'There is no fairytale ending to an insurrection': Oath Keepers militia collapsing after leaders jailed

With Oath Keeper leader Stewart Rhodes cooling his heels in jail while awaiting a possible 25-year sentence for his plot to storm Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election that Donald Trump lost, the remaining members of the rightwing militia are moving on with their lives.

According to a report from the Guardian's MacKenzie Ryan, new membership in the group is essentially non-existent and the Oath Keepers' future is in doubt.

As Ryan notes, "Researchers who monitor American far-right organizations said the Oath Keepers have in effect been decimated, with only a handful of chapters remaining."

Rachel Carroll Rivas, deputy director of research and analysis for the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) claimed the 100-plus chapters of Oath Keepers have dwindled to a "handful," and quipped, "I can tell you I don’t see as many Oath Keeper bumper stickers around."

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Rivas noted the arrest and jailing of Rhodes was the beginning of the end for Oath Keepers, by suggesting Rhodes’ conviction was akin to "cutting off the head of the dragon” and that, in turn, has crippled their ability to add to their ranks.

She explained, "When something happens like January 6, when things get out of hand, it pushes the everyday membership away from the organization itself, not from its beliefs, but it definitely pushed them away from the Oath Keepers’ name.”

Oren Segal, vice-president of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, was more pointed in his remarks about the demise of the right-wing militia, telling the Guardian, "How do you win hearts and minds in this country? There is no fairytale ending to an insurrection.”

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