“This was not a well-trained army or a disciplined military unit, this was a loose structure,” said Karl Schmae, who dealt with Oath Keepers when he was an FBI negotiator responding to the 2016 occupation of a wildlife refuge building in eastern Oregon.
The Oath Keepers group is a major target of the sprawling FBI investigation into the riot at the U.S. Capitol, along with another militant group, the Proud Boys, according to the people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. How aggressively the Justice Department pursues such extremists will be a major test not only of the Biden administration’s pledge to combat domestic terrorism, but the law and the courts.
Twelve alleged Oath Keepers members or associates have already been arrested on charges related to Jan. 6. In court documents, the group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, is usually referred to not by name but as “Person One.” The people familiar with the case said agents are working to see if a conspiracy case can be made against Rhodes and other senior members of the group.
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