Tag: Oath Keepers

The Oath Keepers are a far-right national militia organization formed in 2009 in reaction to Barack Obama’s 2008 electoral victory. The group arose from the broader far-right reaction to the United States’ first Black president that also drove the rise of the Tea Party and a resurgence of the contemporary militia movement. The group’s members are also well-steeped in the prepper community and many members thereby also hold extremely conspiratorial worldviews. Since 2009, the group has been highly active in paramilitary operations, bomb threats, and more.

Below, you will find all MilitiaWatch articles mentioning the movement.

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Resources

Birdspotting: A brief guide of spotting militia members in your area

This guide is intended to be a resource for community organizers and members of communities expecting to have far-right militia groups and their ilk entering their area in the near future. It is not a comprehensive guide but should provide a basic outline for identifying actors, deducing the politics of rallygoers, and assessing risk when coming up against these actors. A one-page black-and-white printable flyer is available for download for the 18 September 2021 DC rally here.

One-page flyers containing some of these images are available for download ahead of the DC rally here: Color | B&W

Note: This page was put live incomplete in order to make sure the information is out there ahead of time. Please refresh to read the most up-to-date copy.

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Resources

Why, CPT?: Meeting notes on Stewart Rhodes

This post is a follow-up from a previous MilitiaWatch exploration of the Yavapai County Preparedness Team, a dissident Arizona Oath Keepers chapter. The previous piece is available here:

Why, CPT?: Arizona Oath Keepers as a microcosm for the movement

As mentioned in the above piece, MilitiaWatch collected and transcribed the meetings of dozens of YCPT gatherings in the Prescott area. Most of the speaking is done by the YCPT’s founder and leader, Jim Arroyo. This post is meant to show the group leader’s public discussion of the founder and national leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes.

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Updates

Weekly (x2): 12 Jul 21

Happy July, y’all. Here’s a two-week update after MilitiaWatch took last Monday off. There’s a lot to cover here, but here are some included:

  • Two new MilitiaWatch pieces (YCPT and III% Security Force)
  • Moorish group has armed standoff in Massachusetts
  • Stewart Rhodes talks to Feds, attends CPAC
  • III% tattoo spotted on Food Network participant
  • VA militia still raffling guns, gain writing position at local outlet
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Read

Why, CPT?: Arizona Oath Keepers as a microcosm for the movement

After the storming of the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021, media has been trying to figure out who the Oath Keepers are. 60 Minutes, 3 months after the riot, interviewed 4 members of a group calling themselves the “Arizona Oath Keepers”. In mid-June 2021, 60 Minutes re-aired the segment, providing the group more airtime. These Oath Keepers were four members of a Prescott, Arizona area organization known as the Yavapai County Preparedness Team.

Who are the Yavapai County Preparedness Team (YCPT)? The YCPT is an Arizona Oath Keepers chapter, previously directly part of the Stewart Rhodes-led national organization but now autonomous and independent. They still, however, call themselves Oath Keepers and use Oath Keepers iconography and ideology to describe themselves. This article explores their structure, their relationships to the right, and where it looks like they are heading.

This is a very long article, so MilitiaWatch has prepared a first “TL;DR” (too long; didn’t read) that hits at some of the core points from this investigation without the goose chases and too-in-the-weeds writing the MW audience might be accustomed to at this point. You can read that here:

TL;DR — Why, CPT?
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tldr

TL;DR — Why, CPT?

This post is a summary meant to cover the in-depth work featured in the article here.

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Updates

Weekly: 28 Jun 21

Another short weekly update, covering some of the following:

  • NFAC shooter arrested
  • Bundy runs for governor
  • Church hosts Q event in Virginia
  • First J6 sentencing does not include jail time
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Updates

Weekly: 21 Jun 21

This week, a brief update covering some of the following:

  • Several police officers face consequences related to J6 riot
  • Ex-police chief uses charity to fund violence
  • Oath Keepers organization in turmoil, founder used funds from it on non-OK related goods
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Updates

Weekly: 14 Jun 21

This week, an update featuring some of the following:

  • More details emerge in Grizzly Scouts Boogaloo cases
  • Neo-Nazi provocateurs plead guilty to gun charges
  • J6 arrests near 500
  • Bundy followers threaten another standoff
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Updates

Weekly: 31 May 21

Happy Memorial Day to those who have or whose family and friends have lost life and limb in US wars. Here’s another weekly update from MW, which includes the following:

  • J6 arrestee says cops didn’t tell him not to storm the capitol
  • National Guard leaves DC
  • Bundy announces run for governor
  • Grandmaster Jay and Kyle Rittenhouse have legal updates
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Updates

Weekly: 26 Apr 21

Another brief weekly update, spanning some of the following:

  • A militia training site refuses to shut down
  • Zello Tapes now available to the public
  • More Proud Boys arrested for their role in J6
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