Oath Keepers
Encyclopedia
Oath Keepers is an American
nonprofit organization
that advocates that its members (current and former U.S. military and law enforcement) uphold the Constitution of the United States should they be ordered to violate it.
The Oath Keepers' motto is "Not On Our Watch!", and their stated objective is to resist those actions taken by the U.S. Government
that overstep Constitutional boundaries.
, Nevada
as a non-profit
corporation. Rhodes is a Yale Law School
graduate, a former US Army
paratrooper
, and a former staffer of Congressman
Ron Paul
. The Oath Keepers as a group have grown to include chapters in many states across America.
1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.
2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people.
3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.
4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.
5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.
6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.
7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.
8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control."
9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.
10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.
(an arrest warrant), and the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides for states rights and sovereignity.
's (SPLC) 2009 report The Second Wave: Return of the Militias, Larry Keller, a writer for the SPLC, wrote that the Oath Keepers "may be a particularly worrisome example of the Patriot revival." Keller described Richard Mack
, an Oath Keeper, as a "longtime militia hero" and quoted him as having said, "The greatest threat we face today is not terrorists
; it is our federal government… One of the best and easiest solutions is to depend on local officials, especially the sheriff, to stand against federal intervention and federal criminality." Mack, a former sheriff, responded by denouncing the SPLC's claims. Rhodes, the founder has countered the SPLC claim of racism by pointing out that he's one quarter Mexican and part Native American
Rhodes has appeared on several TV and radio shows to discuss Oath Keepers. Lou Dobbs
talked with Rhodes on his radio show and criticized the SPLC for "perpetuating the same kind of intolerance it claims to condemn." On Hardball with Chris Matthews
, Matthews and Rhodes discussed both the SPLC report and issues involving the Oath Keepers and extremists.
As legal scrutiny continued over the orders to confiscate legal firearms or arrest the movement of evacuees, Oath Keepers located military and police personnel who had refused the original orders on their belief they were unlawful, including a military intelligence detachment of the Utah National Guard under SSG Joshua May. Said SSG May in an April 2010 Oathkeepers interview "I'd like to put a challenge out to my fellow servicemen..know your Constitution, know why you put your hand up and said 'Yes I will.' You need to understand that and what your obligation to that is. If you remember your oath, you solemnly swore to do that, so help you God. Take it seriously."
and both of whom were found guilty of murder. More recently, defendants involved in the scandal at Abu Grahib prison also raised the Nuremburg/Superior Orders Defense, with the result that eleven soldiers were found guilty and convicted in spite of defending that they were 'just following orders'. However, military personnel who disobey what they believe to be unlawful orders, do so at their own risk and may be subject to court martial proceedings.
(ACLU), whose mission statement is listed as "The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country. These rights include:
The ACLU also works to extend rights to segments of our population that have traditionally been denied their rights, including people of color; women; lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people; prisoners; and people with disabilities. "
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that advocates that its members (current and former U.S. military and law enforcement) uphold the Constitution of the United States should they be ordered to violate it.
The Oath Keepers' motto is "Not On Our Watch!", and their stated objective is to resist those actions taken by the U.S. Government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
that overstep Constitutional boundaries.
Organizational history
The Oath Keepers were founded on March 2009 by Stewart Rhodes and incorporated in Las VegasLas Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
as a non-profit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
corporation. Rhodes is a Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
graduate, a former US Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
paratrooper
Paratrooper
Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
, and a former staffer of Congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
. The Oath Keepers as a group have grown to include chapters in many states across America.
"Orders we will NOT obey"
The Oath Keepers feel that their sworn oath to the American Constitution, grants them not only the right, but the duty to refuse unconstitutional orders. The Oath Keepers organization has published a list of orders that they claim they will not obey, the list is as follows:1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.
2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people.
3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.
4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.
5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.
6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.
7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.
8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control."
9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.
10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.
Constitutional basis
The 10 points of the Oath Keepers Oath are based on fundamental language in the United States Constitution, including upon the 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution, popularly known as the 'right to bear arms'. They also have basis in upholding the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects the people from warrantless searches and seizures of their property, the 6th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects people from detention or arrest of their person without a Writ of Habeas CorpusHabeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
(an arrest warrant), and the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides for states rights and sovereignity.
Report by the Southern Poverty Law Center
In the Southern Poverty Law CenterSouthern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
's (SPLC) 2009 report The Second Wave: Return of the Militias, Larry Keller, a writer for the SPLC, wrote that the Oath Keepers "may be a particularly worrisome example of the Patriot revival." Keller described Richard Mack
Richard Mack
Richard Ivan Mack, popularly known as Sheriff Mack, is a former sheriff of Graham County, Arizona and Libertarian candidate for United States Senate election in Arizona, 2006. He is also a member of the Oath Keepers....
, an Oath Keeper, as a "longtime militia hero" and quoted him as having said, "The greatest threat we face today is not terrorists
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
; it is our federal government… One of the best and easiest solutions is to depend on local officials, especially the sheriff, to stand against federal intervention and federal criminality." Mack, a former sheriff, responded by denouncing the SPLC's claims. Rhodes, the founder has countered the SPLC claim of racism by pointing out that he's one quarter Mexican and part Native American
Rhodes has appeared on several TV and radio shows to discuss Oath Keepers. Lou Dobbs
Lou Dobbs
Louis Carl "Lou" Dobbs is an American journalist, radio host, television host on the Fox Business Network, and author. He anchored CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight until November 2009 when he announced on the air that he would leave the 24-hour cable news television network.He was born in Texas and lived...
talked with Rhodes on his radio show and criticized the SPLC for "perpetuating the same kind of intolerance it claims to condemn." On Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews is a talk show on MSNBC, broadcast weekdays at 5 and 7 PM hosted by Chris Matthews. It originally aired on now-defunct America's Talking and later CNBC. The current title was derived from a book Matthews wrote in 1988, Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told by One Who...
, Matthews and Rhodes discussed both the SPLC report and issues involving the Oath Keepers and extremists.
Additional reports
MSNBC's political commentator, Patrick J. Buchanan, quoted Alan Maimon in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, as saying "Oath Keepers, depending on where one stands, are either strident defenders of liberty or dangerous peddlers of paranoia.” Mr. Buchanan explained their existence on the alienation of white America, concluding that "America was once their country. They sense they are losing it. And they are right."Historical justifications
Oathkeepers cite the following events surrounding troop deployment during Hurricane Katrina, as examples of justification for military personnel and peacekeepers to reaffirm their oaths to defend and protect the US Constitution.- During the Katrina emergency, military presence was ordered to blockade the city of New Orleans, which resulted in the refusal to allow stricken residents to leave to places of safety, water, food and shelter. These actions were later condemned as rights violations by the ACLU.
- At the orders of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, the New Orleans Police, the National Guard, the Oklahoma National Guard, and U.S. Marshals searched resident homes at gunpoint, confiscating lawfully-owned firearms, and evicting the residents. "No one is allowed to be armed. We're going to take all the guns," said P. Edwin Compass III, the superintendent of police during the announcement made on national television. Under pressure from civil rights organizations and a subsequent class action lawsuit supported by the National Rifle AssociationNational Rifle AssociationThe National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
, the city of New Orleans returned the confiscated firearms. The lawsuit was dropped. - Government holding areas of Katrina evacuees, and warrantless dragnet sweeps and searches in FEMA camps, were condemned as human rights violations by the ACLU.
As legal scrutiny continued over the orders to confiscate legal firearms or arrest the movement of evacuees, Oath Keepers located military and police personnel who had refused the original orders on their belief they were unlawful, including a military intelligence detachment of the Utah National Guard under SSG Joshua May. Said SSG May in an April 2010 Oathkeepers interview "I'd like to put a challenge out to my fellow servicemen..know your Constitution, know why you put your hand up and said 'Yes I will.' You need to understand that and what your obligation to that is. If you remember your oath, you solemnly swore to do that, so help you God. Take it seriously."
Unlawful orders
The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) 809.ART.90 (20), makes it clear that military personnel need to obey the "lawful command of his superior officer," 891.ART.91 (2), the "lawful order of a warrant officer", 892.ART.92 (1) the "lawful general order", 892.ART.92 (2) "lawful order". In each case, military personnel have an obligation and a duty to only obey Lawful orders and indeed have an obligation to disobey Unlawful orders. Criminal prosecution and courts martial are applicable for military personnel who obey unlawful orders, as seen in United States vs Keenan, and the Court-Martial of Lt. William Calley, both of whom defended on the grounds of the Nuremburg Defense/Superior OrdersSuperior Orders
Superior orders is a plea in a court of law that a soldier not be held guilty for actions which were ordered by a superior office...
and both of whom were found guilty of murder. More recently, defendants involved in the scandal at Abu Grahib prison also raised the Nuremburg/Superior Orders Defense, with the result that eleven soldiers were found guilty and convicted in spite of defending that they were 'just following orders'. However, military personnel who disobey what they believe to be unlawful orders, do so at their own risk and may be subject to court martial proceedings.
Similar organizations
Among organizations indicating similar strong support of the US Constitution include the American Civil Liberties UnionAmerican Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
(ACLU), whose mission statement is listed as "The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country. These rights include:
- Your First Amendment rights - freedom of speech, association and assembly; freedom of the press, and freedom of religion.
- Your right to equal protection under the law - protection against unlawful discrimination.
- Your right to due process - fair treatment by the government whenever the loss of your liberty or property is at stake.
- Your right to privacy - freedom from unwarranted government intrusion into your personal and private affairs.
The ACLU also works to extend rights to segments of our population that have traditionally been denied their rights, including people of color; women; lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people; prisoners; and people with disabilities. "