From Yale to jail: Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes' path

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The founder of the Oath Keepers militia group is heading to trial for some of the most serious charges filed in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Here's a look at how Stewart Rhodes went from Yale Law School to sitting in a jail cell.

He turned to forming a group rooted in anti-government sentiment, and his message resonated. He gained followers as he went down an increasingly extremist path that would lead to armed standoffs, including with federal authorities at Nevada’s Bundy Ranch. It culminated last year, prosecutors say, with Rhodes engineering a plot to violently stop Democrat Joe Biden from becoming president.

“He was going to achieve something amazing,” Adams said. “He didn’t know what it was, but he was going to achieve something incredible and earth shattering.” Adams’ family had set aside money for her to go to college, but after their wedding Rhodes decided he should be the first to attend school. He told her she would need to quit her job teaching ballroom and country dancing and instead support them both by working full time as a stripper so he could focus on doing an excellent job in school, according to Adams. They married, but she found stripping degrading and it clashed with her conservative Mormon upbringing, she said.

After the Arizona clerkship, the family bounced to Montana and back to Nevada, where he worked on Paul’s presidential campaign in 2008. That’s when Rhodes also began to formulate his idea of starting the Oath Keepers. He put a short video and blog post on Blogspot and “it went viral overnight,” Adams said. Rhodes was interviewed by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, but also more mainstream media figures such as Chris Matthews and Bill O’Reilly.

Rhodes was a compelling speaker and especially in the early years framed the group as “just a pro-Constitution group made up of patriots,” said Sam Jackson, author of the book “Oath Keepers” about the group. A membership fee was a requirement to access the website, where people could join discussion forums, read Rhodes’ writing and hear pitches to join militaristic trainings. Members willing to go armed to a standoff numbered in the low dozens, though, said Jason Van Tatenhove, a former spokesman for the group.

As the Oath Keepers escalated their public profile and confrontations with the government, Rhodes was leaving behind some of those he once championed. Jennifer Esposito hired him as her lawyer after the group’s early outing in Quartzsite, but he missed a hearing in her case because he was at the Bundy Ranch standoff. A judge kicked Rhodes off the case, and no lawyer would represent her.

 

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Not interested in knowing how he got there as long as he stays there.

He has a brilliant mind anyone can see he does. Life took him another way but perhaps he believed in a purpose nit in himself. He could have ran for office and perhaps won.

So, he started out in opposition to the fascists in government, but became a fascism supporter and someone who was totally opposed to the antifascists. Interesting. Seems like a similar story for most of the maga supporters.

now do DeSantis for trafficking ..

He shot his own eye out. Why would anyone want to be in his militia?

If you’re evil and a liar regardless of where you went to school, your end will be a disgrace

We need many, many more people from law school sitting in jail cells.

Radicalized due to having a weak mind.

He went to Yell Paw School? 🤣

I bet his eyepatch is fake.

Doesn't say much for Yale Law School; does it?

Bunch of privileged losers blaming other people for their failures. Stop being so freaking lazy.

I don't know who needs to hear this but protesting police brutality, and systemic racism is not the same as smearing s*** on the walls of the capital because your man lost the election. 🦊📚👈

hope he gets life

Take Our Hands And Be Our Voice 🙏🏻🇮🇷 Mahsa_Amini OpIran مهسا_امینی

Not really interested in his back story. In fact, as long as the traitor is jailed that’s the only headline I care about.

Summary Judgement Execution

The answer: by being a Republicunt

But he shouldn't actually be in a jail cell. He should be in a mental institution, he's clearly not well.

Do you think the left lens in his glasses are prescription too or is just a regular piece of glass

Buddy at that point just wear a fucking monocle

free the 6 jan political prisioners!

He looks like quite the sharpshooter.

Yale Law School? Did he miss he lecture on 'Things that are legal and illegal' ?

Where did Ted Cruz got his law degree from? Yale, Havard, or UCLAS are just nests that Harbour a lot of crooked lawyers in the history of United States of America!🤫

Hey, you should see what the Brit courts in the colonies used to do. And those guys were smart, too, infused with best political philosophy of Brits like Hume, Bentham, etc. etc. They were SMARTER than yale. And yet, the Brits didn't like 'em.

OathKeepers became radicalized during the 2015/2016 GOP primary. Rhodes' group of misfits peddled Q conspiracies well before anyone else. Stewert Rhodes Oathbreaker knew what was going on the whole damn time. Predictably, he now he pretends to be a victim of his own ignorance.

_Politics Throw the book at him!

I'm noticing these things do not happen to MIT or Caltech graduates

Kuami Kuala Lumpur vocabulary kwamir mistake chunk dalsina stumpy

Civil War era law🙆

The envy of many cut short.

This story parallels many MAGA supporters!

No interest in this story though? FYI SpeakerPelosi arranged J6. That’s why she doesn’t want to release the 14,000 hours of surveillance video footage available. By the way, WhoIsRayEpps?

TimCamp03 That answer is simple. A corrupt government using citizens to push a political vendetta against an opponent

Don’t you just love the “find out” part of FAFO

This was the 2nd worst attack on American soil after the Martha's Vineyard-surrection

clown shot his own eye out Yale ain't what it used to be

Fiat justitia ruat caelum.

Lib media taking down Ivy's if they don't fall in line

Shout-out to the AP staff who came up with that rhyme. 💯

Around 🌍,ex Pres’s &accomplices’ thefts & deadly attack on lawmakers &ex VP wld=jail. Frosh,SenateDems& January6thCmte,pls learn from ICC,NewYorkStateAG &🌍how to prosecute GOP.

How long until all American militias groups are called terrorist by the authoritarians in dc… never give up your weapons America we are going to need them.

Remember this: Elmer Stewart Rhodes (Yes, Elmer is his first name) is not the mastermind of the seditious conspiracy for which he is standing trial on Tuesday. That distinction goes to Donald Trump. Stewart is a low-to-midlevel henchman.

I jerk off i. My car now

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