Antigovernment “Patriots” are pledging support for a former Marine and self-described Oath Keeper who recently was charged with the rape of a child in Oklahoma and illegally having a grenade launcher. They say the man is being set up because of his own unorthodox and antigovernment views.

Stewart Rhodes, founder of the conspiracy-minded Oath Keepers group, denies that Charles Dyer actually was a member of his organization, or that he scrubbed all mentions of Dyer from his website after Dyer was arrested. Dyer has repeatedly and publicly represented himself as a member of the Oath Keepers.

Dyer, 29, of Marlow, was arrested last week for the alleged rape and forcible sodomy of a 7-year-old child. He is in federal custody and has a court hearing scheduled on Monday. During a search of his residence to collect DNA evidence, a grenade launcher was found that had been stolen from a Fort Irwin, Calif., military base in 2006. Dyer told an FBI agent that his best friend had given him the grenade launcher while Dyer was stationed in California with the Marine Corps, according to court records.

Dyer is a familiar face in the angry world of the Patriots, where he assumed the name of July4patriot. He has appeared in YouTube videos, railing against a repressive government and the much-feared, socialistic “New World Order.” In one, he wears a mask of a skeleton from the nose down. He says he was a sergeant in the Marines, and served in Iraq.

“Me, I’m going to use my training from the military and I suppose become one of those domestic terrorists that we’re so afraid of from the DHS [Department of Homeland Security] and their reports,” Dyer says in one video. “Ridiculous.” ( continue to full post… )