New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has launched an investigation after a hack on far-right group the Oath Keepers reportedly revealed it has two active NYPD cops and three New York public officials on its books.
The investigation takes place after an anonymous hacker shared what they claim are emails and membership data from the extremist militia group, who were present at the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.
Eighteen Oath Keeper members have since faced charges from the Capitol riot.
The far-right group's records were sent to a transparency nonprofit group known as Distributed Denial of Secret (DDoSecrets), which shares data leaks with journalists and researchers, and posted online Monday.
Members of the Oath Keepers militia group, including Jessica Marie Watkins (far left) who has since been indicted by federal authorities for her role in the siege on the Capitol, stand among supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump occupying the east front steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington
De Blasio (pictured) vowed a 'full investigation’ into NYPD officers linked to militant right-wing Oath Keepers on Thursday
Three New York City public officials are also part of the leaked membership's logs. They confirmed to WNYC/Gothamist that were previously registered as members of the group but they now claim they are no longer active.
The two NYPD officers whose names are also listed in the hacked records could not be confirmed as active members and so they remain unidentified.
NYPD rules forbid members of the force from forming alliances with organizations 'reasonably believed' to be engaged in criminal activities.
'The Oath Keepers are a vile, extremist anti-government organization,' said Bill Neidhardt, a de Blasio spokesman. 'An immediate internal investigation has been launched.'
The NYPD added 'the incidents are under internal review.'
Yale Law School graduate Stewart Rhodes in 2009 founded the far-right Oath Keepers and has long claimed that more than 30,000 law enforcement officers, soldiers and military veterans as members.
Stewart Rhodes (pictured), founder of Oath Keepers, once said that the government is trying to inflate the rogue actions of a few members into an alleged conspiracy committed by the organization
So far, Dailymail.com, other news outlets and researches have been unable to verify the accuracy of this claim.
One NYPD sergeant's name was listed in the data breach, which details that he is an active member of the department's Firearms and Tactics Session.
The sergeant acknowledged he was an NYPD officer in a phone call made by the Gothamist; and when asked whether he was the person on the list, he declined to comment on his membership status with the militia organization.
Instead, he referred the WNYC/Gothamist to the NYPD's press office.
The information associated with the sergeant's name hinted that the officer joined The Oath Keepers in 2014.
The email address provided includes the term 'nypdcop,' and the entry lists expertise in 'field force operations,' 'incident management,' and 'riot control agents.'
A Staten Island officer's name is also listed in the data breach. It says he is currently assigned to NYPD's Strategic Response Group, a unit that's been regularly deployed to halt riots, including the ones in response to George Floyd's murder in New York City last year.
In another phone call made by WNYC/Gothamist, a man also declined to confirm whether or not he was the officer in question. When his membership with the Oath Keepers was mentioned, the man ceased to talk before asking how his number was obtained. He then declined to answer further questions.
The local news site was able to match dozens of names that appear to go with those of current and former members of NYPD, local courts, and corrections officers in the Big Apple and its jurisdictions, including Nassau County on Long Island, as well as Dutchess
