MADISON, Wis. — Leaders of the City of Madison’s Common Council say they are “disgusted” after learning of an alder’s brief membership in a far-right organization.
Gary Halverson, who represents the city’s 17th district on the north side near the Dane County Regional Airport, confirmed to News 3 Now on Wednesday that he signed up for the Oath Keepers in the summer of 2020 without vetting the group because he believed it welcomed veterans “who cared about our democracy,” and claimed he ended his membership after just a couple months because he was “misled” about what the group represented.
Halverson was listed in a database of people who had paid to become members of the Oath Keepers obtained by the non-profit group Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets) and the Anti-Defamation League.
RELATED: ‘I was misled’: Madison alder Gary Halverson listed on Oath Keepers membership rolls
Dozens of members of the Oath Keepers are facing charges for their involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, with the group’s leader facing a charge of seditious conspiracy.
Common Council President Keith Furman and Vice President Jael Currie released a joint statement Thursday morning, criticizing what they characterized as a lack of research into the Oath Keepers on Halverson’s part.
“Mere seconds of online research reveal the Oath Keepers as a far-right antigovernment group, not a group for veterans or the preservation of democracy,” Furman and Currie wrote.
The Common Council leaders noted the timing of Halverson’s registration would have meant he signed up at a time when the Oath Keepers were recruiting members with anti-Black Lives Matter messaging following the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing protests.
“Alder Halverson is certainly entitled to this choice and it’s up to him to decide if he can continue as Alder with this secret now being public,” Furman and Currie said in their statement.
The two also said the information “calls into question the motivation behind his votes,” but did not elaborate on which votes they were questioning.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway also referred to Halverson and the Oath Keepers in a series of tweets Wednesday night, saying “The Oath Keepers are not a veteran’s group. This is not OK.” before following up with another tweet saying, “I’ll just leave this here” with a link to the City of Madison’s page on how someone can run for the Common Council.
Halverson was elected to the Common Council in April 2021, replacing former alder Samba Baldeh, who was elected the Wisconsin State Assembly. Halverson’s term runs until late April 2023.
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