A new report claims the names of hundreds of U.S. law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members are listed in the ranks of a far-right extremist group.
The Anti-Defamation League Center 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 -- including at least 10 chiefs and 11 sheriffs --and more than 100 people who are currently members of the military, the Associated Press reported.
It also identified more than 80 people who were running for or served in public office as of early August -- from mayors, town councilmembers and school board members to state representatives and senators.
The data adds to concerns over the prevalence of radical-right beliefs among U.S. forces and law enforcement, Forbes reported.
The Oath Keepers is a 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, according to the AP.
"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 its report. "Though there is no evidence that the Oath Keepers pursued any plans to 'infiltrate' these institutions, the fact that they succeeded in recruiting numerous individuals within these domains to join or support their organization means their extremist ideology has a foothold in mainstream seats of power."
Appearing in the Oath Keepers' database doesn't prove that a person was ever an active member, and some people on the list are no longer affiliated with the group.
"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.
The membership lists were leaked in September 2021 by the non-profit journalist collective Distributed Denial of Secrets.
More than two dozen people associated with the Oath Keepers have been arrested in connection with the January 6 Capitol attack. Of these, 12 – including the group's founder Stewart Rhodes – have been charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the insurrection.
Related
Related
