The far-right Oath Keepers paramilitary is trying to regroup under new leadership — and a new plan to recruit younger people, reported Rolling Stone.
The group, which burst into prominence during the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff and consists largely of current and retired police and military, was active in plotting tactical-style group attacks during the Jan. 6 riot on the U.S. Capitol. Many of its most senior leaders, including Stewart Rhodes, received long-term prison sentences for seditious conspiracy — though his family is reportedly terrified that President-elect Donald Trump could pardon him.
In the meantime, however, the Oath Keepers have new plans, per the report.
"The Oath Keepers now have a new brand, Oath Keepers USA, and a new leader named Bobby Kinch, a retired Las Vegas police officer who once gained infamy for making Facebook posts that appeared to call for a race war," reported Tim Dickinson. "These days, Kinch lives in the mountains of Southwest Utah, and adds a populist topspin to dark visions of impending tyranny: 'It doesn’t matter what your political persuasion; because if you’re not one of the wealthy elites, if you’re not one of the Davos, globalist, Marxist, progressive billionaires,' he said on a recent podcast, 'you’re going to be in the same box car as everybody else.'"
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For his part, Kinch denies that his old social media activity, in which he wrote, “Let’s just get this over! Race war, Civil, Revolution? Bring it!" and said "I think we need a cleansing!” while still active in the police force, was an actual call for violence, adding that it's "pretty r------d" to view him as racist.
According to the report, a "strategic plan" was outlined in 2023 for expanding the group, including contingency strategies in case the Justice Department designated the Oath Keepers as a domestic terrorist organization.
"A line graph included in the strategy document reveals both state and national membership goals, with the state chapter seeking to have 1,000 members by 2025 — part of 100,000 hoped-for members nationally," noted the report. Additionally, the document called for “Recruiting of younger… persons,” which was to be achieved with “Community outreach programs. (Boy scouts, public training, events, youth involvement).”
It was unclear what exactly their plan was to build ties with the Boy Scouts, which is set to officially change its name to Scouting America next month.
