Militia members are earning at least one source of revenue through Amazon’s charity partnership program, Amazon Smile. On Tuesday night, Amazon buyers can choose to donate 0.5% of their purchase costs to the Indiana chapter of the anti-government armed group Oath Keepers, one of which was just charged with conspiracy related to the attack on the Capitol.
The Sleeping Giants group, which signals online promotion for far-right groups, spotted the connection today. Amazon Smile is listed on the Indiana Oath Keepers website as an affiliate.
Several other charities that reference Oath Keepers and other far-right groups are also listed as participating in the Amazon Smile program, but it was not possible to confirm the main details about these accounts before publication.
This morning, the Washington Post reported that a 66-year-old man claimed to be a Oath Guardian Member he became the first to be charged with conspiracy in connection with the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill. FBI documents, including personal communications, suggest that he hadempty to organize 30-40 followers to coordinate a siege. A message from the group called for a “citizen’s arrest” of lawmakers.
The Oath Keepers, who count cops among its ranks, have been a mainstay in armed protests over the years with other travelers like Boogaloo Bois and the Three Percent. They also self-promote in climatic disaster sites.
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It is unclear how the Indiana Oath Keepers are using the funds raised through Amazon Smile. This, however, is probably irrelevant. Amazon Smile terms specifically ban groups that “get involved, support, encourage or promote intolerance, hatred, terrorism” and “violence”.
Amazon has not yet responded to a request for comment. Indiana Oath Keepers and OathKeepers.org also did not respond to a request for comment.
Last month, the UK investigative channel openDemocracy found that Amazon was hosting more than 40 anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion outreach groups. This includes the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which reportedly spent more than $ 96 million since 2008 in international campaigns to block access to abortion and suppress LGBTQ rights; the American Center for Law and Justice, linked to Trump, who provided legal arguments for banning abortion in Poland; and the Indiana chapter of the American Family Association, a designated Southern Poverty Law Center hate group who blamed Nazism on homosexuality. At the time of writing, none of the more than 40 groups investigated and alerted to Amazon have been removed.
An Amazon spokesman said in an email last month that charities that violate their eligibility terms, which include promoting illegal activities, will no longer be able to participate in the Smile program. He added that Amazon depends on the US Office of Foreign Assets Control and SPLC “to provide the data for these determinations”. The SPLC designated the Oath Keepers an extremist group worthy of a long profile.
With praise, Amazon stayed close your policy prohibitive violent content by revoking Parler’s hosting services. After Parler filed a motion for Amazon Web Services to reinstate the site, Amazon filed a motion horrible list sample messages, including death threats mixed with racial slurs. Amazon said it had already approached Parler about his failure to moderate the rampant hate speech in November 2020.
The Indiana Oath Keepers website also advises visitors to choose them as beneficiaries of the Kroger community rewards program, where it can no longer be found. The supermarket chain said in an e-mail that it was “dismayed” to learn that Oath Keepers had benefited from the program and promptly withdrew them today.