Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

flying_wahini

(8,043 posts)
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 11:10 AM Sep 2022

We have a big problem up here in DFW.

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/07/texas-oath-keepers-adl/

…Two constables, four police chiefs and over 3,000 other Texans were members of the Oath Keepers, report says

A recent analysis of Oath Keepers’ membership rolls leaked last year found that Texas had more members of the far-right extremist group than any other state — and the most who worked as elected officials, law enforcement officers or members of the military.



I say fire them ALL. Start over. Hire more minorities and people with more education and different
Backgrounds.

When you only hire hammers everything looks like a nail.
39 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
We have a big problem up here in DFW. (Original Post) flying_wahini Sep 2022 OP
I hope to God Beto will take care of that problem! BComplex Sep 2022 #1
I was so shocked to see on Real Clear Politics that Beto is running behind. BUT I have Scrivener7 Sep 2022 #3
Not getting my hopes up about ga, FL, or TX. Nt childfreebychoice Sep 2022 #9
Stacey Abrams markodochartaigh Sep 2022 #14
Beto definitely has an uphill battle. Lonestarblue Sep 2022 #15
precisely. The silent majority w show up en masse for Beto. i truly believe it. The women of this onetexan Sep 2022 #20
I'm surprised that there weren't more. rubbersole Sep 2022 #2
I don't think you can fire somebody for belonging to an organization. Turbineguy Sep 2022 #4
Looked up how The Southern Poverty Law Center classified them KS Toronado Sep 2022 #21
That's pretty horrifying. It is also horrifying in how it points to the size of the organization. Scrivener7 Sep 2022 #5
Yeah, but Texas is a huge state, right? Ligyron Sep 2022 #16
But that means there are several hundred in every major city in Texas. flying_wahini Sep 2022 #31
The full list of members was 38.000 soldierant Sep 2022 #30
Can't say I'm surprised nt CanonRay Sep 2022 #6
I thought Florida would be right there with Texas. I'd love to know where we sit! Native Sep 2022 #7
Here is a link to check: slumcamper Sep 2022 #8
Wow, I thought it would be significantly worse! Thanks for the link. Native Sep 2022 #10
This is awful. Tough road ahead.. nt ramen Sep 2022 #12
excellent link, source NJCher Sep 2022 #27
We should Traildogbob Sep 2022 #11
How can they call themselves oath keepers???? Farmer-Rick Sep 2022 #13
They're just selective about which "oaths" matter and which don't... Wounded Bear Sep 2022 #22
It's a misnomer. I prefer my natural food friends, the "Oat Eaters". Evolve Dammit Sep 2022 #29
I call them the Oaf keepers. flying_wahini Sep 2022 #32
Ha! Good one! Evolve Dammit Sep 2022 #34
Oaf Qweefers concretebluetwo Sep 2022 #37
Well they certainly aren't keeping their oath to the Constitution. Farmer-Rick Sep 2022 #36
People are often surprised when cops turn out to be Oath Keepers, but... NullTuples Sep 2022 #17
How can anyone be surprised by this revelation, it's Texas, isn't it? Cozmo Sep 2022 #18
They say, "what are you going to do about it?" Bobstandard Sep 2022 #19
A lot of overlap between these guys and Sovereign Citizens, I presume... Wounded Bear Sep 2022 #23
Defense attorneys will look up the names of arresting officers to see if they're on that list. sop Sep 2022 #24
Firefighters too. Active and retired. czarjak Sep 2022 #25
Can't fire elected officials, which include sheriffs; and they can't fire a vet. A vet is a vet. ancianita Sep 2022 #26
If they are involved in an organization that threatened to overthrow our government then flying_wahini Sep 2022 #33
That's not the issue of the OP. It's about their membership. "If" is always a hypothetical which ancianita Sep 2022 #35
We need new domestic terrorism legislation to replace the Patriot Act pecosbob Sep 2022 #28
The texass Christofascists want a white America. The Jungle 1 Sep 2022 #38
The scary numbers are not being reported. DJ Porkchop Sep 2022 #39

Scrivener7

(53,221 posts)
3. I was so shocked to see on Real Clear Politics that Beto is running behind. BUT I have
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 11:30 AM
Sep 2022

to assume that doesn't take into account a lot of women who are suddenly changing their minds.

Lonestarblue

(11,988 posts)
15. Beto definitely has an uphill battle.
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 12:54 PM
Sep 2022

And the new Republican voter nullification laws have so screwed up mail ballots that many people’s votes may not count unless they fill put those ballots and complete certain information on the envelopes. Houston alone discarded over 15,000 mail ballots for the primaries because of minor clerical errors. If that happens again in the major Democratic counties, Beto will certainly lose.

onetexan

(13,913 posts)
20. precisely. The silent majority w show up en masse for Beto. i truly believe it. The women of this
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 01:24 PM
Sep 2022

state (regardless of politics) will rise up to fight for themselves and for their daughters, grand daughters, nieces, etc. I'm hoping Beto's team is running w this new material for new ads - that under Abbott's leadership he's allowed fascists to infiltrate the state's law enforcement organizations, at every level. He himself is a fascist and the others in tx gov't as well - Dan Patrick, Ken Paxton, etc.

Turbineguy

(38,513 posts)
4. I don't think you can fire somebody for belonging to an organization.
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 11:31 AM
Sep 2022

Of course, if the Oath Keepers was declared a terrorist organization.... that would change things. Once a bunch of these J6 guys end up in prison, their organizations could be put on the terrorist list.

KS Toronado

(19,703 posts)
21. Looked up how The Southern Poverty Law Center classified them
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 01:25 PM
Sep 2022

They tagged them an extreme anti-government group, don't know who could
classify them as a terrorist organization.

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/oath-keepers

Scrivener7

(53,221 posts)
5. That's pretty horrifying. It is also horrifying in how it points to the size of the organization.
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 11:32 AM
Sep 2022

3000 traitors, just in Texas.

Ligyron

(7,910 posts)
16. Yeah, but Texas is a huge state, right?
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 12:55 PM
Sep 2022

Fla comes in next and I know we have a bunch too.

They’re like roaches down here…

NJCher

(38,255 posts)
27. excellent link, source
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 03:17 PM
Sep 2022

Highly recommended.

I sent this all over the place, friends, relatives, etc.

Traildogbob

(10,204 posts)
11. We should
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 12:42 PM
Sep 2022

Expect ALL our public servants to adhere to the OATH they take when sworn in. The problem is they bow to a warped version of an oath just like their rewritten BuyBull.
These traitors need to be fired for BREAKING the oath to protect the constitution, (So Help Me GAWD) not just for the CLUB they belong too. Being at war with democracy should damn sure be penalty enough to fire them. OATH Keepers my ass! I think these dress up soldiers run like Sadam’s elite forces did in Iraq when face to face with real soldiers. I mean just look at their General’s; trump, Lindsay, Flynn, Jones, and commander Bannon. Non of whom will be near any conflict or ever have. All will be under the command of Putin.

Farmer-Rick

(11,538 posts)
13. How can they call themselves oath keepers????
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 12:47 PM
Sep 2022

The oath is to protect and defend the constitution but they are racist, Nazis and who support a dictator. No where does the constitution support this.

It's like saying I believe the Christian Bible because I don't eat shrimp but I don't believe the Sermon on the Mount.

NullTuples

(6,017 posts)
17. People are often surprised when cops turn out to be Oath Keepers, but...
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 12:57 PM
Sep 2022

a member of the Board of Oath Keepers went on to found the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. It's essentially Oath Keepers but just for cops, but with the same agenda, bigotry and so on.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/10/oath-keepers-texas-richard-mack-profile-sheriff/

Seditious, white supremacist, bigoted cops are a massive problem in the USA but it's so incredibly difficult to get anyone to care. Perhaps it's because the system of law enforcement is mostly built on trust, the assumption that our cops won't be bad people. But in many, many places there simply is no accountability for sheriffs or police departments. Maybe people just don't want to admit the problem exists because there is very little that can actually be done to stop it outside of state legislatures + governors rewriting the status of law enforcement in each state.

Bobstandard

(1,711 posts)
19. They say, "what are you going to do about it?"
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 01:16 PM
Sep 2022

Most will get to stay on, establishing a new norm for policing. You know, normalizing fascism.

Wounded Bear

(60,851 posts)
23. A lot of overlap between these guys and Sovereign Citizens, I presume...
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 01:43 PM
Sep 2022

Bunch of assholes who don't believe the Federal Government has any sovereignty over local politics.

sop

(11,619 posts)
24. Defense attorneys will look up the names of arresting officers to see if they're on that list.
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 02:13 PM
Sep 2022

For every cop known to be an actual member of the Oath Keepers, there are likely hundreds of sympathizers.

ancianita

(38,881 posts)
26. Can't fire elected officials, which include sheriffs; and they can't fire a vet. A vet is a vet.
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 02:37 PM
Sep 2022

Can't just instantly "start over." That would look not just dictatorial, it actually would be dictatorial. No current Texas governor or statehouse is going to do anything about people's constitutional right to be in "associations" unless the current Oathkeepers of TX are indicted for crimes, and even then, all these kinds of members would not be indicted, anyway.

If there's a list available to the public, then go from there. I haven't seen a single list from any news report about allegedly existing databases.

Have you seen a list of Oathkeeper member names? So until there's publicly provided evidence, I don't see why anyone should take an undocumented news report as factual, anyway.

Seriously. We do have a problem with self-declared anti-government groups, but they can't just be done away with, without due process. Even Beto can't make Oathkeepers go away. Some day it might happen that a Republican majority somewhere declares the Democratic Party a terrorist organization. Would that give them the right to round up all Democrats in their jurisdiction and indict them?

flying_wahini

(8,043 posts)
33. If they are involved in an organization that threatened to overthrow our government then
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 06:22 PM
Sep 2022

I would just bet they can find a reason to fire them. If they took an oath to be cops then
Rewrite the rules and THEN fire them. You called it due process. Then DO THE PROCESS.

Take away their rights to carry guns and vote. Like they do felons.

ancianita

(38,881 posts)
35. That's not the issue of the OP. It's about their membership. "If" is always a hypothetical which
Thu Sep 8, 2022, 06:49 PM
Sep 2022

cannot disprove the facts as they're now presented. Or not presented here. The irony. How about YOU do the process.

You think you can just call them felons just because they're Oathkeeper members based on an "if"?

Proving criminality with evidence and time. People here like to say they should be fired as if guilt-by-association is a thing. Firing from a police force comes after an internal investigation, DA charges, etc, which hardly ever happen to police. Who rewrites what rules? Seriously?

Overall, fat chance. These people are in their positions because they were deemed qualified. Mere association with Oathkeepers isn't a crime. Vets and anyone else not sheriffs or LEO's are constitutionally free to associate with any group.

Like they say in Chicago, politics ain't bean bag. You can't just "rewrite rules," "take away" guns without proving criminality and the whole due process thing. And everyone here knows it.

 

The Jungle 1

(4,552 posts)
38. The texass Christofascists want a white America.
Fri Sep 9, 2022, 08:01 AM
Sep 2022

They are not going to get it. Fascism always loses.
Education in texass is now 43 in the nation. It is almost like they want ignorant people!!!
Education is the front line in this battle.

DJ Porkchop

(633 posts)
39. The scary numbers are not being reported.
Fri Sep 9, 2022, 10:22 AM
Sep 2022

They may not be knowable: How many *FORMER* LEO and public officials are in the ranks?
This would magnify the real threat of the embedded bigotry in our culture.
It would be a number 3x-5x what is reported as current, IMHO.

If Oath Keepers is dissolved in Texas and everywhere, there will be a new group formed, because this kind of hatred is part of the DNA of this country.

Rage Against The Machine lyrics:
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses

#ACAB

Latest Discussions»Region Forums»Texas»We have a big problem up ...