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Articles on Oath Keepers

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Former President Donald Trump has said he may pardon recently convicted leaders of the Proud Boys. Here, Proud Boys members protest in Salem, Ore., on Jan. 8, 2022. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland / AFP via Getty Images

How pardoning extremists undermines the rule of law

The promise of pardons to offer criminal sanctuary likely undermines the rule of law and increases the risks of political violence.
Jason Van Tatenhove, a former national spokesman for the Oath Keepers, has testified about the group’s extremism. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

IRS granted tax-exempt status to extremists, including an Oath Keepers foundation – here’s why that’s not as surprising as it sounds

The First Amendment, along with a lack of clarity on what counts as an educational mission for charities, can lead authorities to approve applications from extremist groups.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, is chairman of the House select committee investigating the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The Jan. 6 committee makes its case against Trump, his allies and their conspiracy to commit an insurrection: Five essential reads

The US select congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol has wrapped up its nearly two-year probe of that day’s violent but unsuccessful insurrection.
In this photograph, former President Donald Trump appears on a video screen above members of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Former Oath Keeper reveals racist, antisemitic beliefs of white nationalist group – and their plans to start a civil war

A former Oath Keepers member testified during a congressional hearing that it was time to stop mincing words about the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol: ‘It was an armed revolution.’
Pro-Trump protesters gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021. Brent Stirton/Getty Images

The Jan. 6 Capitol attacks offer a reminder – distrust in government has long been part of Republicans’ playbook

The Republican Party has a decadeslong relationship with using distrust to incite its base and draw in more supporters – the Jan. 6 Capitol attacks just offer the latest example of this tactic.
Unemployed Blackjewel coal miners, their family members and activists man a blockade along railroad tracks leading to their old mine on Aug. 23, 2019, in Cumberland, Kentucky. Scott Olson/Getty Images

How the quest for significance and respect underlies the white supremacist movement, conspiracy theories and a range of other problems

The quest for significance and respect is a universal part of human nature. It has the potential to inspire great works – but lately, it has been much in evidence tearing society apart.
Militia members associated with the Three Percenters movement conducting a military drill in Flovilla, Ga., in 2016, days after Trump’s election. After his 2020 defeat, Three Percenters were involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Image

Police, soldiers bring lethal skill to militia campaigns against US government

A leaked database shows at least 10% of the far-right Oath Keepers militia is active police or military – people professionally trained in using weapons and conducting sophisticated operations.
Pete Musico, left, is one of the founding members of the Wolverine Watchmen, as is Joseph Morrison, right. Both were charged in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (Jackson County Sheriff’s Office via AP) Jackson County Sheriff’s Office via AP

Plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor grew from the militia movement’s toxic mix of constitutional falsehoods and half-truths

A scholar of militia movements describes the ‘peculiar’ – and erroneous – principles that right-wing militias subscribe to, including believing themselves to be defenders of the Bill of Rights.

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