An NBC 5 investigation reveals a former leader of the far-right Oath Keepers has been able to attract Texas sheriffs and police officers from more than 80 law enforcement agencies to training sessions held across the state.
Retired Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack, a former board member of the Oath Keepers, teaches county sheriffs that they are more powerful than the FBI and even the president of the United States.
Mack, who founded the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), maintains that the U.S. Constitution gives local law enforcement officers powers to block federal officials, and even powers to personally determine whether laws are constitutional.
Legal experts who spoke to NBC 5 Investigates said the theories Mack teaches are a false and dangerous interpretation of the Constitution and could put legitimate federal authorities at risk.
Sheriffs and police officers who have attended Mack’s training sessions in Texas have been able to receive continuing education credit from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) which certifies Texas law enforcement officers.
But, after NBC 5 Investigates obtained some of Mack’s course handouts and questioned TCOLE about the material, TCOLE said it would conduct an investigation of the course content and also re-examine its procedures for accrediting law enforcement trainings. The agency provided no timeline on when its investigation would be complete.
NBC 5 Investigates’ findings are detailed in a new streaming series, "Against All Enemies." Watch a preview now:
In an interview with NBC 5 Investigates, Mack said Texas is the state where his constitutional sheriff’s movement is growing the fastest and that he believes TCOLE has “endorsed” his trainings.
“They have,” Mack told NBC 5 Investigates. “I mean, if they didn’t approve it they would have stopped it.”
More than 20% of the state’s elected county sheriffs have attended a CSPOA training according to course rosters NBC 5 Investigates obtained from both TCOLE and the county sheriff’s departments that helped host CSPOA trainings.
“We can’t have extremists who are misstating the law for their own purposes get in and poison trainings for law enforcement. This is a national security issue,” said Brian Levin, who heads the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.
Levin believes the CSPOA’s message is essentially the same anti-government message preached by the Oath Keepers and its founder Stewart Rhodes, the Granbury man who was later convicted of conspiring to overturn a U.S. presidential election in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Mack was one of the early board members of the Oath Keepers along with Rhodes. But Mack said he left the organization years ago, long before the Jan. 6 attack because he said he disagreed with Rhodes over the group evolving into a militia.
Mack maintains the CSPOA is simply encouraging law enforcement to uphold their constitutional oath, which he believes requires county sheriffs and police officers to resist federal law enforcement actions they perceive to be tyrannical.
“The FBI doesn't have any credibility left, don’t blame that on us. Their lack of credibility is their own fault, not ours. We're trying to protect the people from all enemies, both foreign and domestic,” Mack told NBC 5 Investigates.
The NBC 5 Investigates streaming series “Against All Enemies” also includes an interview with Jason Van Tatenhove, the former Oath Keepers national media director who left the group years ago, after he said he became concerned about the group’s direction.
Van Tatenhove, who has testified about the Oath Keepers in the House Committee to Investigate the Attack on the U.S. Capitol, believes the CSPOA is quietly normalizing an anti-government message among law enforcement.
“None of this is new, this is all just re-branding”, Van Tatenhove said to NBC 5 Investigates.
Edward Ayala, Mike Ortiz and Don Peritz, Jr. contributed to this report.
How To Watch "Against All Enemies" On Streaming Devices
“Against All Enemies” is available to stream on a number of platforms.
It airs periodically on the NBC Dallas Fort Worth News streaming channel on The Roku Channel, Xumo or Samsung TV Plus.
Viewers can also watch on-demand, but downloading NBC 5's apps on Roku and FireTV.
For additional help, go to NBCDFW.com/everywhere.
