Oath Keepers' "urgent" plea for thousands of gun enthusiasts to descend on DC on April 19
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Oath Keepers' "urgent" plea for thousands of gun enthusiasts to descend on DC on April 19
A political climate that's already more overheated than any time in a generation. Plans for a large-scale rally of firearms enthusiasts in the nation's capital. A fast-growing group of (mostly ex-) military and cops that pledges to disobey "unconstitutional orders" from the president, and an "urgent" call from the group's leader to flood Washington to "shout your oaths in the tyrant’s face" -- on the 15th anniversary of the worst home-grown terror incident in U.S. history, the Oklahoma City bombing.
What could possibly go wrong?
The world will find out on April 19, now that the leader of the Oath Keepers -- the alliance of mostly veterans and ex-cops that didn't exist at the start of the Obama administration but now claims nearly 15,000 members -- has issued that urgent call to all members to attend two politically charged events in or around Washington on that Monday, which organizers stress as the 235th anniversary of the first shots of the American Revolution.
Stewart Rhodes, the Yale law school grad and ex-paratrooper who founded the Oath Keepers after working on Rep. Ron Paul's 2008 presidential campaign, sent out an email blast to members over the weekend urging them to attend either a Second Amendment March on the Capitol that's slated to take place on Washington that day, or an open-carry rally in which many attendees will be bringing their firearms, to be held just across the Potomic River at Fort Hunt National Park.
(In an irony that event organizers don't seem to be playing up, open-carry of weapons used to be banned at national parks before February of this year, when a longstanding ban was overturned in legislation signed by the man Rhodes alluded to as "a tyrant," President Barack Obama.)
The Second Amendment March has been in the planning stages for months but only started gaining attention recently, in the hypercharged environment after the enactment of health care legislation vehemently opposed by members of right-wing groups like the Oath Keepers.
In particular, news accounts noted that a long-time militia activist -- Mike Vanderboegh of Alabama -- has said that he plans to speak at the Fort Hunt rally. It was Vanderboegh -- who recently founded a group similar to the Oath Keepers called The Three Percenters -- who made headlines last week by issuing an appeal on his blog for supporters to break the windows of healthcare reform supporters; immediately after that, windows and doors were smashed at Democratic offices in Wichita, Kansas, and Rochester, N.Y. and the offices of an Arizona congresswoman, among others.
In promoting the events, the Oath Keepers' Rhodes -- who says he will be speaking at both rallies -- states:
You took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The time has come to keep that oath by taking a firm stand, to let the oath breakers in DC know that you and yours will not submit and go quietly as they “transform” our Constitutional Republic into what will rightly meet the definition of a totalitarian state (without limits on its powers, which it creates for itself out of thin air without the consent of the people).
Can the Oath Keepers deliver a big crowd to the events? The group has clearly experienced a surge of members since it was launched on the same date, April 19, last year at a rally on Lexington Green in Massachusetts where Vanderboegh -- according to an excellent profile of the Oath Keepers by Justine Sharrock for Mother Jones -- was also present. It's not known if the group's claim of more than 14,000 members is accurate. The Oath Keepers do have about 17,750 followers on Facebook and more than 1,500 followers on Twitter.
The rise of the Oath Keepers has already aroused alarm from hate groups trackers like the Southern Poverty Law Center (PDF file) and the Anti-Defamation League as at the vanguard of a new breed of "Patriot" groups touting conspiracy theories about the government that have increased in intensity since Obama took office. The core issue for the Oath Keepers is a list of orders that its members will not obey -- these include rounding up Americans and placing them in concentration camps or confiscating guns from U.S. citizens.
Several of the speakers at the April 19 Second Amendment March also have been monitored over the years by SPLC, ADL and others for connections to militias and other far-right movements. These include Larry Pratt of the Gun Owners of America --a group that's been famously described as "the NRA on steroids" and former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack, who is a member of the Oath Keepers as well.
In his plea for attendees, Rhodes describes health care reform and the takeover of General Motors as examples of the government's descent into tyranny, but he also urged supporters to obey the District of Columbia's strict gun laws, adding "you will also be showing your support for fellow Americans who are merely exercising their right to free speech, to peaceably assemble, to association, to petition their government for a redress of grievances, and their right to keep and bear arms."
Answering his own question as to why the Fort Hood event is "open carry," Rhodes responds, "Why not?" He notes that other open-carry rallies, including one at the Kentucky state capitol, have been held with incident.
Can you imagine the spit-flecked corners of the jabbering mouths of the marginalized minority if a group of "left wing" protestors wanted to descend on the capital to protest torturing people, holding Americans without trial, illegal, warrant-less spying and invading other countries in wars of choice? The Hate Americans First crowd would be in full raving, deranged paranoia mode. So, yeah, nothing much would be different...— E.Plebnista
"The fact that minorities are welcomed at this Oath Keepers event..." . . . . . . Seems to me these Oath Keepers are a minority themselves. They're certainly not trying to attract mainstream Americans to the party.- "Too many conservatives relied on Bush's character and didn't pay attention. Only now, with Obama, do they worry and see what has been done. I trusted Bush to only go after the terrorists. But what do you think can happen down the road when they say, 'I think you are a threat to the nation?'" . . . . . . You see, all the conspiracy needs is to give us someone with 'Bush's character' again to fool the gun huggers, and then who will stop 'em??
- I'm one of the 80% of American "Independents" who have become thoroughly disgusted with the extremes from both sides (e.g., Glenn Beck and Nancy Pelosi) who have hijacked anything that might be remotely called civility or statesmanship. I'm also a responsible gun owner (as are many friends) and a firm believer in an individual's right to keep and bear arms (if the original intent is unclear to you, check out the Pennsylvania constitution). The media and the internet have whipped us up into a frenzy based on the nuttiness of the extremes on both sides. Why? Because it "sells." Let's stop blaming an inanimate object and start talking "with" each other, rather than "at" each other. There's a very good reason that the approval ratings of Congress are worse than those of a Wall Street banker.— Don M
- "They're certainly not trying to attract mainstream Americans to the party." Will said, "In promoting the events, the Oath Keepers' Rhodes...states: 'You took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The time has come to keep that oath by taking a firm stand, to let the oath breakers in DC know that you and yours will not submit and go quietly as they “transform” our Constitutional Republic into what will rightly meet the definition of a totalitarian state (without limits on its powers, which it creates for itself out of thin air without the consent of the people).'" So it is your contention that minorities are not interested in "supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Shame on you msl.— legatus
- Legatus, it's my contention that the Oath Keepers are a minority, so I guess not.
- My mistake...your contention is that ~mainstream Americans~ are not interested in "supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Shame on you msl.— legatus
- I think that the "Oath Keepers" need a better name. How about the National Anti Socialist Party or NASI Party for short? They should all wear matching brown shirts to their rallies to show everybody that they are serious. And they will be needing a special salute.— pic man
- Yep, legatus, shame on me that most Americans didn't sympathize with the South's secession in 1861, and would have violated every Oath keeper's oath in fighting the Civil War.
- Thanks for the compliment, bil. atk., left-handed though it may have been, but I must confess that I missed the "not-so-veiled shots at cops and veterans" to which you allude, as well as the part where Bunch suggested that the Oath Keepers ought not to have the right to speak and assemble freely. And yes, if some of that group's prominent members have ties to right-wing organizations that espouse violence as a political tool, I should think that would be a matter of public concern. On the other hand, while I checked out Stewart Rhodes a bit and actually agree with some of what he says (for instance, his Yale thesis questions the application of "enemy combatant status" to nationals of countries upon which Congress has not declared war), I think he may be the least little bit irresponsible (inflammatory?) in referring to our elected leaders as "tyrants." They're doing the job that we, their constituents, elected them to do; those who don't like the way they're doing it can protest peacefully (preferably without weapons) or better yet, throw the bums out in November. This is hardly a case of "taxation without representation" as it was in 1775.— Billy Ray Winthorpe
- Oh yes, and dittoes to Don M.— Billy Ray Winthorpe
- strawman, msl.— legatus
Oath Keepers...hahaha... Why not have the Sky is Falling Brigade also. They claim to be ready to ignore unconstitutional orders...from who? Are these nitwits all constitutional scholars? I guess they are going to start the revolution now since they claim HCR is unconstitutional...Sorry, but as a veteran, I am offended by these nitwits pretending to act for all veterans. My question to these nuts is what do you do next? Start shooting your neighbors? Maybe the nurse down the street that works for a free clinic? These folks are compensating for something...wonder what..— Les Ismore- "and would have violated every Oath keeper's oath in fighting the Civil War." I don't want to dabble in straw, but are you saying that the ends justified Lincoln's means? If so, then why doesn't the same argument justify Bush's handlign of the WoT? Lincoln's actions were against US citizens, Bush's are against (mostly) foreign citizens.— RG
Aaron the only moron on here is you , you belitle the troops and you belittle the police , lets hope you never need either.— PAEnglish
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