Hundreds of Oath Keepers have worked for DHS in recent years, report finds

Hundreds of Oath Keepers said that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has or in the past had employed them, a report published Monday found—a revelation that comes about two weeks after two leaders of the far-right militia faced convictions for seditious conspiracy in connection with the January 6 insurrection.

In a joint investigation with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) found that more than 300 people on a leaked Oath Keepers membership list described themselves as current or former employees of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies including the Border Patrol, Coast Guard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Secret Service.

Furthermore, experts voiced alarm over far-right extremists—who according to DHS pose the greatest domestic terrorism threat—working at a federal agency responsible for combating extremism.

“One active law enforcement official joining a militia group is one too many,” Mike German, a former undercover FBI agent who has infiltrated white supremacist and far-right extremist groups, told POGO. “This probably represents the tip of the iceberg as far as federal law enforcement officers that participated in or supported the activities of far-right, militant groups like the Oath Keepers.”

Also, previous reports have detailed infiltration by right-wing extremists and white supremacists of the U.S. military and law enforcement agencies.

Additionally, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who chairs both the House Homeland Security Committee and the congressional panel investigating the January 6 attack, responded to the new report by saying that “extremism within our government is always alarming, but even more so in a department with a law enforcement and national security nexus like DHS.”

Originally published at Commondreams.org.