Attorneys from the Northern Justice Project have teamed up with Alaskan Randall Kowalke to remove Kowalke’s duly elected representative, Republican David Eastman. Kowalke alleges Eastman should be removed from office and his 2022 election win stripped away because of his membership to the Oath Keepers.

Kowalke is a constituent of Eastman and has brought suit arguing that the Oath Keepers tried to overthrow the government on January 6. Currently, the Oath Keepers members who were charged over their participation in the gathering were not accused of or indicted for attempting to overthrow the government. Kowalke is attempting to prove otherwise in his suit.

The lawsuit was filed against Eastman on July 29 and claimed that the Representative’s active lifetime membership with Oath Keepers violates an article in Alaska’s Constitution,

Article XII, Section IV says, “No person who advocates, or who aids or belongs to any party or organization or association which advocates, the overthrow by force or violence of the government of the United States or of the State shall be qualified to hold any public office of trust or profit under this constitution.”

Eastman’s attorney Joe Miller noted that the provisions under the First Amendment of the constitution protect free speech, even speech advocating overthrowing the government. Kowalke’s attorney hoped to convince the judge that the words and actions from January 6 were not protected by the First Amendment and attempted to paint the Oath Keepers as an extremist militia group bent on revolution.

When Miller questioned fellow Oath Keeper Michael Nichols during the trial, Nichols testified that the operation he led on January 6 was to rescue 16 U.S. Capitol Police officers trapped in a foyer on the east side of the Capitol.

Miller asked Nichols,

“So when you hear that there are individuals accusing Oath Keepers of wanting to overthrow a government, what’s your perspective on that?”

“That’s ridiculous,” Nichols responded. “The Oath Keepers support the Constitution and the United States government.”

The Oath Keepers have routinely defended their beliefs since the accusations against them following January 6 began. They staunchly support the constitution. The Oath Keepers was founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes. It is a national but loosely knit organization created to resist violations of civil liberties by the government. In 2009, that sounded like conspiracy nut thinking. But since the organization’s founding, we’ve been treated to Crossfire Hurricane, two impeachment show trials, COVID shutdowns, the election of 2020, and our own government targeting parents as domestic terrorists. What sounded crazy in 2009 sounds prescient in 2022. Stewart Rhodes is an army veteran (a paratrooper) and a Yale Law School graduate. He understands what our Founders intended for America and has served to defend it.

The case now waits on Alaska Superior Court Judge Jack McKenna to decide if Eastman violated the law with his Oath Keepers membership.

One incensed Twitter user responded to Kowalke’s lawsuit by saying,

“The people of Wasilla should be suing you. You are opposed to Democratic elections. You are trying to overturn a legitimate Democratic election. You are waging war on the people of Wasilla and our elections. You and your lawyers can be sued for what you are doing.”