By Hatewatch Staff
With Donald Trump
doubling down on claims of a “rigged” election, the Oath Keepers is
calling all members to rush to the polls and monitor for voter fraud.
Stewart Rhodes,
Oath Keeper founder and president, announced “Operation Sabot 2016”
yesterday on the group’s website. Rhodes, whose organization recruits
from the military, law enforcement and emergency first responders,
boasts “significant capabilities” to conduct covert intelligence
operations to ensure the election is not “stolen” from the American
people.
“[W]e call on you to form up incognito intelligence gathering and
crime spotting teams,” Rhodes instructed. “And go out into public on
election day, dressed to blend in with the public … with video, still
camera, and notepad in hand, to look for and document suspected criminal
vote fraud or intimidation activities.”
Rhodes did not specify where the Oath Keepers has enough members to monitor polls, but for nearly three years, he has actively mobilized extremists nationwide to respond in a moment’s notice. His call to action, at the end of a campaign season that has seen violence (here, here and here) is a cause for concern.
While the Oath Keepers claims to be non-partisan, Rhodes admits his
fears that election tampering – if it comes at all – will come from the
Left.
“[W]e are, indeed, most concerned about expected attempts at voter
fraud by leftists,” Rhodes says before widening his scope to include all
voters. “But we will spot, document, and report any apparent attempt at vote fraud or voter intimidation … as is our duty.”
The Oath Keepers are well known for showing up heavily armed
in instances of social crisis. Staking out polling stations to thwart
voter intimidation is likely to cause more problems than it solves,
especially given the group’s own history
of frightening locals. Coming at a time of increasing racial tensions,
likely armed, mostly white men secretly patrolling voting stations
looking for “suspicious” activity is incredibly worrisome.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Southern Poverty Law Center
No comments:
Post a Comment