Oath Keepers Leader Denied Bail Following Capitol Riot Sedition Charge

Topline

Stewart Rhodes—leader of the Oath Keepers militia group—will remain in jail ahead of a trial on seditious conspiracy charges related to the January 6 Capitol riot, after a Texas judge denied him bail Wednesday, due in part to the concealed escape routes he has built on his Montana property and his alleged history of intimidating his wife and children.

FILE - In this Sunday, June 25, 2017 file photo, Stewart Rhodes, founder of the citizen militia group known as the Oath Keepers speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washington. Rhodes, an Army veteran who founded the Oath Keepers in 2009 as a reaction to the presidency or Barack Obama, had been saying for weeks before the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot that his group was preparing for a civil war and was "armed, prepared to go in if the president calls us up." (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) ASSOCIATED PRESS

Key Facts

Federal Judge Kimberly Johnson cited testimony from Rhodes’ estranged wife Tasha Adams, who said Rhodes installed “elaborate escape tunnels” in his backyard and kept “unregistered cars in the woods” near his property, which he bordered with hundreds of dollars’ worth of razor wire for fear of “being picked up by the feds.” 

Adams also testified that she fears for her own life and the lives of their six children if Rhodes is released, as she said Rhodes physically abused the children and often brandished firearms in their house as a way to control her.

Rhodes was arrested and charged with seditious conspiracy earlier this month along with 10 other people, marking the Department of Justice’s first seditious conspiracy charges in relation to the Capitol riot.

The DOJ accused the Oath Keepers leader of plotting to “oppose by force the lawful transfer of power” on January 6, when Congress met to approve President Joe Biden’s electoral win, with several members of the militia group allegedly breaching the Capitol building in search of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D).

Rhodes, who pleaded not guilty, could face a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted. 

Rhodes’ lawyer told Forbes he plans to appeal the bail denial.

Key Background

More than 20 members of the Oath Keepers have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot according to the New York Times, with at least four cooperating with prosecutors. Members of the far-right group, which Rhodes founded in 2009 and is largely made up of retired and current police officers and military personnel, claim they were not in D.C. to storm the Capitol, but rather they were hired as security detail to protect Trump ally Roger Stone. The DOJ’s indictment said Rhodes had entered a “restricted area of the Capitol grounds,” though it did not claim he walked into the building itself. Rhodes denied setting foot in the Capitol building. 

What To Watch For

Rhodes’ trial is tentatively set for July 11, according to the Washington Post, with seven other previously indicted co-defendants' trials set for April.