BOISE, Idaho —
The names of hundreds of U.S. law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group that's accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to a report released Wednesday.
The Anti-Defamation League Center (ADL) on Extremism pored over more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists and identified more than 370 people it believes currently work in law enforcement agencies — including as police chiefs and sheriffs — and more than 100 people who are currently members of the military.
It also identified more than 80 people who were running for or served in public office as of early August. The membership information was compiled into a database published by the transparency collective Distributed Denial of Secrets.
ADL showed that Idaho State Representative Chad Christensen was listed in the Oath Keepers database as having a “liberty Tree” membership. Christensen lost his primary race in 2022.
The data raises fresh concerns about the presence of extremists in law enforcement and the military who are tasked with enforcing laws and protecting the U.S. It’s especially problematic for public servants to be associated with extremists at a time when lies about the 2020 election are fueling threats of violence against lawmakers and institutions.
“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,” the report says.
Appearing in the Oath Keepers' database doesn't prove that a person was ever an active member of the group or shares its ideology. Some people on the list contacted by The Associated Press said they were briefly members years ago and are no longer affiliated with the group. Some said they were never dues-paying members.
“Their views are far too extreme for me,” said Shawn Mobley, sheriff of Otero County, Colorado. Mobley told the AP in an email that he distanced himself from the Oath Keepers years ago over concerns about its involvement in the standoff against the federal government at Bundy Ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada, among other things.
The Oath Keepers, founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes, is a loosely organized conspiracy theory-fueled group that recruits current and former military, police and first responders. It asks its members to vow to defend the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic," promotes the belief that the federal government is out to strip citizens of their civil liberties and paints its followers as defenders against tyranny.
The Oath Keepers has grown quickly along with the wider anti-government movement and used the tools of the internet to spread their message during Barack Obama's presidency, said Rachel Carroll Rivas, interim deputy director of research with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. But since Jan. 6 and Rhodes' arrest, the group has struggled to keep members, she said.
That’s partly because Oath Keepers had been associated so strongly with Rhodes that the removal of the central figure had an outsized impact, and partly because many associated with the group were often those who wanted to be considered respectable in their communities, she said.
“The image of being associated with Jan. 6 was too much for many of those folks,” she said.
ADL said it found the names of at least 10 people who now work as police chiefs and 11 sheriffs. All of the police chiefs and sheriffs who responded to the AP said they no longer have any ties to the group.
The Elmore County Sheriff, Mike Hollinshead provided KTVB with a statement on the matter:
“Recently, I gave an interview to a reporter from the Associated Press who had asked me to explain my name being listed as among 11 Sheriff, nation-wide, who were in the database of the Oath Keepers. The information was initially published by the Anti-Defamation League on their website on September 6, 2022. It has since been picked up by multiple news outlets, including CBS and NBC.
I stand by my statements to the Associated Press. I am not now, nor have I ever been a participant in any activity with Oath Keepers. I have never sent them membership dues, or been in agreement with their statements or principles, either publicly or privately. The Anti-Defamation League acknowledges on their own website that my position on this is in line with their findings, “...an individual’s inclusion in the Oath Keeper database is not proof that they were or are still an Oath Keeper, that they hold or held all or some of Oath Keeper ideology or viewpoints, or that they ever actively participated in Oath Keeper activities.
In 2016, during my campaign for election to the Sheriffs Office, I accessed their website because I had been hearing rumors of an anti-government group that was making in-roads into Elmore County. Before I took on the position of the highest law enforcement officer in my County, I wanted to ensure that I was aware of, and planning for any potential for violence or incursion upon the Constitutional rights of my fellow citizens. I also investigated other groups at that same time, including the Proud Boys and the Sovereign Citizens movement. In order to fully understand what the Oath Keepers stood for at the time, I put my information on their website and gained access. After a full assessment, I determined that the threat to democracy from the Oath Keepers was a real one, and something that I would have to take into consideration if I was blessed enough to become Sheriff.
After I was elected, I undertook to educate not only myself, but also all of my staff about the various groups that had expressed anti-government sentiments and/or white supremacist views. It is a routine part of the training at the Sheriff’s Office because it is our solemn duty to walk the fine line between enforcing the law and respecting the freedoms that the law affords us. I entrust my deputies every day to make the best decision for the citizens of Elmore County, and to allow the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Idaho to be their moral center. We do that without apology or regret and we do not support any organization that attempts to upend those inherent rights.”
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