While Oath Keepers and Oath Keepers USA are two distinct legal entities, they share a consistent anti-government ideology and engage in similar tactics. The group “believes that the federal government has been co-opted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights.” Oath Keepers make the following pledge, which they believe help uphold their oaths to defend the United States Constitution, but also serve to reinforce “the anti-government conspiracy theories embraced by the extreme right”:

We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.

We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people.

We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.

We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.

We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.

We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.

We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control.”

We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.

We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.