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Security Brief: Behavior/Leadership Week of April 19, 2021

Week of Monday, April 19, 2021 | Issue 16

Angeliki Siafaka, Behavior/Leadership (B/L) Team



Oath Keepers flag[1]


Date: April 19, 2021

Location: US

Parties involved: Oath Keepers; United States

The event: In an interview, Jim Arroyo, one of the Oath Keepers’ top figures, spoke about the close involvement of police officers with the group.[2] He said that active-duty law-enforcement officers are training members of the group to prepare them for a civil war. Arroyo stated that the members of the Oath Keepers are very experienced with military backgrounds and that they can blend in with law enforcement. This statement is supported by Javed Ali, an ex-National Security Council senior director and FBI counterterrorism official, who said that the Oath Keepers are a unique threat to the United States because a large percentage of the members of the organization have tactical training and operational experience in either the military or law enforcement which gives them a capability that a lot of other people in the far-right space do not have.

The implications:

  • It is likely that the Oath Keepers’ public claims that active-duty police officers are members of the group will lead far-right extremists to feel supported and believe that they can continue to operate undisturbed. Individuals that support or participate in far-right anti-government organizations may feel more confident when they think that there are like-minded individuals in law enforcement, which is likely to contribute to the escalation of far-right violence.

  • The close involvement of law-enforcement officers with far-right anti-government groups, such as the Oath Keepers, is very likely to result in many people losing faith in the institutions and inspire much distrust towards law enforcement. This is likely to increase fears of corruption within the security forces and the government, especially after the events of the Capitol riot during which the Capitol police were seen as unwilling to protect against violent extremism. The damage to police’s integrity that comes as a result may lead the public to believe that all police officers support anti-government militia groups and far-right extremist ideologies. This is very likely to create more mistrust and resentment against law enforcement, at a time when police brutality against people of color is a major concern and has caused widespread outrage.

  • The Oath Keepers’ statements that active-duty law-enforcement officers assist the members of the group with their training in order to prepare for a civil war is likely to help to give some credit to the idea that a civil war is about to happen in the United States. When authority figures and people in a position of power support and promote conspiracy theories, they may help to legitimize such ideas. Members of the public may believe that law-enforcement officers actively participate in the Oath Keepers’ training because they have some inside knowledge, which may inspire fear and insecurity that a civil war is coming.

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[2] Top Oath Keeper Says Active-Duty Cops Are Training Militia Members for Civil War, Daily Beast, April 2021, https://www.thedailybeast.com/oath-keeper-jim-arroyo-says-active-duty-cops-are-training-militia-members-for-civil-war

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