Oath Keepers

Oath Keepers is an American far-right anti-government militia whose leaders have been convicted of violently opposing the US government, including the transfer of presidential power as prescribed by the United States Constitution. It was incorporated in 2009 by founder Stewart Rhodes, a lawyer and former paratrooper. In 2023, Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, and another leader, Kelly Meggs, was sentenced to 12 years for the same crime. Three other members have pleaded guilty to this crime, and four other members have been convicted of it. By September 2021, twenty members had been indicted for federal crimes related to the Capitol attack. The organization was subpoenaed by the January 6th Committee in November 2021.

Research determined that two-thirds of the Oath Keepers are former military or law enforcement, and one tenth are active duty military or law enforcement. The group encourages its members to disobey orders which they believe would violate the US Constitution. Most research determined Oath Keeper membership to be approximately 5,000 members, while leaked data showed Oath Keepers' rosters claiming membership of 38,000. Oath Keepers were present wearing military fatigues during the 2014 and 2015 unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, when members armed with semi-automatic rifles roamed streets and rooftops.

Several organizations that monitor U.S. domestic terrorism and hate groups describe the Oath Keepers as a far-right extremist or radical group. In 2015, Mark Pitcavage of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) described the group as "heavily armed extremists with a conspiratorial and anti-government mindset looking for potential showdowns with the government". The group is anti-government and extremist. Former SPLC fellow Mark Potok describes the group as "an anti-government group who believe in a wild set of conspiracy theories". The FBI describes the Oath Keepers as a "paramilitary organization" and a "large but loosely organized collection of militia who believe that the federal government has been co-opted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights." Some researchers have suggested the Oath Keepers' organizing principle is as a "profit-maximizing firm", rather than the hierarchical and close-knit "club" structure that similar groups show.

Writing in August 2025 for The New York Times, Alan Feuer said that the Oath Keepers "barely exists anymore. Its founder, Stewart Rhodes, no longer appears in public as often as he once did at far-right demonstrations or standoffs with the government." However, in November 2025, Rhodes told The Gateway Pundit that he would be relaunching and rebuilding the Oath Keepers.