Pardon Tracker: Stewart Rhodes Plans for Oath Keepers to 'Get Back Up and Running'
Stewart Rhodes, founder and former leader of the far right militia group the Oath Keepers, said that it’s time to get the group 'back up and running' — and Donald Trump should 'call up' the militia.
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Stewart Rhodes, founder and former leader of the far right militia group the Oath Keepers, is planning to get the organization “back up and running.” Rhodes has been waiting to relaunch the militia group until he is granted a pardon for his convictions for seditious conspiracy and evidence tampering related to his participation in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Rhodes received a commutation from President Donald Trump, and has been publicly lobbying for a full pardon. Rhodes also suggested his pardon request may be viewed favorably Trump’s pardon attorney Ed Martin, who “personally reviewed a pardon application” for Rhodes.
During a recent interview, Rhodes spoke approvingly of Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles, California and Washington, D.C. and Trump’s deployment of the military along the U.S.-Mexico border. Rhodes said that Trump “should call us all up,” suggesting the president should create a government sectioned militia, because “we are obviously facing an invasion… the border has been intentionally left open by domestic internal enemies — traitors.”
“He should have the military defend the border, he should invoke the Insurrection Act, and he should call us all up,” Rhodes said. “He should call all of us, every able bodied male in this nation… could be called up as the militia.”
This summer, Rhodes has been on a speaking tour around Texas with True Texas Project, a far right Christian nationalist group. Rhodes has previously spoken at five events sponsored by True Texas Project, and is scheduled to speak at upcoming events in Katy and Tomball.
Rhodes has also spoken at other events throughout Texas, including events sponsored by the Lee County Republican Party, Bowie County Patriots, Central Texas Tea Party, and Dallas Chapter of the John Birch Society. Rhodes also recently attended the 90th birthday party of former Congressman Ron Paul — and posed for a photo with pardoned Capitol Rioter Jennifer Heinl.
Pardoned Capitol Rioters were reportedly “recruited to help the Texas Hill Country” after the flooding, including Rhodes — who said that he was joined by Larry Brock, retired U.S. Air Force officer who “dressed in combat gear and carried zip-tie handcuffs” in to the U.S. Capitol building.
E.J. Antoni, who was recently nominated by President Donald Trump to be the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was reportedly “among the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,” and the White House claims that Antoni was a "bystander" – and that Antoni “wandered over after seeing coverage on the news.”
Members of the Seattle Police Department that attended the “Stop the Steal” rally prior to the attack on the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021 reportedly said during interviews the Office of Police Accountability (OPA) that “they didn't see anything out of place,” and that “they were unaware of any illegal activity.”
Pardon Tracker is part of independent investigative journalism and data visualization project, investigating the pardons and commutations for individuals involved in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Media Coverage of Pardoned Capitol Rioters:
Trump Deploys National Guard for D.C. Crime but Called Jan. 6 Rioters ‘Very Special’ [The New York Times]
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