Licking County official, Ohio law enforcement officers on Oath Keepers membership lists

Leaked membership rolls of the far-right Oath Keepers militia reveal the names of more than a dozen Ohio law enforcement officers as well as a Licking County commissioner, according to a report released Wednesday.

In the report, the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism identified 17 people from the membership lists who it believes are currently working in Ohio law enforcement agencies, in addition to two people who are serving in the military from the Buckeye State.

While those individuals were not publicly identified by name, Jake Hyman, a spokesperson for the ADL, did provide the name of one elected official whose name appeared on the rolls: Duane Flowers, a commissioner in Licking County.

Flowers told The Dispatch Wednesday afternoon that he’s never been a member of the Oath Keepers, never paid dues to the group and isn’t sure how his name came to be included on their membership list.

“My name may be on that list, but as far as I know, I can’t remember (receiving) any type of documentation or literature from that group,”Flowers said.

In a brief phone interview, Flowers speculated that he may have inadvertently signed up for the militia group after taking a concealed carry class in 2009 or 2010. After taking the class, Flowers said he received literature from other groups that mistook him for being a member.

“Maybe they were promoting that organization back then,” Flowers said of the Oath Keepers, who played a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. “I totally despise what took place in D.C. I do believe that as elected officials, we need to keep our oath, but sometimes these groups or organizations just get carried away.”

Flowers was first elected to the Licking County Board of Commissioners in 2012. Prior to his time as commissioner, Flowers served as mayor of Hanover for 12 years.

Leading up to the 2016 presidential election, Flowers expressed his dislike for then-candidate Hillary Clinton by saying the former secretary of state, senator and first lady should "be hanging from a tree." Flowers later expressed regret for the comment, but remained steadfast in his belief that Clinton should have been in prison and not a presidential candidate.

Oath Keepers: How did ADL get the leaked membership lists?

The ADL compiled its report by combing through 38,000 names on Oath Keepers membership lists that were first published in September 2021 by the journalism collective Distributed Denial of Secrets.

Just because someone appears in the Oath Keepers' database does not prove they were an active member of the group or share its ideology. Some people on the list contacted by The Associated Press said they briefly were members years ago and are no longer affiliated with the group. Some said they never paid dues.

“Their views are far too extreme for me,” Shawn Mobley, sheriff of Otero County, Colorado, told the AP in an email. Mobley told the AP he distanced himself from the Oath Keepers years ago over concerns about its involvement in the standoff against the federal government at Bundy Ranch in Nevada, among other things.

Who are the Oath Keepers?

The Oath Keepers, as described by the ADL, was founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes and is a large but loosely organized collection of right-wing, antigovernment extremists who are part of the militia movement, which believes that the federal government has been coopted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights.

What sets the Oath Keepers apart from other extremists is their focus on recruiting current and former military, law enforcement and first responder personnel, according to the ADL.

Hyman declined to provide the names of the law enforcement officers or military personnel from Ohio who appeared on the list, saying the intent of the report is not to '"unmask' or 'dox' rank-and-file personnel."

"ADL has been in contact with each law enforcement agency affected by our report, and we continue to work with them in addressing the challenges of extremism within their ranks," Hyman said.

The ADL's research found that the diffuse group, however, did not just draw supporters from the professions it explicitly targeted.

"Among the many professions held by list members are religious figures, teachers, civil engineers and government employees," the report reads. "Some individuals reported holding top secret clearances or had jobs that gave them access to critical infrastructure such as nuclear facilities."

More than two dozen people associated with the group — including Rhodes — have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Rhodes and four other Oath Keeper members or associates are heading to trial this month on seditious conspiracy charges for what prosecutors have described as a weekslong plot to keep then-President Donald Trump in power. Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers say that they are innocent and that there was no plan to attack the Capitol.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Monroe Trombly covers breaking and trending news.

mtrombly@dispatch.com

@MonroeTrombly

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Oath Keepers: Ohio county official on leaked membership lists