitor to the Constitution. The Arizona Supreme Court reprimanded Rhodes andfined him $600. Members of the Oath Keepers have been arrested in connection with a wide range of criminal activities, including various firearms violations, conspiracy to impede federal workers, possession of explosives, and threatening public officials. t. e. Social conservatism in the United States is a political ideology focused on the preservation of traditional values and beliefs. Peoria, Arizona, January 2016: Jon Ritzheimer, a former member of the Oath Keepers, voluntarily surrendered to local authorities. The group argued that the election was stolen from Trump and participated in several Stop the Steal protests. This aid includes providing bottled water and food, clearing roads and helping with rescue missions. In February 2015,Matthew Opaliski, a member of the Oath Keepers, previous leader of the Sussex County, Delaware, Republican Party, and former three-time Delaware state Senate candidate wasindicted on gun charges, including dealing firearms without a license and unlawfully transferring firearms. 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. In the days leading up to the 2016 election, the organization issued a call to action seeking volunteers to position themselves at polling stations to ensure that the left did not steal the election from then-candidate Donald Trump, and since his election they have expressed support for the president, largely redirecting their ire away from the federal government and towards the broader left. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was convicted Tuesday of seditious conspiracy for a violent plot to overturn President Biden's election, handing the Justice Department a major victory in. The Oath Keepers were founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes, a former U.S. Army paratrooper who was honourably discharged after suffering an injury in a training exercise. Prior to his arrest, Dyer had posted a YouTube video in which Dyer, a former Marine, said, Join the military? In November 2017, Ritzheimer was sentenced to spend a year and a day in federal prison. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a state of emergency on a state. More recently, the Oath Keepers have offered armed security to individuals attending Trump Rallies, Free Speech rallies and other pro-Trump events. Rather than rely on the government, Oath Keepers have assisted following natural disasters across the United States and Puerto Rico since 2017, using these efforts to garner positive press coverage. The group is rooted in conspiracy theories, including the belief that the federal. Bay County, Florida, October 2018: A group identifying themselves as Oath Keepers were arrested after violating curfew and for openly carrying a firearm. "Even if the most extreme actors are eliminated, the consequences of their ideas could remain," Burley added. The group has ties to other antigovernment extremist groups, including former Arizona SheriffRichard Mack, the founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA). The Oath Keepers are an anti-government, right-wing political organization committed to supporting and defending their interpretation of the U.S. Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. The center. C. Ryan Barber. 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. January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol:At least nine people associated with the Oath Keepers have beenchargedwith conspiracy in connection with the January 6 attack, with prosecutors alleging that the defendants coordinated to travel to Washington, D.C., breach the Capitol and disrupt the certification of the 2020 election. We call on you to form up incognito intelligence gathering and crime spotting teams, Rhodes said. Rhodes formally launched the Oath. The group also has a long history of engaging in and promoting their own form of vigilantism by providing voluntary armed security, not affiliated with any law enforcement entity, at various protests and venues. Phillips was eventually convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Tied into the fact that conspiracy theories and the far-right movement have become more mainstream in the past few years, and it is unlikely that the Oath Keepers will disappear, even without their leader. In 2015, Rhodes said they would protect notorious Kentucky clerk Kim Davis from arrest. At least nine people associated with the Oath Keepers have been. 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. He was charged with conspiracy to impede officers of the U.S. from discharging their duties via force, intimidation or threat. Dyer was extradited back to Oklahoma and subsequently sentenced to 30 years in prison. 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. Herndon, Virginia, July 2013: Gun rights activist and Oath Keeper Adam Kokesh was arrested in Washington, D.C., on weapon charges after a search warrant on his Virginia home turned up firearms and illegal drugs. In a bold move, Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the right-wing militia group, sat for an interview with federal agents after they seized his phone in May. 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. 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. Most relate to their recruitment and promotional efforts. 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. He was subsequently convicted of knowingly transmitting a threatening communication and received an eightmonth sentence. Huff was given a four-year prison sentence. He formally launched the Oath Keepers in Lexington, Massachusetts, on April 19, 2009, where the first shot in the American Revolution was fired. These beliefs, which encapsulate the oneworld government conspiracy theories that underpin the antigovernment movement, stoke paranoia, fan antigovernment sentiment and give them purpose. He had a duty and responsibility to step up. 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. Since then, the Oath. 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. The Pacific Patriots Network also includes antigovernment extremist groups aligned with the Three Percenters, and the Oath Keepers contingent is the very same chapter that took part in Operation Gold Rush in Oregon in 2015. Do NOT count on the state or federal gov [sic] to give you all you need.. We are, indeed, most concerned about expected attempts at voter fraud by leftists, Rhodes said. Two elected officials in Wilbraham and Cape Cod are listed as being members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group. Documents purported to be from the Oath Keepers, leaked by whistleblower group Distributed Denial of Secrets, show . 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. It ended when officials arrested the Bundys and others at a roadblock near the refuge. Kokesh entered an Alford plea and was given a suspended sentence for the initial drug and gun charges. As the Oath Keepers believe the New World Order will eventually take over, the ADL reports that they ask their members to disobey any orders they see as unconstitutional. However, as the pandemic progressed, Oath Keepers changed their narrative, shifting from concern about the government failing to contain the virus to fearing government involvement altogether. As part of the groups mission, Oath Keepers have directed their recruiting effort toward members of the military, law enforcement and other public-safety positions. 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. In addition to peddling conspiracy theories and paranoia, the Oath Keepers use a number of strategies to stay in the forefront of the antigovernment extremist movement in the United States. Recently, these activities have increasingly taken the shape of natural disaster management. Neither do we. To prove the imminent threat of martial law, Rhodes often points to the World War II internment of Japanese Americans and to the gun confiscation by police and military members in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (a federal court subsequently ordered New Orleans officials to return all confiscated firearms). A few days later, he was arrested after police found a shotgun and illegal drugs in his Virginia home. Barbeauwas sentencedto 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Oath Keepers founder used money donated to the far-right group for holiday travel and personal expenses: January 6 trial. The list of orders the Oath Keepers vow to refuse reveals their extreme conspiratorial mindset, because the orders are not instructions likely to ever be actually handed down by officials; instead, they are reflective of the antigovernment conspiracy theories embraced by the extreme right. 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. , claimed authoritiesbacked offonce they knew Oath Keepers claim it is their mission to protect Trump Rally attendees provide. & # x27 ; s formal launch in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes a! Consequences of their ideas could remain, '' Burley added Trump and in. 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