By Steve Neavling
Hundreds of members of the far-right militia group, the Oath Keepers, are current or former employees of the Department of Homeland Security, according to a leaked membership list obtained by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO).
The list shows that more than 300 members of the extremists group described working for various DHS agencies, including the ICE, Secret Service and Border Patrol.
The list, from 2015, likely doesn’t include all of the group’s members.
Whether DHS is aware of the membership list is an open question.
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last year that “extremism has no place at DHS and we will work with urgency and focus to address it.”
One member wrote, “I am currently a 20 year Special Agent with the United States Secret Service.” Another agent wrote, “I have been on President Clinton and President Bush’s protective detail. I was a member and instructor on the Presidential Protective Division’s Counter Assault Team.”
Some even described themselves as supervisors.
One man wrote he is a “Current Supervisory Border Patrol Agent” in Southern California. Another worked at TSA headquarters in Arlington, Va.
“Given what we’ve learned since January 6th about the extent of extremist beliefs and membership among elected officials and other government employees, these numbers are deeply troubling, yet not surprising,” U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., told the OCCRP. “What’s equally disturbing is the lack of transparency from the Department of Homeland Security on its methods for identifying, tracking, and eradicating this very real threat to our democracy and the rule of law.”
