Oath Keepers hack reveals it has two active NYPD cops in its ranks

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has launched an investigation after a hack on far-right group the Oath Keepers reportedly revealed it has two active NYPD cops and three New York public officials on its books. 

The investigation takes place after an anonymous hacker shared what they claim are emails and membership data from the extremist militia group, who were present at the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.

Eighteen Oath Keeper members have since faced charges from the Capitol riot.

The far-right group’s records were sent to a transparency nonprofit group known as Distributed Denial of Secret (DDoSecrets), which shares data leaks with journalists and researchers, and posted online Monday.

Three New York City public officials are also part of the leaked membership’s logs. They confirmed to <a style="font-weight: bold;" class="class" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" website that were previously registered as members of the group but they now claim they are no longer active.  

The two NYPD officers whose names are also listed in the hacked records could not be confirmed as active members and so they remain unidentified.   

NYPD rules forbid members of the force from forming alliances with organizations ‘reasonably believed’ to be engaged in criminal activities.

‘The Oath Keepers are a vile, extremist anti-government organization,’ said Bill Neidhardt, a de Blasio spokesman. ‘An immediate internal investigation has been launched.’

The NYPD added ‘the incidents are under internal review.’  

Yale Law School graduate Stewart Rhodes in 2009 founded the far-right Oath Keepers and has long claimed that more than 30,000 law enforcement officers, soldiers and military veterans as members.

So far, Dailymail.com, other news outlets and researches have been unable to verify the accuracy of this claim.

One NYPD sergeant’s name was listed in the data breach, which details that he is an active member of the department’s Firearms and Tactics Session.  

The sergeant acknowledged he was an NYPD officer in a phone call made by the Gothamist; and when asked whether he was the person on the list, he declined to comment on his membership status with the militia organization.

Instead, he referred the WNYC/Gothamist to the NYPD’s press office.

The information associated with the sergeant’s name hinted that the officer joined The Oath Keepers in 2014. 

The email address provided includes the term ‘nypdcop,’ and the entry lists expertise in ‘field force operations,’ ‘incident management,’ and ‘riot control agents.’

A Staten Island officer’s name is also listed in the data breach. It says he is currently assigned to NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, a unit that’s been regularly deployed to halt riots, including the ones in response to George Floyd’s murder in New York City last year.

In another phone call made by WNYC/Gothamist, a man also declined to confirm whether or not he was the officer in question. When his membership with the Oath Keepers was mentioned, the man ceased to talk before asking how his number was obtained. He then declined to answer further questions.

The local news site was able to match dozens of names that appear to go with those of current and former members of NYPD, local courts, and corrections  officers in the Big Apple and its jurisdictions, including Nassau County on Long Island, as well as Dutchess and Greene Counties in upstate New York.

The Oath Keepers was founded in 2009, the year after the election of Barack Obama. The group’s name refers to the oath of enlistment that U.S. military service members swear to ‘support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.’

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups and specializes in civil rights and public interest litigation, members of Oath Keepers are encouraged to spread conspiracy theories about voter fraud. 

The group claims that there was evidence of election fraud during the 2016 and 2020 elections as it said it encouraged its members to discreetly monitor polling sites.

‘People need to be aware of exactly what groups like the Oath Keepers believe,’ said Freddy Cruz, a research analyst at Southern Poverty Law Center. ‘This argument that they’re somehow just defending the Constitution – it’s totally bogus.’

Earlier in September, a member of the Oath Keepers in Florida, also an ex-marine, pleaded guilty to charges of obstruction and conspiracy in relation to an official proceeding and for his role in the January 6th Capitol Hill riot.

At least four other people affiliated with the militia group previously pleaded guilty to charges originating from the incident, according to Reuters. 

The data hack also contains sensitive information on Ed Keyrouze, chief of staff for the New York Guard, a state volunteer force, and civilian employee of the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs, which overlooks the state’s 20,000 men and women enrolled in the national guard and naval militia.

In the logs, the entry associated with Keyrouze refers to his ability to recruit from NY Army & Air Guard, NY State Guard & USCG [Coast Guard] Auxiliary.’

‘There are over 20 riders that work at Natl Guard HQ’s (DMNA-NY),’ the entry says. ‘Some of them are members of Combat Veterans & Patriot Guard. Will work to bring them onboard to Oath Keepers.’

In an email to WNYC/Gothamist, Keyrouze acknowledged that he signed up online for a one-year Oath Keepers membership ‘several years back,’ but claimed he was not actively involved with the organization.

‘I was never active with that group and did not renew dues,’ Keyrouze said in his email to WNYC/Gothamist. ‘Bottom line, I have no affiliation with that organization and never participated in any activities.’

‘I have brought this matter to the attention of the NY Guard Commander and explained what I stated to you above,’ he continued in the email.

The logs also mentioned names of some aspiring and current county political officials.

Ralph E Stacy, an Oswego County legislator, who is a member of the Republican Party, is named in the leaks. He said he had filled out a membership form when he was interested in joining the Oath Keepers, but had not had any interaction with them for ‘roughly a dozen years.’

‘I do not condone what happened at the Capitol building and was not involved in what occurred,’ said Stacy, who said he had interacted with anyone involved within  the organization.

He also made it clear that he had not participated in the Capitol riot. 

‘I certainly do believe in the right to peaceful assembly to protest one’s cause, https://zenwriting.net/situstogel2020/pasaran-togel-malaysia-terpercaya-di-situs-dewa4ku but I do not believe in any sort of criminal trespass or criminal activity as a means to an end.’

Thomas Zmich, a Republican candidate for Queens Borough president, whose name and contact information also appear in the data breach, said he was briefly involved with the Oath Keepers New York chapter, but stopped being a part of it after he said the chapter shutdown about three years ago.

In February, the NYPD confirmed to The New York Daily News it was investigating another officer, who was seen with Oath Keeper members hours before the January 6th attacks. 

The NYPD did not provide an update on the status of that probe. Dailymail.com has reached out to NYPD for comment.