The far-right Oath Keepers who call New Jersey home

The Oath Keepers were instrumental in the January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. They’ve made armed appearances at protests and propagated violent anti-government views for more than a decade. They’re currently a focus of the U.S. House’s January 6 committee, which held a new set of hearings just today.

And at least 550 of them live in New Jersey.

That’s according to data gathered by the journalist collective Distributed Denial of Secrets, which in September 2021 downloaded information for more than 38,000 alleged members of the Oath Keepers. The data include members’ names, home addresses, and in some cases a small amount of biographical detail.

As noted by the Anti-Defamation League, not everyone on the list is necessarily an active member of the organization, and some parts of the list have not been fully confirmed. Still, it provides a window into New Jersey’s far-right world, as national politicians and investigators reckon with the aftermath of January 6th.

The goal of the Oath Keepers is purportedly to protect America and the U.S. Constitution from a “shadow conspiracy” that has overtaken the federal government, according to the FBI. Founded in 2009, the group has become among the most prominent anti-government and paramilitary organizations in the country, especially after many of its members participated in the storming of the Capitol.

Included among the 550 alleged dues-paying Oath Keepers in New Jersey are a trio of semi-prominent political names: Ed Durfee, who ran for the State Assembly in the 37th district as a Republican last year; Peter Rohrman, the 2017 Libertarian Party nominee for governor; and King Penna, who managed Hirsh Singh’s failed 2021 gubernatorial campaign. (Bill Hayden, a candidate for Sussex County Commissioner whom Rep. Josh Gottheimer accused of being an Oath Keeper in 2020, is not listed.)

But the vast majority of the names on the list are unknowns – retirees, military veterans, businesspeople, and others who chose to involve themselves in a dangerous and allegedly seditious organization.

As is to be expected given the group’s right-wing ideology, Oath Keepers are more common in New Jersey’s Republican-leaning counties, and most members are themselves registered Republicans.

61 Oath Keepers listed an address in strongly Republican Ocean County, the largest total anywhere in the state; another 52 live in red-leaning Monmouth County and 49 live in modestly Democratic Bergen County.

Those are also three of the most populous counties in the state, however, so looking at the number of Oath Keepers as a percentage of a county’s population is more instructive. By that measure, Sussex County has the highest proportion of Oath Keepers at 0.02%, followed by Cape May and Warren Counties at .018% and .013%, respectively.

Sussex County in particular has long been a hotbed of anti-government activism, and many of the county’s politicians are among the most conservative in the state, so it’s not surprising that it’s home to a disproportionate number of Oath Keepers.

New Jersey’s more urban counties, on the other hand, have the lowest proportional number of members. Essex, Hudson, and Union Counties are all tied for last at approximately 0.002%, one-tenth the rate of Sussex County.

The town with the most Oath Keepers is, unexpectedly, Mercer County’s Hamilton Township, a large and Democratic-leaning suburb of Trenton that has 12 listed members. Close behind at 10 apiece are Middletown and Toms River, both solidly Republican towns.

“Of our 92,000 residents, the vast majority are residents who look out for their neighbor and reside here as it is a peaceful place to live and raise a family,” Hamilton Mayor Jeff Martin said in response to the data. “However, any person or group who condones or participates in threats or actual incidents of intimidation or violence are not representative of our great Hamilton community and are not welcomed here.”

One of those Hamilton residents is Christopher Rupp, the director of public works in next-door Robbinsville. Rupp told the New Jersey Globe that his involvement in the Oath Keepers has been minimal, something that may be true for a number of others whose names are on the list.

“Over five years ago, I purchased an Oath Keepers tee shirt and a couple of bumper stickers,” he said. “That has been the extent of my involvement in that group. I love my country, I love my job, and I work very hard every day on behalf of all the residents of Robbinsville. I would never do anything to harm my country.”

Most of the state’s densest and most diverse cities, meanwhile, are significantly underrepresented. Newark has only three alleged Oath Keepers despite being the state’s largest city, and several cities like Trenton and Camden don’t have a single listed member within their borders.

As for the demographics of the Oath Keepers themselves, only a limited amount of information is available, but some conclusions can be drawn based on their names.

The vast majority of New Jersey’s alleged Oath Keepers appear to be men, which is consistent with studies showing men are more likely to be involved in far-right groups and were much more prevalent at the January 6 Capitol attack. There are still a few women listed as members, many of whom appear to be married or related to male members.

Based on surnames and geographic location, it also seems that the Oath Keepers are largely white. Names are, of course, not a perfect indicator of race for a variety of reasons, but a large number of those listed are white ethnic surnames that would be unusual for people of color.

That’s seemingly true even in towns that are majority-minority. For example, Dover is majority Hispanic, Edison is majority Asian, and Fort Lee is plurality Asian, and yet none of the Oath Keepers living in each town have Hispanic or Asian surnames.

Though most alleged Oath Keepers on the list didn’t provide their profession, the few who did disproportionality mentioned military or police experience, including three members who put their residence as the Joint Air Force Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The organization was founded by an Army veteran, Stewart Rhodes, and has long drawn members from the armed forces and law enforcement.

Ultimately, 550 confirmed members out of a statewide population of 9.3 million isn’t a lot. The Oath Keepers and other far-right groups like the Proud Boys represent a drastic minority of the population, in New Jersey and elsewhere – but as January 6th showed, even a small subsection of the population can have an alarmingly large impact.