An officer in the Laramie Police Department (LPD) was registered as a member of the far-right extremist group the Oath Keepers according to membership data leaked by the non-profit journalist collective Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets) in September 2021.
In February 2022 the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) notified the LPD that one of their officers’ names was in the membership data and it was only recently that the LPD was able to confirm the membership status of the officer after handling the situation internally.
The Oath Keepers is one of the largest far-right anti-government groups in the U.S. whose members claim to be defending the Constitution as they believe that the federal government has been co-opted by a “shadowy conspiracy” that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights.
The group focuses on recruiting individuals with a military or law enforcement background because they have skills such as proficiency in firing weapons, building explosive devices, and conducting surveillance.
Notably, several members of the Oath Keepers have been charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
According to a copy of the leaked data, the LPD officer obtained a lifetime membership with the Oath Keepers likely in 2016 even though LPD General Order, ADM 14, states explicitly that no personnel can become a member of a group that advocates violence or seeks to alter the form of government by unconstitutional means.
“Members of the LPD are people who have the right to take our lives and who have the discretion to use deadly force against us,” Mackenzie Armijo, a senior and President of the Criminal Justice Club, said.
“And unless there’s a data leak like what happened with the Oath Keepers, we don’t know their implicit and personal views and that is scary.”
The LPD has said that the officer who appeared in the leaked data has revoked their membership to the Oath Keepers but there are those who do not believe this is enough.
“I think if you’re going to be a police officer you sign away the right to be a part of those groups,” Armijo said. “If you are found to be a part of those groups, then it’s zero tolerance and you’re immediately terminated.”
“Personally I’d push for letting them go because revoking the membership is really just a band-aid solution,” Grant Dillivan, a junior double majoring in Criminal Justice and Psychology, said. “It has been made very clear that the political beliefs of groups like the Oath Keepers can get in the way of the job and duties police officers have been tasked with.”
The LPD has released very little information about the officer and how they are handling the situation.
“If they’re not being very transparent, if they’re keeping it very private that just enforces a police subculture of privacy and secrecy,” Dillivan said. “And that really doesn’t build trust between the police and the community which is vital for them to do their job successfully.”
The LPD has not said whether disciplinary action will be taken and stated that this incident is being investigated as a personnel matter.
Miss Armijo must not be paying much attention in her Criminal Justice classes. Profession doesn’t prevent someone from being a member of any group. Making this officer renounce his membership shows an absolute absence of leadership on LPD’s part. Should back their officer next time.
This is ridiculous. If the police force takes any action against the officer in question it would be a blatant violation of his first amendment right to associate with any political group he wants, so long as he doesn’t take any illegal actions.