NC lawmaker on Oath Keepers roster says it's none of the public's business

A North Carolina state lawmaker appears on the membership roster of the Oath Keepers, a far-right paramilitary organization that played a prominent role in the Jan. 6 assault on the US Capitol.

Rep. Keith Kidwell, who serves on the Republican leadership team as a deputy whip in the NC House, is among some 38,000 people whose names appear on a membership roster leaked to the media after a hacker reportedly breached the Oath Keepers data. The entry for Kidwell includes a notation for “annual” and a date in 2012, suggesting he made at least one donation to the organization. Other names on the roster are coded “life” and “liberty tree,” suggesting more robust levels of financial support. Kidwell was first elected to the NC House in 2018, representing rural Beaufort and Craven counties near the North Carolina coast.

Reached by phone at a number included in the Oath Keepers data, Kidwell declined to comment.

“I am not going to exacerbate a theft of data from any organization,” he said. “I’m going to refuse comment since the information was ill-gotten. That is just protection of people’s rights.”

The data breach has also uncovered participation in the Oath Keepers by a southern California sheriff and the chief of staff for the New York Guard, a state volunteer force that augments the New York National Guard. Based on reporting by WNYC/Gothamist, the office of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio opened an investigation into three members of the New York Police Department whose names appeared on the roster. WNYC/Gothamist reported that it was able to identify dozens of current and former police, court and corrections officers in the New York City area, although the news outlet did not name the officers. The breach also disclosed the identity of an Oath Keeper member who is running for New York City Council.

Read more: https://triad-city-beat.com/nc-lawmaker-on-oath-keepers-roster-says-its-none-of-the-publics-business/