Several law enforcement officers in Philly suburbs held membership in the far-right Oath Keepers

At least five active law enforcement members in the Philadelphia suburbs appeared on a leaked membership list for the Oath Keepers, adding to the number of peace officers nationwide linked to the far-right militia.

The membership data came to light during a data leak last year and is at least three years old. All five — two state constables and three police officers — either denied involvement with the group or declined to comment. The Inquirer was unable to confirm whether any of the law enforcement officials were still active with the group, or the extent of their involvement.

The Oath Keepers were founded in 2009 by libertarian political operative and veteran Elmer Stewart Rhodes with the aim of recruiting current or former law enforcement, military, and first responders, emphasizing the “oath” some take to uphold the U.S. Constitution. However, the group’s leadership promotes antigovernment conspiracy theories and has come under intense scrutiny for its role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Federal authorities have accused the group’s leader of stockpiling weapons and rallying members to storm the U.S. Capitol in a seditious plot to keep President Donald Trump in office. About a dozen members of the group have been identified as Capitol rioters, and the militia’s national membership grew dramatically in the years leading up to the attack.

The group’s 2019 membership rolls were made public last year by a hacker collective known as Distributed Denial of Secrets after a data breach. According to a report released last week by the Anti-Defamation League’s Center for Extremism, which analyzed the data, the organization counts more than 38,000 members nationwide, including nearly 1,500 in Pennsylvania.

The ADL report highlighted four “elected officials” in Pennsylvania that had held Oath Keepers membership — three were constables, while one held a Tarentum Borough council seat in Allegheny County — as well as 19 other active police officers across Pennsylvania. The ADL added this disclaimer to its report: An individual’s inclusion in the Oath Keepers database is not proof that they were or are still an Oath Keeper, that they hold or held all or some Oath Keepers ideology or viewpoints, or that they ever actively participated in Oath Keepers activities.

The Inquirer obtained a copy of the list and compared it against court and other public records to determine that one person listed as a member in the Philadelphia region was Adrian P. Reast, a Republican constable from Hatfield Township, in Montgomery County. Membership records indicate Reast joined the Oath Keepers in 2013.

Reast, a former landscaper and mental health caregiver, has served as constable for nearly 25 years, according to his online resumé. A Twitter account bearing Reast’s name describes him as “dedicated to the overthrow of the evil Obama regime.”

Reast did not respond to multiple attempts for comment.

Another person listed is Roger L. Mullins, a Chalfont resident reelected last year to a constabulary position in Bucks County after first winning office in 2015.

The leaked membership records show Mullins, a Republican, joined the Oath Keepers in February 2014. Months later, he identified himself in a letter to the editor of the Bucks County Courier Times as a representative of the “Bucks County Chapter of the Oath Keepers.”

He wrote that the Oath Keepers are “a nonpartisan association of current and former military, police and first responders who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to ‘defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.’ That oath is a part of the Constitution. Oath Keepers declare they will not obey unconstitutional orders, such as orders to disarm the American people, conduct warrantless searches or detain Americans as ‘enemy combatants’ in violation of their ancient right to jury trial.”

Reached by phone this week, Mullins declined to speak for the record.

Constables, a holdover from colonial administration, are elected to six-year terms in every Pennsylvania county except Philadelphia, and there are currently about 140 constables in the city’s collar counties. They swear an oath to uphold and defend the Pennsylvania and U.S. Constitutions, provide security to polling places on Election Day, and may be contracted by the courts to serve warrants or transport prisoners.

State constables have been a source of controversy in the past, and the statutes governing their work have been criticized as opaque and contradictory. And because of their status as independent contractors, they can take side jobs offering security for private companies, often while armed and wearing their official constable uniform.

While noting that constables are independently elected at the local level, a spokesperson for Gov. Tom Wolf criticized any affiliation with the Oath Keepers.

“Pennsylvania is a commonwealth that is welcoming to all, and the Wolf Administration condemns any involvement in a hate group,” said Wolf press secretary Elizabeth Rementer.

An article by WITF.org published last fall uncovered other Pennsylvania constables and local law enforcement across the state who had also appeared in the Oath Keepers’ membership rolls, including an East Lansdowne police officer who told WITF last year that he had joined the group mistakenly. The Inquirer identified four more active law enforcement officers in the metropolitan area, including the two constables.

Reached by The Inquirer, some said they weren’t aware of the group’s antigovernment leanings when they signed up.

“I just remember realizing they seemed to have the potential to at least sound crazy with their rhetoric,” said Edward J. Batykefer, a Royersford Borough patrol officer who was listed as joining in 2014. “I wanted nothing to do with them fairly quickly. True or not, I didn’t want to be near it.”

Michael M. Savitski, a lieutenant in the Newtown Township Police Department, in Delaware County, said he was approached by members of the Oath Keepers about 10 years ago, at the Oaks Gun Show, a regional firearms exhibition in Montgomery County. The representatives asked if he would be interested in joining a group that supported veterans, Savitski said, and he provided his name, address, and contact information.

Later, Savitski researched the group and said he found the reality didn’t match what he had been told.

“When I got home, I signed onto their Facebook page, and realized they were a bunch of wackadoos,” he said. “I didn’t know what they were all about when I gave them my information, but when I realized, I didn’t want anything to do with them.”

Membership records also listed other current and former government workers in the region, from firefighters to correctional officers to military veterans, had given their information to the Oath Keepers over the last decade. Retired law enforcement officials populated the rolls as well. The Inquirer is identifying by name the public officials and those law enforcement members who could be reached for comment.

Michael R. Bailey, a recently retired police sergeant in Exeter Township, outside Reading, was listed as joining the group in 2016. Reached by The Inquirer, he said he didn’t attend meetings or events with the Oath Keepers and didn’t condone any incidents of violence.

He explained that the group’s core philosophy held a natural appeal to members of law enforcement.

”It seemed to be a patriotic organization whose membership is highly composed of military, law enforcement and other patriotic people,” Bailey said. “But I don’t condone violence. I think the best way to fix the country is at the ballot box.”