Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes to remain jailed pending trial in Capitol riot case
Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers who was charged with seditious conspiracy in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, will be held without bail until his trial, according to a decision Wednesday from Federal Magistrate Judge Kimberly C. Priest Johnson.
Johnson, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, cited concerns that his release could endanger others. She said that while Rhodes has a right to peaceably assemble and petition, that’s not what he is accused of doing.
“Here, the Court is not faced with a peaceable assembly and petitioning, as Defendant’s extraordinary actions and the ripple effects that followed are outside the bounds of protected activities,” Johnson wrote in the order to deny bail.
Rhodes was one of 11 members of the Oath Keepers indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the Capitol attack.
Rhodes was arrested in Little Elm on Jan. 13, according to a Justice Department news release.
According to the indictments, the Oath Keepers are a large but loosely organized collection of individuals, some who are associated with militias. The indictments allege that the Oath Keepers discussed for weeks attempting to overthrow the election results and prepared by buying weapons and setting up plans.
On Jan. 6, the indictment alleges, members of the group entered the Capitol building with the large crowds of rioters who stormed past police barriers and smashed windows, injuring dozens of officers and sending lawmakers running.
While Rhodes did not enter the Capitol building on Jan. 6, he is accused of helping start the violence.
Evidence for denying bond
In evidence submitted to the court in their request to deny bond, the FBI said Rhodes began planning to disrupt or prevent a peaceful transition of power in 2020 following the presidential election, according to the decision. He offered to fund, recruited for and executed a raid on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6 with that goal in mind, the FBI accused.
At least one member of Rhodes’ immediate group assaulted a law enforcement officer during the riot, and many carried non-lethal weapons, the FBI told the court.
The FBI alleged that in some communications with co-conspirators, Rhodes referenced a video he’d seen by a Serbian creator and said that he’d communicated with that creator, who is not named in the court order.
According to the FBI, Rhodes said in the communication he was advised by the creator they should start with peaceful protests, then escalate. The next step would be “complete civil disobedience.”
“They are not your representatives,” the Serbian says in the message forwarded by Rhodes to co-conspirators, the FBI alleges. “They are FOREIGN puppet government.”
The Serbian video creator said in the message Rhodes allegedly claimed was sent to him that they should connect with local police and organize within neighborhoods to ensure they are safe, “swarm the streets and start confronting opponents,” which the video creator called “not nice” but necessary if “the institutions stop to exist.”
The creator also said to gather millions so that barricades and law enforcement couldn’t stop them as they raided the Capitol, and advocated for attacks on media, who the video creator called “fake state Television.”
The video creator told Rhodes they would need to “fight to the end,” according to the messages obtained by the FBI.
“Take that glorious flag from the chest,” he told Rhodes, according to the FBI. “That old flag your ancestors flew while fighting for liberty. Kiss your old Garand, and your Bible. Do what you need to do. You have it in your genes. Make your grandparents proud, and make your future grandsons proud.”
In an exchange with a co-defendant, the FBI said the unidentified co-defendant said they should surround the Capitol and make sure those inside could hear them.
“Scare the hell out of them with about a million surrounding them should do the trick,” the FBI says the co-defendant told Rhodes in a message.
Rhodes said that wouldn’t be enough, according to the FBI’s evidence detailed in the court order to deny bond.
“The only chance we/he has is if we scare the s--- out of them and convince them it will be torches and pitchforks time is [sic] they don’t do the right thing,” Rhodes replied, according to the FBI’s evidence in the order.
The FBI presented evidence that Rhodes recruited people for the riot and called on Oath Keepers members from across the country to join in on opposing the peaceful transition of power, according to the court order.
He organized what he termed a “quick reaction force” that brought “an extensive arsenal of weaponry” and was staged at the Comfort Inn across the Potomac in Virginia, the FBI alleged in evidence included in the court order.
The FBI told the court Rhodes had no real permanent residence and opined that was by design to make it easier for him to avoid capture by law enforcement, according to the court order.
The defense said Rhodes has been cooperative with authorities and volunteered to surrender himself if he was indicted. When he was indicted, he met law enforcement outside the place where he was living at the time, according to the court order.
The FBI said, though, that he destroyed potential evidence, according to the court order.
Rhodes and his attorney offered to place Rhodes in a custodial state, where a third party would be responsible for keeping up with his whereabouts and making sure he was present for court appearances, according to the court order. That offer was ultimately rejected.
This story was originally published January 26, 2022 at 6:35 PM.