A leaked oath keeper membership list shows how members say they found out about the militia before joining:
facebook (cited by ~1,000)
infowars (900)
youtube (800)
fox / fox news (500)
glenn beck (300)
bill o’reilly (300)
gun shows (180)
survivalist preppers podcast (130)
How does one come to join a militia? When members of right-wing paramilitary groups explain their motivations to the public, they usually give a set of similar, flattering answers—to protect the constitution, to preserve freedom, or defend their community. But a leaked spreadsheet of Oath Keeper members obtained by Mother Jones sheds some light on what they say when they’re just talking to each other. “I was rejected by the Army.”
The document contains details on 25,000 people who joined the organization between 2009 and 2015, including their location, contact information and 18,000 self-submitted entries reflecting how they learned of the group or decided to join. Oath Keepers was founded in 2009, just after Obama took office, by Stewart Rhodes, who touts an organizational commitment to protecting the constitution. The Oath Keepers are a conspiratorially minded militia who work in the service of right-wing politics. Members of the group brought rifles to the Washington area ahead of January 6, when Congress met to formalize President Joe Biden’s election victory. Sixteen members and associates of the group face felony conspiracy charges linked to attempts to halt that day’s proceedings.
Some of the explanations offered in the database are absurd: “Old man in Jarome, AZ at a little bar rocking some reggae,” reads one. Others are concerning: “An ICE agent,” another says. Some are both: “Funny story, I stopped a speeding truck driver, who had your decal on the side of his truck, I asked about it, he went on and on, I said, Damn I’m all about this. looked up online and here I am. I’m a poor broke cop. But, I’m TRUE BLUE/ AMERICAN,” reads an accounting from an Illinois-based police officer.
The most frequently cited means of discovering the Oath Keepers is Facebook, with variants of the platform’s name mentioned in almost 1,000 entries. YouTube and related terms were cited roughly 800 times. The entries usually don’t provide details about what content served by the platforms motivated the signups.
TRUE BLUE/AMERICANS are gullible, online fools.