Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, right, with Riverside City Police Chief Sergio G. Diaz and a California Highway Patrol officer, in a photograph taken in 2019. Terry Pierson/MediaNews Group via Getty Images The sheriff of California’s Riverside County, outside Los Angeles, has acknowledged that he once briefly belonged to the extremist Oath Keepers militia in 2014 after emails from the group were leaked online. In an interview, Sheriff Chad Bianco sought to downplay his past affiliation with the organization, while also insisting that the aims of the Oath Keepers — which has emerged as one of the largest groups in the far-right patriot militia movement — have been misunderstood. In August, 17 Oath Keepers members were indicted in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
via npr: California sheriff defends his past membership in the extremist Oath Keepers militia