“Chicago police with extremist ties have troubling records,” the Chicago Sun-Times hyperventilates in a multi-part “Extremism in the Ranks” feature narrative. “At least 27 Chicago police officials appeared in leaked rosters for the Oath Keepers, an anti-government extremist group. At least nine are still with the department.”
OK, so what did they do?
“Officials closed a probe into Chicago cops’ ties to the Oath Keepers last year without finding any wrongdoing or even investigating most of the officers linked to the group,” Part One “Key Findings” admits. “Many of the cops on the Oath Keepers’ rolls worked in the Special Operations Section, which was disbanded amid revelations that some members committed brazen robberies and the purported ringleader plotted to murder a colleague.”
Which members? Not the Oath Keepers members or that would have been the story. And they just got done saying the internal probe came up empty. So, are we talking about guilt by association and smear by innuendo?
“Chicago police officials have said that joining the Oath Keepers does not constitute a rule violation, despite the group’s anti-government stance, history of arrests and key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot,” Part Two “Key Findings” note. “Under a proposed revision of departmental policy, cops could face discipline for recruiting members to an organization, attending an event, raising money or even engaging with a banned group’s content on social media.”
Were any of the officers in question breaching the Capitol on January 6? No, or the Sun-Times would be trumpeting that? If the object is to punish and exclude officers for belonging to a group that engages in lawless practices, and not hold them accountable based on their conduct as individuals, a recent Inspector General’s Report documenting officers filing false reports while the department turned a blind eye would disqualify every member of the force. And with the Chicago PD, we’re talking about a “tradition” that goes back to the beginning.
As an aside, it will be interesting to see if the same “standards” will be applied to officers “engaging” through support and on social media with politicians in the Chicago City Council Democratic Socialist Caucus and its “statements in favor of Palestinians following the Hamas attack.”
“Illinois paid $210,000 to settle an injury claim against the state police from Jyran Mitchell, a highly recruited college football prospect,” Part Three “Key Findings” claim. “The University of Illinois-Chicago declined to suspend or dismiss an officer for signing up for the Oath Keepers even though he violated a departmental rule against acting in any way that ‘would degrade or bring disrespect upon the employee or the Department.’”
That’s the most they’ve got, for a department that’s shelled out almost $200M of taxpayer money in recent years for “a wide range of misconduct — including false arrest and excessive force”? What, specifically did this officer do, what specifically prompted him to physically react to a citizen in that way, what did the investigation of his actions determine, and what correlation has been established between his membership in Oath Keepers and his conduct in the one cited incident a full-blown major newspaper investigation with an agenda managed to uncover?
Chicago’s not the only Illinois city where law enforcement is wrestling with an “Oath Keeper” problem. In Freeport, “Stephenson County Sheriff Steve Stovall released a statement Thursday defending Deputy Andrew Schroeder, an officer accused of being involved with the far-right group known as the Oath Keepers.”
He didn’t mean to join he didn’t know, a friend told him they were pro-military…
And Sheriff Stoval sealed the distancing with:
“I denounce the Oath Keepers and all they represent, as does Chief Deputy Andrew Schroeder.”
In Part Two, I’ll go into all that Oath Keepers — a group that got its inspiration and had its genesis after seeing government troops disarming American citizens in the wake of Hurricane Katrina — really represents. It bears no resemblance to the calculated smear job being presented in the media.
I know firsthand because I wrote their Second Amendment features for them for years (available now only via the Internet Archive, and thus very slow loading).
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
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