Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, veterans, Peace Officers, and Fire Fighters who will fulfill the Oath they swore. Together with the support of like minded citizens who take an Oath to stand with them to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help them God. Their Oath is to the Constitution.
CNN has called them a “Fringe Group”.
See their website here. they were previously on blogspot.
October 26, 2009
Group appeals to current, former police, military members to uphold Constitution
No amount of controversy will keep Oath Keepers from educating people about what it means to support and defend the Constitution.
That was the message Saturday during the kickoff of the group’s inaugural national conference, a two-day event that comes at a time when Oath Keepers is experiencing a surge in membership and notoriety.
Started earlier this year by Las Vegas resident Stewart Rhodes, Oath Keepers is a nonprofit organization made up primarily of current and former police and military personnel who renew their oaths to the Constitution.
Rhodes, a former Army paratrooper and Yale University Law School graduate, opened the conference at Texas Station with a warning that Washington politicians cannot be trusted to uphold their oaths to the Constitution.
“That’s why we have a civic duty to keep our oaths,†Rhodes told about a hundred fellow Oath Keepers in the hotel ballroom.
Less pep rally than American history seminar, the first day of the conference focused in great part on the history and structure of the Constitution. Most of the day’s sessions were open to the public.
Navy Cmdr. David Gillie, a board member of Oath Keepers and the group’s national Navy liaison, conducted a public oath ceremony Saturday afternoon.
“This group stands for things that have needed to be said for a long time,†Gillie said in an interview with the Review-Journal. “It’s about fidelity to our oaths.â€
In a nearly two-hour speech, Rhodes implored members to fight labels that critics, most notably the Southern Poverty Law Center, have put on the group.
Rhodes, 44, said Oath Keepers isn’t about the political left or political right, but rather about a commitment to honor the Bill of Rights.
Oath Keepers has a “Declaration of Orders We Will Not Obey.†The directives to disobey include unlawfully disarming Americans or forcing them into detention camps, conducting warrantless searches, or imposing martial law.
By honoring the Constitution, Rhodes said, the United States will never become Nazi Germany or again allow abuses like the detention of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II.
The group has close to 2,000 dues-paying members, twice the number it had last week, said Dave Freeman, a board member and the group’s national peace officer liaison.
Oath Keepers has heard from thousands more who have expressed interest in becoming members, Freeman said.
READY TO DEFEND: Oath Keepers speak out at inaugural conference
Group appeals to current, former police, military members to uphold Constitution (Review Journal)
