Barnstable regional commission candidate on anti-government Oath Keepers membership list RON BEATY

 

RON BEATY IS A CONVICTED FELON

Barnstable regional commission candidate on anti-government Oath Keepers membership list

Jeannette Hinkle   Cape Cod Times

Published Sept 8, 2022 

BARNSTABLE — Ronald Beaty, who is currently running to regain a seat on the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners, is on a list of members of the far-right anti-government group the Oath Keepers, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Beaty did not respond to a voicemail, text or email seeking comment on Thursday.

Beaty is one of 12 Massachusetts residents on the list who are elected officials or running for elected office or members of law enforcement, the military or are first responders, according to the ADL, which published the list on Sept. 6. 

The ADL, an organization that combats antisemitism, hate and extremism, sifted through more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists and identified more than 370 people it believes currently work in law enforcement agencies, including as police chiefs and sheriffs, more than 100 people who are currently members of the military, and more than 80 people who were running for or served in public office as of early August — including Beaty.

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ADL Spokesperson Jake Hyman declined to release the names of law enforcement officers on the list or the departments they work for.

“ADL has been in contact with each law enforcement agency affected by our report and we continue to work with them in addressing the challenges of extremism within their ranks,” Hyman said by email.

The fact that Beaty’s name was on the list doesn’t necessarily mean he was an active member of the group. Some people on the list contacted by the Associated Press said they were briefly members years ago and are no longer affiliated with the group, while others said they were never dues-paying members.

Ron Beaty has a long history of causing controversy

Beaty, a longtime gadfly in Cape politics who is known for his letters to the editor, open meeting law complaints, anti-LGBTQ tweets, and proposals to deploy baited drum lines to kill sharks, was sentenced to more than a year in federal prison in Texas in the 1990s for writing graphic letters in which he threatened to kill President George H.W. Bush, Sen. Edward Kennedy and State Sen. Lois Pines.

Beaty, who signed the letters with the name of his Iranian-born ex-wife, who he also threatened, told the Boston Globe that he was drinking at the time, and was going through a bitter divorce. 

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“It may look like a nut job, but I dusted myself off,’’ Beaty told the Globe in 2014 after winning a GOP primary contest in a race for state Senate that he ultimately lost.

Beaty, who holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Boston College and calls himself “The Donald Trump of Cape Cod,” was elected by Barnstable County voters as a County Commissioner in 2016, and served in that post from 2017 to 2021 when he was unseated by Mark Forest and Sheila Lyons. Beaty announced his newest run for a seat on the board in February. His opponent is current County Commissioner Ronald Bergstrom.

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Who are the Oath Keepers?

The Oath Keepers is an organization that claims to defend the U.S. Constitution and fight tyranny which has focused recruitment efforts on members of the military, law enforcement and other public safety positions, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

It has been around since 2009, when members met for the first time on Patriot's Day at Lexington Green, the site of the first battle of the American Revolution. 

The group’s tactics are confrontational, and members have participated in multiple armed standoffs against the government, including at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 

On Jan. 4, 2021, the group’s leader Stewart Rhodes wrote a post on the Oath Keepers website urging members to go to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6.

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“It is CRITICAL that all patriots who can be in D.C. get to D.C. to stand tall in support of President Trump’s fight to defeat the enemies foreign and domestic who are attempting a coup, through the massive voter fraud and related attacks on our Republic,” Rhodes wrote. “We Oath Keepers are both honor-bound and eager to be there in strength to do our part.”

At least 20 members of the Oath Keepers have been charged with taking part in the insurrection, which left five people dead and several Capitol police officers injured. Rhodes is charged with seditious conspiracy for his role in the Capitol attack. His trial is scheduled for later this month.

Oath Keepers also participated in the 2014 armed standoff between the rancher Cliven Bundy and law enforcement over Bundy's unpaid grazing fees, and showed up with weapons to racial justice protests after the police killings of Michael Brown and George Floyd.

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Democratic State Committeeman Steve Leibowitz said that he wasn’t surprised to learn Beaty’s name was on the list of people who signed up as members of the Oath Keepers. 

“I don’t think he is a risk voters should take," Leibowitz said Thursday. "Based on Mr. Beaty’s past performance, past language, he’s really engaged in politics of disruption versus trying to do anything positive for Cape Cod. What I look for in candidates is someone who tries to use government in a positive way for folks here on the Cape. I think Mr. Bergstrom, his opponent, clearly passes that hurdle. Mr. Beaty does not.”