Far-Right Oath Keepers in the Chicago Police Department

Oct 30, 2023

According to an investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times, the names of at least 27 current and former Chicago police officials were on leaked membership lists of the Oath Keepers.

This far-right group encourages members to “pass the word” among police and people in the military about a vast conspiracy they say they are fighting, claiming to be an organization for “people who serve.” But underneath their conspiracy theories is the same old racist garbage.

While the Oath Keepers claim to be standing up against “elites trampling Americans’ rights,” Chicago cops listed on the Oath Keeper rolls have been linked to all kinds of racist behavior. One of them trained recruits on a gun range where he reportedly made comments against Black people, Jews, Asians, and Puerto Ricans. A Black cop reported: "sometimes you would think you’re in the middle of a Klan rally." Among other racist comments and behavior, a black man who watched an Oath Keeper cop hit a fleeing black teenager with a police car said the cop called him a “f****** monkey” and a “f****** n*****."

In response to a public radio story about Oath Keepers in the Chicago Police Department in 2021, police promised to investigate. The Anti-Defamation League then sent a letter to the police leadership identifying eight Chicago cops as members of the Oath Keepers, which they call a hate group. But two years later, not one of these cops has been disciplined or removed.

It’s obvious the police and military are not about to root out the influence of groups like these. The ruling class has an interest in allowing these groups to fester, including within the police and army. They help prepare these forces to take even more violent actions against ordinary people here and in other countries whenever the capitalist class and its political servants decide what is necessary.