God - Guns - Grift this is what the Oath Keepers recent activity shows...
God - Guns - Grift this is what the Oath Keepers recent activity shows...
If you are fundraising by fraudulently telling donors that “there’s a deep State” and that some of your members were unlawfully charged for beating the ___ out of Law Enforcement - is that wire fraud?
Earlier this week I published some of my preliminary research concerning the Tax Exempt Status of a few Oath Keepers entities and discovered that Oath Keepers United is registered to a “registered child sex offender” that’s actually not up for argument because of the factual evidence I provided. Via the Virginia State Police Sexual Offender registry and the Criminal Court filings from Liberty County, GA criminal case.
Constable John D. Shirley
Mr Shirley had a long and unapologetic history of not only recruiting Oath Keepers, Texas Chapter but is “all in” for the Oath Keepers - https://www.co.hood.tx.us/627/About-Your-Constable (archived here) and sure that biography seems relatively non-controversial. Yet reading his biography in a vacuum, candidly could be a reckless error. On February 22, 2020 HoodCountyToday, published the following:
Submission: Oath Keepers Emerge In Hood by Nate Criswell
Constable John Shirley is leading the efforts for now and plans to step back once the chapter is up and running in the Spring of 2020. Shirley says Hood County Oath Keepers will identify weak spots in how officials adhere to the Constitution and watch for those that break their oath. Oath Keepers have vowed not to obey 10 orders listed on their website…
….Annual membership starts at $50/year and the funds go towards growing the organization and responding to situations. Shirley says, “We don’t care if you’re a card-carrying member. We care that you adhere to your oath.”
Subsequently thereafter on February 24, 2020 Constable John D. Shirley submitted a lengthy article for HoodCountyToday.com, which was entitled;
Submission: Oath Keepers: An Insider’s Perspective by John Shirley
“…I’ve been a member of Oath Keepers for over a decade and have held multiple leadership positions at both the State and National levels, and in that time I’ve seen the multiple waves of attacks by the media and progressive NGOs (such as the SPLC).
Shirley closes his article with the following
Put simply, “If you think you have a problem with the Oath Keepers, what you actually have a problem with is the U.S. Constitution
Constable Shirley’s August 2020 Facebook post concerning Black Lives Matter and Antifa, archived post found here.And lastly to show you just how closely linked John Shirley is to Stewart Rhodes and more broadly the Oath Keepers, I now present to you the Nevada State Corporation Commission Reports for:
Mr Shirley isn’t just a “regular Oath Keeper member” pursuant to the State of Nevada State Corporation Commission filings;
OATH KEEPERS Active 10/22/2009- Domestic Nonprofit Corporation
OATH KEEPERS EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC. Active 07/08/2019 - Domestic Nonprofit Corporation
Shirley serves as both a Director and Treasurer for both of the aforementioned Oath Keepers entities
The GRIFT of ALL Grifts:
By now the Oath Keepers are effectively “persona non grata“ from most mainstream platforms, especially e-commerce platforms. Yet some how the Oath Keepers have wrapped themselves in the Bible. Hence the moniker Guns - Bible - Grift …On the Oath Keeper’s main landing page - viewers (archived) are met with this message
“…let us know if you want to be an annual member ($50.00 per year), or a lifetime member (on sale for $1,000.00 for an individual or $1,500.00 for a couple). Please also include your DD214 if applicable…”
Setting aside the felonious nature of the aforementioned subsection, mathematically it doesn’t seem “like a deal” - What exactly does a “lifetime” membership buy you? And comparing the annual membership fee of just $50 it seems like spending $1,000 or a super discounted “couples” lifetime membership for the “low- low- price…limited time offer” of $1,500 seems steep. Again what does this lifetime membership get you? I mean does this mean Stewart Rhodes will call you once a month to prognosticate about “the deep state” and “armed commies”
Earlier this week, the Oath Keepers launched via GiveSendGo which markets itself as the “# 1 free Christian CrowdFunding Site” - this fundraising campaign was archived on March 15, 2021 at 13:21:58 UTC - I went ahead and re-archived it earlier this afternoon, found here - in short this grift has garnered >$3,800 from sixty plus donors.
Please donate to help them in their legal battles against those who are persecuting their members and to fight back against the defamation and libel they are being subjected to.
By doing so, you are helping to save our Republic.
It is CRITICAL that all who love this nation and our freedom step up and support those who are on the front lines, standiong up to the communistts in the streets and in the courts.”
Setting aside the “anonymous” donors but some individuals used their real name. And then publicly posted comments about the FBI and more broadly our justice system is - in a word - alarming. But I suppose “muuah free speech” Because some of the donors actually believe what they wrote and that’s just down right terrifying
Now as to the other Oath Keepers “tax exempt” entities because there are some interesting facts that emerge once you take the time to find and later connect the dots.
Indiana Oath Keepers Inc (INOK)
EIN: 82-1498838
| Westfield, IN - IRS December 19, 2017 final determination letter
What I find peculiar is INOK properly filed their 990’s (albeit a 990-N which is the postcard because they accumulated less than $50,000.00 annum) —however do you notice what’s missing? Where is their 2018 filing? There is zero annotation in the IRS database that INOK requested an extension to file their 2018 Form 990-N aka e-postcard - so I’ll ask again, where is their 2018 filing?
Form 990-N (e-Postcard)
“Organizations who have filed a Form 990-N (
e-Postcard) annual electronic notice. Most small organizations that receive less than $50,000 fall into this category”Filing Due Date
Form 990-N is due every yearby the 15th day of the 5th month after the close of your tax year. You cannot file the e-Postcard until after your tax year ends.
Example: If your tax year ended on December 31, the e-Postcard is due May 15 of the following year. If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday, the due date is the next business day.
Indiana State Corporation Commission filings
As previously explained each State has a State Corporation Commission, accordingly finding a Corporation’s Articles of Incorporation is relatively easy. Indiana State Corporation Commission (IN-SCC) - For Example - Indiana Oath Keepers - the complete IN-SCC filing for INOK
- because the January 31, 2021 “change in Officer” caught my attention- for obvious reasons. (see footnotes for embedded hyper links)
Oath Keepers Educational Foundation (OKEF)
EIN: 84-2251543 | West Monroe, LA
This particular Tax Exempt Organization presents a bit of a quagmire because it is largely dormant. The Louisiana State Corporation Commission
has zero record of this “tax exempt” Organization. Moreover the IRS has very limited information about OKEF, which is why I drilled down on the Nevada’s State Corporation Commission
Oath Keepers Of Josephine County
EIN: 47-1861201 | Grants Pass, OR - revoked by the IRS in 2017 and there’s literally minimal information on this particularly chapter of Oath Keepers. The auto-revocation is undoubtedly due to the Organization’s failure to file their annual Form-990-n and/or e-postcard
Pennsylvania Oath Keepers (PAOK)
EIN: 47-5334459 | Lake City, PA - April 25, 2019 IRS-Determination Letter - what is somewhat vexing is the IRS’ 2019 letter but the PAOK filed a Form-990-n for 2016 thru 2020, respectively
Southern Nevada Oath Keepers
EIN: 47-3340265 | Henderson, NV - Based on the aforementioned Nevada SCC filings. Because the IRS designated this as an Auto-Revocation (similar to Josephine Co) that is an automatic process meaning the Oath Keepers failed to file a IRS Form-990-n and/or e-postcard.
Summary
It is clear that the Oath Keepers are an “organization” - one might even argue “an enterprise” but the quagmire is E. Stewart Rhodes appears to be utilizing a UPS Store as it’s current Texas mailing Location - where it’s accepting funds.
… but his “main” Oath Keepers Organization is (and was originally) incorporated in Nevada circa 2009. Thereafter in 2019 Oath Keepers Educational Foundation, Inc also incorporated in Nevada. Which essentially abandoned their Louisiana entity. Again I think the web of various entities and the checkered IRS filings coupled with the various SCC filings;
how are they raising money?
Who’s paying the salaries of Rhodes et al?
Who’s paying the travel and accommodation cost for Rhodes et al?
The “new” grift explicitly carves out “legal cost” did Rhodes receive a target letter?
For now those are my questions. Frankly I think these are reasonable questions that deserve a factually based answer. At any rate I’m taking the next few days off from writing and researching. because I kind of need a break - Filey
IRS Tax Exempt Database - last visited March 16, 2021 https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/
IRS Tax Exempt 990-N e-postcard, last visited March 17, 2021 https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/annual-electronic-filing-requirement-for-small-exempt-organizations-form-990-n-e-postcard
IRS Tax Exempt FAQ regarding Form 990-n e-postcard, last visited March 16, 2021 Annual Electronic Notice (Form 990-N): Frequently Asked Questions and Answers - https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/annual-electronic-notice-form-990-n-frequently-asked-questions-and-answers
05/11/2017 Articles of Incorporation, 02/12/2018 Change of Officer, 05/13/2018 Change of Officer, 04/03/2019 Business Entity Report, 09/02/2020 Change of Principal Address, 09/02/2020 Change of Officer and most recently 01/31/2021 Change of Officer
Louisiana State Corporation Commission- last visited March 17, 2021 https://coraweb.sos.la.gov/commercialsearch/CommercialSearch.aspx
Nevada State Corporation Commission - Oath Keepers Educational Foundation- last visited March 16, 2021 - https://esos.nv.gov/EntitySearch/OnlineEntitySearch
Fascinating. It's always about following the money, and it's clear the grift is and has been ongoing.
Have a wonderful, relaxing, research-free weekend.