However with the Oath Keepers’ founder Stewart Rhodes on trial for seditious conspiracy to overthrow the federal government, native members of the group are distancing themselves from the group’s extremism. Some stated they thought it was little greater than a patriotic membership and so they turned in opposition to the group when it grew to become clear it was extremist.

“I believed it was only a fraternity of retired and discharged army dudes,” stated Kenneth Marciano, a army veteran who was residing in North Attleborough when he paid dues to the group 10 years in the past, in an e-mail. “The (expletive) they pulled on Jan 6 was disgusting. I don’t think about myself a member as I’ve by no means been energetic and actually was solely within the swag that they despatched again in 2012.”

Consultants on far-right actions say the advertising of the group as a comparatively innocuous pro-Structure group full of duty-bound first responders and veterans was a facade. On the coronary heart of the Oath Keepers, they are saying, was at all times a violent and extremist militia whose ideology had undercurrents that have been inherently racist and antisemitic. Members patrolled the positioning of the “Unite the Proper” rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, the place one counterprotester was killed and marchers chanted, “Jews is not going to substitute us.”

“The Oath Keepers are a symptom of the illness,” stated Jon Lewis, a analysis fellow for George Washington College’s program on extremism.

Lewis stated lately the group overtly leaned into white supremacist conspiracy theories, claiming that the final presidential election was stolen and that buses of immigrants had been trucked into voting locations to skew its outcomes.

“Conspiracy theories have develop into half and parcel of serious subsets of the suitable as we speak,” Lewis stated. “This can be a group that’s mobilizing militia for one president to stop switch of energy to a different.”

Marine Corps veteran Hans Hansen, who presently lives in Connecticut however beforehand resided on Cape Cod and in Boston, stated he thought the Oath Keepers have been innocuous sufficient when he joined years in the past. The Oath Keepers’ emphasis on public service and constitutional rights appeared to Hansen like an extension of the oath he signed when he joined the army. He stated it took him a few 12 months of newsletters to appreciate the group was transferring within the course of an extremist group just like the Ku Klux Klan.

However at the start, Hansen stated in a press release, “The group was very engaging to many veterans who have been trying to proceed to face up for the Structure after army service and be a part of a patriotic group of veterans.”

Federal prosecutors contend that the founding father of the Oath Keepers and 4 associates deliberate an “armed insurrection” to maintain former president Donald Trump in energy after he misplaced the 2020 election.

Inside days of Trump’s defeat, Rhodes and different Oath Keepers officers mentioned bringing weapons to a “Cease the Steal” rally that might finally be held in Washington on Jan. 6, urging members to “struggle” on behalf of Trump. One member who was on the decision testified final week, “The extra I listened to the decision, it gave the impression of we have been going to conflict in opposition to the USA authorities.”

Final month, the Anti-Defamation League Heart on Extremism pored over greater than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists nationwide and recognized greater than 370 folks it believes presently work in regulation enforcement businesses — together with as police chiefs and sheriffs — and greater than 100 people who find themselves presently members of the army.

However the ADL didn’t publicly launch the total roster of names on the group’s rolls. That listing was supplied to the Globe by DDoSecrets, providing a glimpse of the people who find themselves drawn to far-right extremism. The Oath Keepers discovered members in all corners of Massachusetts, from the Berkshires to the Cape and Islands. Addresses from cities, suburbs, and rural areas all appeared on the listing.

When folks signed up, together with addresses and phone info, some provided what they might do to assist the group. A number of state residents stated they might educate CPR; many self-identified as army veterans, who generally said how lengthy they served or what their specialties have been. The rhetoric was at occasions revolutionary, at others apocalyptic.

A Stow man stated he “took an oath and it’s being walked on by the present so-called commander-in-chief.” A Hudson girl provided, “I don’t want my grandchildren to be slaves of the (New World Order) and tyranny.”

The Globe reached out for remark to all of the Oath Keepers in Massachusetts who supplied their e-mail addresses to the group.

To make sure, there are limitations to what will be drawn from the listing of Massachusetts names.

Sam Jackson, a professor on the College at Albany who focuses on far-right extremism, thought the rolls within the current knowledge dump truly replicate an undercount of the group’s members.

“It’s solely telling us. . . a small a part of the story,” he stated.

On the identical time, some members might have executed little greater than make a small donation or join a publication. Some claimed they’d by no means attended a gathering nor did they work together with different members.

Many on the Massachusetts listing, when contacted by the Globe, distanced themselves from the Oath Keepers.

Sean Brady, an Military veteran from Hanson who as soon as launched a long-shot bid for US Senate, instructed the Globe that when he despatched the group a donation in 2009, “it was not about overthrowing our democratic republic, I ended sending them cash shortly after I realized extra about their agenda and I actually didn’t even notice that I used to be nonetheless within the system.” He has not had any contact with the group in 13 years, he stated.

Talking usually, Jackson, who has written a ebook on the group, stated folks needs to be skeptical of claims that Oath Keepers didn’t know what they have been signing up for.

“I can’t think about myself giving $40 to a company to develop into a member with out doing just a little little bit of due diligence,” he stated.

However some Oath Keepers in Massachusetts made no try and distance themselves and doubled down on the anti-government rhetoric. Richard Selfridge, in an e-mail, stated that each state and federal authorities are “completely uncontrolled” and are ignoring the ideas of the Structure.

“States are ignoring their obligation to cancel unconstitutional legal guidelines and bow right down to the federal authorities to clutch the largess in handouts that’s our personal {dollars},” stated Selfridge, who recognized himself to the Oath Keepers as a retired airline pilot from Townsend. “Nothing the Federal authorities is doing is even remotely authorized and borders on outright Treason.”

The Massachusetts listing consists of a number of folks in regulation enforcement, together with Scott Hartzler, who left the Falmouth police in 2014 after alleged misconduct. One other particular person on the rolls, John Ouellette, was a Braintree patrolman till he retired in 2020, in keeping with the division.

The listing additionally included David Bonaparte, a former Raynham detective who was as soon as hailed as a hero for his function within the investigation of the 1978 kidnap-murder of Mary Lou Arruda. He’s now retired from Raynham police. Additionally within the Oath Keepers’ listing was Joseph R. LaFlower, who retired as a sergeant within the Warren Police Division in 2018 after greater than three many years on the drive.

As well as, no less than two Massachusetts politicians signed up. Ron Beaty, a Republican candidate for Barnstable County Commissioner, stated in a press release that in 2014 he made a small donation to the group as a result of he understood it to be “particular person American Patriots swearing allegiance to the USA Structure.”

“I had no concept, at the moment, that there might presumably have been some extremist components throughout the group,” Beaty stated.

The second Massachusetts politician, David Sanders, who’s an elected member of the Wilbraham Republican City Committee, stated in a Fb put up he had not been energetic within the group for a decade.

Sarah Ryley and Jeremiah Manion of Globe workers contributed to this report. Materials from the Related Press was additionally included.

Danny McDonald will be reached at daniel.mcdonald@globe.com. Observe him on Twitter @Danny__McDonald.