Ferndale, WA Police officer on leave after allegedly contacting far-right extremist group

[Nevilledog]

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Ken Bensinger
@kenbensinger
A police officer in Ferndale, WA, has been put on leave following our report that he wrote to the Oath Keepers seeking info about the group less than a month after Jan 6 and stating he was "not looking to be on some Liberal hit list."

Ferndale Police officer on leave after allegedly contacting far-right extremist group | 790 KGMI
Ferndale hasn't identified the police officer who's been suspended, but Buzzfeed reports that officer Scott Langton identified himself in an email sent on February 4th that was leaked from Oath...
kgmi.com

The officer, who ID'd himself in the email as Scott Langton, didn't respond to requests for comment. @jvgarrison @ChristopherJM & I found that Langton has been sued at least 2x, once for excessive force and once for civil rights violations. One settled & the other is pending.

Ferndale's police dept prohibits membership in "extremist organizations," according to its police chief. We found the email in the hacked Oath Keeper data; here's our full story.

Hacked Oath Keepers Records Show Active Members Of Law Enforcement And The Military Tried To Join...
The records from 2020 and 2021 also reveal a chaotic organization with hundreds of people demanding to cancel their memberships.
buzzfeednews.com
12:48 PM · Oct 5, 2021

https://kgmi.com/news/007700-ferndale-police-officer-on-leave-after-allegedly-contacting-far-right-extremist-group/

FERNDALE, Wash. – The City of Ferndale has placed a police officer on leave after he was alleged to have contacted a far-right extremist group following the January 6th Capitol riots.

A Buzzfeed News investigation found an increase in emails from active duty law enforcement officers and military personnel to the Oath Keepers in the weeks following the insurrection.

Many were seeking information on the group or where they could join their nearest chapter.

Ferndale hasn’t identified the police officer who’s been suspended, but Buzzfeed reports that officer Scott Langton identified himself in an email sent on February 4th that was leaked from Oath Keepers.

Court records show Officer Langton has been sued in the past for civil rights and abuse of power violations while on duty.

The city’s statement says the officer has been put on administrative leave due to the nature of the Oath Keepers group, and won’t have any additional comment until an investigation is complete.

*the end*

Buzzfeed article that prompted investigation

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/oath-keepers-hacked-emails


In the days after the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, the Oath Keepers gained notoriety almost overnight as a symbol of right-wing extremism in America.

Images of members in battle armor pushing their way into the Capitol went viral, clips of the group’s leader challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election surfaced, and within weeks FBI agents began arresting members of the Oath Keepers as part of the largest and arguably most important conspiracy case to come out of the insurgency.

Some active police officers and members of the US military apparently liked what they saw. In some cases ignoring strict policies prohibiting their membership in such groups, many reached out to the organization seeking information, according to leaked emails from the group.

“I was wondering what was required to become an oath keeper,” one soldier wrote to the group’s main email address on Jan. 19. He noted that he was “active duty army, 7 years in” and stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.

*snip*

[dchill]

1. "...what was required to become an oath keeper.."

Obviously, keeping an oath isn't in the plan.