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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLeaked Oath Keepers Data Shows At Least 28 Elected Officials Have Ties To The Group
https://www.yahoo.com/news/leaked-oath-keepers-data-shows-153002874.htmlOver the past dozen years, at least 28 people who currently hold elected office joined or financially supported the Oath Keepers, the extremist group that figured prominently in the violent Jan. 6 storming of the US Capitol, a BuzzFeed News analysis of data from the organization shows.
In the months since the Capitol insurrection, as two dozen people linked to the Oath Keepers have been charged with crimes, including conspiracy, for their roles, several of those elected officials have continued to voice support for the organization. And at least two officials David Eastman and Mark Finchem of the Alaska and Arizona Houses of Representatives, respectively were in Washington, DC, on Jan. 6 to protest the certification of Bidens Electoral College victory. Neither of the men has been charged.
Other current elected officials with ties to the Oath Keepers who were identified by BuzzFeed News said they dropped out of the group long before that day, although some speculated it might just have been the work of a few bad actors.
At a time when the Oath Keepers and other extreme right-wing groups appear more focused on moving into local politics, the accounting gives insight into how much support the group may already have in state and local government around the country. The officials who appear in the group's records range from state senators and representatives to road superintendents, city council members, and sheriffs. Some paid for lifetime memberships, others joined for only a year, and still others donated money to the group but did not become members.
Runningdawg
(4,494 posts)The amount of elected officials doesn't come close to the amount of cops and judges in gangs.
Behind the Aegis
(53,823 posts)I am so sick of the "Support the Blue" signs. Someone put one in our yard...we threw it out. There are STILL signs for the deranged former Squatter-in-Chief all over town!
NQAS
(10,749 posts)I mean, they led/participated in a failed coup.
Okay, it's not hijacking a plane or planting bombs, but, FFS, it was a coup attempt.
If they were Black or Hispanic or Native American, they'd have been declared a terrorist group on January 7, certainly no later than January 21.
abqtommy
(14,118 posts)"an extremist group". That's close enough to "terrorist" for me but not our elected
and appointed officials. Unfortunately.
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/oath-keepers
Delphinus
(11,808 posts)GemDigger
(4,305 posts)we ain't gonna show ya, whomp whomp.
We need names of those lawmakers!
susanr516
(1,425 posts)Nueces County (TX) Sheriff, J. C. Hooper.
Nueces County Sheriff J.C. Hooper acknowledged he was once a member of the Oath Keepers, though the longtime law enforcement officer suggested the organization has gotten a bad rap in the media as an extremist anti-government group.
Multiple members of the Oath Keepers have been indicted and five have pleaded guilty for their role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, where supporters of former president Donald Trump wrought a violent assault to prevent lawmakers from certifying Joe Bidens election victory. About 140 officers were injured, and one died as a result of his injuries.
In interviews with the Caller-Times, Hooper said he has not been a member since its founding year in 2009 and distanced himself from the current organization.
Hooper told the Caller-Times that when he joined the group, it was a beautiful concept of getting elected officials and law enforcement officials and military members to simply state that they take their oath to the Constitution and to the laws of this country seriously.
-snip-
https://www.caller.com/story/news/local/2021/10/19/oath-keepers-records-nueces-county-sheriff-j-c-hooper-joined-extremist-group/6012101001/
There's more, but it's likely behind a paywall.
bucolic_frolic
(42,663 posts)have a lot in common with all of them
TeamProg
(5,787 posts)Carlitos Brigante
(26,481 posts)Traildogbob
(8,571 posts)I do, I did, I, as I always have, voted blue no matter who. Blue comes with a donkey mascot.
I live in tourist dependent WNC. All the restaurants and right wing local business wanting that tourist money, fly back the blue flags and have it on their billboards. That is code to locals, we are trumpers, but tourists wanting to experience LOCAL dont find it as offensive as a big ass Trump flag outside the business. I never give a penny to any business flying back the blue, may as well be flying a Trump Won or Trump 2024 flag.
paleotn
(17,778 posts)I figured every Rethuglican was a member of the Amurkin brown shirts.
RVN VET71
(2,686 posts)and that makes them all Fascists.
They may not all be members of the fascist groups listed here, but Ive a feeling they were all rooting for the insurrectionists on January 6, hoping Pelosi and Pence (and others, of course, dont forget the staffs) would be dragged outside and beaten to death or hanged by the mob.
calimary
(80,693 posts)The Schmuck Club.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)And make it stick. Long prison sentences for all.
Of course, too late for hundreds of them already; most have been charged with, essentially, littering, or face no charges at all. Sentences have typically been Cancun vacays.