Police chiefs, sheriffs among 3,300 Texans found on Oath Keepers membership list

A new report analyzing the membership rolls of the extremist Oath Keepers found that there are more than 3,300 Texans who have had ties to the group. And a dozen of those Texans are either elected officials or law enforcement leaders.

The Anti-Defamation League — a nonprofit organization that studies and fights bias, including anti-Semitism and other forms of extremism — released the report on Tuesday, delving into the 38,000-name membership list that was published by a journalist collective last fall. The Oath Keepers is a national extremist and militia group has made headlines for its members’ involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

The Anti-Defamation League’s analysis pinpoints the home states of those who were on the membership list, although the report notes that “an individual’s inclusion in the Oath Keeper database is not proof that they were or are still an Oath Keeper.”

The analysis identified 3,301 Oath Keeper signups from Texas. The report further identified that 58 of those signups were by people who hold some amount of power, including 33 law enforcement officers, 10 military personnel, eight elected officials and seven first-responders.

The report does not identify these 58 individuals, and a spokesperson for the Anti-Defamation League said the organization does not intend to publish that full list because it does not want “rank-and-file personnel” to be doxxed, when people’s private information is shared online for the intent of harassing them.

However, the Anti-Defamation League provided the Star-Telegram with a list of 12 Texans who hold elected offices or significant law enforcement leadership positions.

Half of those 12 are North Texans, including two police chiefs (Carl Hudman of Howe and Timothy Green of Tom Bean), two constables (John D. Shirley of Hood County and Joe Wright of Collin County), one sheriff (Jeff Lyde of Clay County) and one county commissioner (Paul Perry of Ellis County).

The Star-Telegram reached out to those named for comment. Those who responded largely distanced themselves from the Oath Keepers — although they did so to varying degrees.

Shirley, the Hood County constable, told the Star-Telegram that he resigned from the group in November 2020.

Wright, the Collin County constable, said in an email statement that when he was first a constable candidate in 2011, he thought the Oath Keepers “existed only to encourage elected officials to honor their oath of office, follow the law and to uphold the Texas and U.S. Constitution.”

“I do not agree with or support any extremist groups or individuals who take subversive actions against our government,” Wright wrote, adding that he didn’t renew his membership or directly engage with the Oath Keepers or its members.

Lyde, the Clay County sheriff, said that he is not and was never a member of the organization. He said he does recall sending the Oath Keepers about $5 more than a decade ago and receiving a sticker and a hat in return..

“I was never a ‘member’ of the Oath Keepers,” Lyde said. “I agree with their literature. I don’t agree with what they do.”

Perry, the Ellis County commissioner, said that he doesn’t recall any interaction with the Oath Keepers at all.

“I don’t recollect any association with these guys,” Perry said. “To the extent that I’m aware of their activities, I’m disturbed about allegations about them on Jan. 6. I do not support trespassing in any buildings, including government buildings.”

The two other North Texans named by the Anti-Defamation League did not immediately respond to the Star-Telegram’s requests for comment.

A number of those listed by the Anti-Defamation League had already been publicly named as having ties with the Oath Keepers, after the extremist group’s membership rolls were leaked in September 2021.

The Star-Telegram has previously reported that Shirley, the Hood County constable, was a long-time member of the Oath Keepers and made national news as a leader within the group. Rolling Stone published a story in November 2021 that heavily featured Lyde, the Clay County sheriff. And USA Today identified and spoke with Wright, the Collin County constable, in an October 2021 article.

While Texas was the state with the largest number of residents on the Oath Keepers list, according to Tuesday’s report, the group also has strong ties to North Texas. The group was founded by Granbury resident Stewart Rhodes; the group’s attorney, Kellye SoRelle, is also from Granbury.

The Star-Telegram also previously reported that two other North Texas law enforcement officers — Hood County Constable Chad Jordan and former Tarrant County Constable Clint Burgess — had ties to the Oath Keepers. Jordan and Burgess were not named by the Anti-Defamation League.

Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than a dozen North Texans have been arrested on charges related to the insurrection. Rhodes was charged with seditious conspiracy in January 2022, and SoRelle was arrested earlier this month.

In addition to the six North Texans named by the Anti-Defamation League, the organization also named six others in positions of power across the state:

• Paul Bourquin, Amarillo ISD police chief;

• Joseph Thomas Giusti, Galveston County commissioner;

• Steven Glenn, Quitman alderman;

• John Chris Hooper, Nueces County sheriff;

• Mark H. Szyman, the secretary and assistant vice president of the board of directors of the Faulkey Gully Municipal Utility District and a retired military sergeant;

• Eric Williams, Idalou police chief.

Bourquin, the Amarillo ISD police chief, said in an email to the Star-Telegram that he has “a vague recollection” of joining the organization 10-plus years ago, but said he hasn’t been affiliated with the Oath Keepers since that time.

“After receiving emails from the organization on my personal email account, I quickly came to realize that the group was not what I expected it to be, so I unsubscribed,” Bourquin wrote. “I’m saddened to learn the media are now associating me with the group and extremist views based on a website form I filled out a long time ago.”

Giusti, the Galveston County commissioner, said in an email statement to the Star-Telegram that he joined the Oath Keepers when it was a young organization.

“I joined for one year and never renewed my membership because I didn’t like the direction or the rhetoric that was coming from the membership,” Giusti wrote. “The idea of living up to my oath of office originally appealed to me however it became evident that there was an undercurrent in the group that was going in the wrong direction.”

Glenn, the Quitman alderman, told the Texas Tribune that he was with Oath Keepers members delivering post-hurricane supplies in Houston, but that he “immediately” cut ties with the members once he understood the group’s ideology.

Hooper, the Nueces County sheriff, told the Corpus Christi Caller Times last year that he hasn’t been a member of the Oath Keepers in over a decade. He stopped short of denouncing the organization, the newspaper reported.

Williams, the chief in Idalou in Lubbock County, told the Associated Press that he hasn’t been a member or had any interaction with the Oath Keepers in over 10 years. He called the storming of the Capitol “terrible in every way.”

“I pray this country finds its way back to civility and peace in discourse with one another,” he said.

Alex Friedfeld, an extremism researcher at the Anti-Defamation League, told WFAA that he believes it would be “rare” for people to mistakenly or unknowingly sign up for the Oath Keepers.

“This group, from its founding, spread extremist ideas. This doesn’t feel like a case where people just signed their names and ended up on a membership list. People on these lists paid money to this group to show support for the organization,” Friedfeld said.

This story has been updated to include comment from some of those named by the Anti-Defamation League.