(ConservativeHub.com) – The Secret Service is reportedly facing scrutiny following the recent evidence that the agents have been in communication with an Oath Keepers activist who was significantly involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
According to Newsweek, the anti-corruption non-profit organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) published emails that show that Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the right-wing group Oath Keepers, had a seemingly “cordial” dynamic with outreach officers. Rhodes was jailed in May for 18 years in relation to seditious conspiracy charged connected to his role in the Capitol attack. In one of the emails, an agent states that Rhodes had “denounced White Nationalist ideals.”
A spokesperson for the Secret Service revealed to Newsweek recently that it had received communications from the Oath Keepers. He further stated, however, that this was a “common practice.”
Oath Keepers which was founded in 2009 has previously been called by anti-hate organizations as extremist, according to Newsweek. Still, in the group’s bylaws, it is explicitly stated that members could not discriminate, be hateful, or violent towards others on the basis of their race, color, creed, or nationality. As of 2011, they were noted to have 30,000 members. The Anti-Defamation League in 2015 stated that the group was focused on getting current and former military members, firefighters, and law enforcement officers to join their organization.
Extremism watchdog the Southern Policy Law Center has noted that so far at least 17 members of the group have been charged in connection to the Capitol attack.
Copyright 2023, ConservativeHub.com
