Fort Worth-area law officers’ emails show past ties to paranoid Oath Keepers militia
Emails show at least three current or past county constables in the Fort Worth area have ties to the Oath Keepers, the revolution-minded, conspiracy-bent militia that called for “bloody civil war” before a unit took part in the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol:
▪ In 2009, when the Oath Keepers were new but already calling for insurrection, Hood County Constable Chad Jordan of Granbury circulated an email about the group to other agencies, including 20 Fort Worth police officers or Hood County Sheriff’s deputies.
Jordan’s comment: “All should join.”
▪ Current Hood County Constable John Shirley of Pecan Plantation, a 12-year national Oath Keepers officer, has attracted local and national news coverage as the group’s chief law enforcement recruiter, showing Hood County’s warped turn toward paranoia and the QAnon fantasy and against civil authority.
▪ In February 2013, two months after the re-election of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, then-Tarrant County Constable Clint Burgess of Mansfield addressed an Oath Keepers DFW rally in Arlington, according to an email event announcement.
Jordan, Shirley and Burgess did not respond to multiple messages. A spokeswoman for Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn confirmed that Burgess works for the sheriff’s office but declined to say in what position. She accepted messages to pass to his supervisor.
The emails were obtained under Texas’ open-records law.
The host of that Arlington rally, Wade Turner, called it “embarrassing.”
“We thought [Oath Keepers] was something for veterans,” said Turner, a Dallas security executive who was then commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post that unwittingly agreed to the rally.
A national Oath Keepers official based in Dallas organized the event, he said.
“As soon as they got there, it was clear right away they were more extreme,” Turner said.
With Burgess, then-state Rep. Bill Zedler and then-Justice of the Peace Matt Hayes of Mansfield scheduled to speak, Dallas pastor Stephen Broden opened the event with a prayer that was “this long, angry rant of wild conspiracy theories,” Turner said.
“It was so bizarre.”
Broden, a former Republican candidate for Congress, said in a 2010 interview that violent insurrection is “on the table” to overthrow the federal government “by any means necessary.”
(Broden is now an executive committeeman and Republican Party of Texas state official.)
Turner did not recall the remarks made by Burgess, Hayes or Zedler. The event was muted due to the death of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle days earlier, Turner said.
Then and now, the Oath Keepers sold $50-a-year memberships to law officers and veterans by promoting the group’s support for gun rights and the Second Amendment and opposition to the United Nations and a supposed “New World Order” conspiracy, including a veiled anti-Semitic distrust of “elites” such as Mike Bloomberg or George Soros.
Lately, the group’s message has included support for the QAnon conspiracy fantasy and opposition to “red flag” gun laws that allow law enforcement to take guns away from violent domestic abusers.
But behind the veneer of conservative politics, the Oath Keepers have always warned of violent revolution.
Last year, when former President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter that removing him from office would “cause a Civil War like fracture,” the Oath Keepers responded: “This is the truth. This is where we are. We ARE on the verge of a HOT civil war. Like in 1859.”
Before the Jan. 6 attack, Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes wrote a website message urging members to march on the Capitol and “defeat the Deep State coup .... Stand now, or kneel forever. ... Prepare your mind, body and spirit for battle,”
Three Oath Keepers, one from Virginia and two from Ohio, are facing charges in connection with the violent attack.
According to federal prosecutors, one criticized Rhodes on social media before the attack, writing that “Stewie” hadn’t done enough and “It’s a little friggin late. This is one we are doing on our own.”
Federal prosecutors said the three were involved in an attack, plotted days ahead, in which Oath Keepers would “arrest” lawmakers for “election fraud.”
Larry Brock Jr. of Grapevine, an Air Force veteran facing federal charges in connection with the U.S. Capitol attack, used the tag “#Oathkeeper” on a Facebook comment saying America is “now under occupation by a hostile governing force,” according to documents released by federal prosecutors.
One of Brock’s close relatives has lived in Pecan Plantation.
Turner, the host of the Arlington rally, said that VFW members were “appalled” at the Oath Keepers.
“I can’t believe they’d ever get veterans involved,” he said. “From what I’ve seen, veterans are too smart for that. Veterans have a very good understanding of our Constitution and a respect for it.”
And for our elections.
This story was originally published January 23, 2021 at 4:10 PM.
