Beaty confirms donation to 'Oath Keepers,' denies knowing about group's 'extremist elements'

Ron Beaty issued a statement Monday confirming that he made a donation to the Oath Keepers in 2014, though he denied further involvement and knowledge of the group’s “extremist elements.”

“In 2014, I made a small donation to the group known as THE OATH KEEPERS because I understood the organization to be individual American Patriots swearing allegiance to the United States Constitution,” Beaty wrote in an emailed statement on Monday.

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“Since I believed that to be a good and honorable thing to do, I contributed on that one occasion in 2014 to that organization because I saw it as ‘good works,’” he added. “I had no idea, at that time, that there may possibly have been some extremist elements within the group.”

Beaty said that after he donated to the Oath Keepers, he “had no further involvement with the group.”

“I never participated in any group meetings or other organization activities in any way, shape or form,” he said in the statement.

Beaty, who is running as a Republican to regain a seat on the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners, was identified by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) earlier this month as being on a leaked Oath Keepers membership list. The ADL matched Beaty’s name, phone number and email address to the membership list, according to spokesperson Jake Hyman.

ADL found police, military, politicians on leaked Oath Keepers data

The ADL, an organization that combats antisemitism, hate and extremism, sifted through more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists and identified more than 370 people it believes currently work in law enforcement agencies, including as police chiefs and sheriffs, more than 100 people who are currently members of the military, and more than 80 people who were running for or served in public office as of early August — including Beaty.

The ADL noted in its Sept. 6 announcement of the leaked membership that “some individuals in the Oath Keepers database may have initially joined because they were sold a watered-down version of the group, and some may have disavowed the group since signing up.”

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“That said, the range of individuals represented in the Oath Keepers leak shows the extent to which this extremist ideology has gained acceptance,” the announcement read. “Even for those who claimed to have left the organization when it began to employ more aggressive tactics in 2014, it is important to remember that the Oath Keepers have espoused extremism since their founding, and this fact was not enough to deter these individuals from signing up.”

In April 2014, Reuters reported that members of the Oath Keepers were involved in the standoff in Nevada between Cliven Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management over grazing rights and fees. The government officials on site backed down due to the number of armed groups who responded to the area to support Bundy, including the Oath Keepers, Reuters reported.

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Beaty said in his Monday statement that all elected public officials “are supposed to be ‘oath keepers,’ in that they are required to take an oath of office to support and defend the United States Constitution, instead of being oath breakers.”

“Moreover, how sad it is that in this day and age, people feel so violated that they need to have an organization with that exact name, Oath Keepers!” he said.

Beaty did not respond to an email asking if he would answer further questions about his involvement with the group, which claims to defend the U.S. Constitution and fight tyranny.

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The Oath Keepers — which first met as a group on Patriot’s Day at Lexington Green in Massachusetts in 2009 — have focused recruitment efforts on members of the military, law enforcement and other public safety positions, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The group’s tactics have become confrontational, and members have participated in multiple armed standoffs against the government, including at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

At least 20 members of the Oath Keepers have been charged with taking part in the insurrection, which left five people dead and several Capitol police officers injured. The group’s leader, Stewart Rhodes, is charged with seditious conspiracy for his role in the Capitol attack. His trial is scheduled for later this month.

Contact Jeannette Hinkle at jhinkle@capecodonline.com.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Beaty claims ignorance of Oath Keepers 'extremist elements,' donated