Several members of the far-right militia group, the Oath Keepers, say they are or were employed by the Department of Homeland Security, a report published by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) on Monday found.
The Oath Keepers was founded in 2009 and is labeled an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group has recruited members of the military and law enforcement to fulfill their ostensible goal of protecting the Constitution and fight tyranny, according to SPLC.
In a joint investigation with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), POGO found that 306 members on the leaked list of the Oath Keepers described themselves as “current or former employees of the Department of Homeland Security,” including US Customs and Immigration Services, the Transportation Security Administration, and the US Secret Service.Â
Most of the 306 alleged DHS employees said they had retired, but at least one described himself as “currently a 20 year Special Agent with the United States Secret Services.”
“One active law enforcement official joining a militia group is one too many,” Mike German, a former undercover FBI agent who has infiltrated white supremacist and far-right extremist groups, told POGO. “This probably represents that the tip of the iceberg as far as federal law enforcement officers that have been involved in or supported the activities of far-right, militant groups like the Oath Keepers.”
Last month, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and Florida chapter leader Kelly Meggs were convicted of seditious conspiracy for their roles in the January 6 Capitol attack.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and the congressional panel investigating the January 6 attack said in a statement, “extremism within our government is always alarming, but even more so in a department with a law enforcement and national security nexus like DHS.”
[Featured Image: Susan Walsh/AP]
