Oath Keepers facing collapse after leaders indicted for sedition: national security expert

Appearing on CNN on Friday morning, national security expert Juliette Kayyem claimed the arrest and indictment of 11 members of the far-right anti-government militia Oath Keepers on Thursday could deal a death blow to the group as funding dries up and recruitment collapses.

Speaking to hosts Jim Sciutto and Bianna Golodryga, the international security expert who teaches at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, explained the group might not be in existence in 2024 when the next presidential election rolls around.

Asked, "What does this say about preventing any future domestic terrorism attacks? What message does this send?: Kayyem immediately replied, "It sends a very good message. it is something we have been waiting for, those of us who look at sort of radicalization or counterterrorism efforts."

"Domestic terrorist organizations like the Oath Keepers survive because they have leadership, they have money and they have bodies; people who will be willing to be violent and those were all undercut by the indictment yesterday," she elaborated. "They got their leadership now indicted, but they also have leadership turning on each other. It is clear many of the Oath Keepers have now begun to provide information."

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Adding, "It is hard to recruit or get people to pay dues," she continued, " Remember, the Oath Keepers survive on dues. There might be outside money, we don't know. When you're a losing team.(sic) If you treat it like a terrorist organization, terrorist organizations recruit because they have an aura of victory. I think that's just an appropriate analogy for what's going on and helpful not to bridge the divide of this country. There is a lot of division, but at least to make violence and violent terrorism, to stop it from growing, I think that's really significant."

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