Oath Keepers founder who spoke in Wichita Falls arrested Thursday by FBI agents
Before Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes spoke to a rapt audience last June in Wichita Falls, he said it was not part of any plan of his for members of his group to enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
"I didn't even know they did it until afterwards," Rhodes of Granbury said in an interview before his June 24 appearance. "That was not why we were there."
But on Thursday, the FBI arrested the 56-year-old founder of what the Southern Poverty Law Center calls one of the largest radical antigovernment groups in the United States.
Oath Keepers leader accused of seditious conspiracy
Taken into custody in Little Elm, Rhodes is accused of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol insurrection, according to federal court records and a U.S. Department of Justice media release.
More: Oath Keepers founder shares politics and preparedness at Wichita Falls meeting
Rhodes was being held in Collin County Jail in McKinney after he was booked in about 2:45 p.m. Thursday, according to online jail records.
He is suspected of conspiring to forcibly disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's Nov. 3 presidential election victory.
Rhodes was charged in an indictment handed down Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. It was unsealed Thursday.
He is among 11 people indicted Wednesday on seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol — which disrupted a joint session of Congress counting electoral votes, according to the media release.
Another eight people affiliated with the Oath Keepers face charges in connection with Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, according to the media release.
Who are the Oath Keepers and what do they believe?
Wednesday's indictment characterizes the Oath Keepers as a large, loosely organized group, including some members associated with militias.
Some Oath Keepers believe a cabal of elites, out to strip Americans of their rights, has coopted the federal government, according to allegations in the indictment.
While the group will accept anyone as a member, the focus is on recruiting current and former military, law-enforcement and first-responder personnel, according to allegations in the indictment.
The group's name refers to an oath sworn by military and police to defend the U.S. Constitution "from all enemies, foreign and domestic," according to the indictment.
The group's website says, "Oath Keepers declare they will not obey unconstitutional orders," according to the indictment.
Members and people affiliated with the Oath Keepers were among those who forced their way into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to allegations in the indictment.
During his interview in Wichita Falls, Rhodes said Oath Keepers members were in the nation's capital that day to provide volunteer protection for officials and events.
"Some of our guys got caught up and went inside the Capitol, which I think was a massive mistake, but I don't think there was any conspiracy on their part to do that," Rhodes said.
He added: "What's happening now is a persecution campaign against political dissidents."
Over 725 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for charges related to the breach of the Capitol, according to the DOJ media release. The FBI investigation is ongoing.
'We provide security,' Stewart Rhodes told supporters in Wichita Falls
Rhodes said he doesn't condone what people did, but he didn't think most deserved 20 years in prison for it.
His group has been known for its support of Trump and the former president's never proven allegations that the 2020 election was stolen from him through voter fraud.
But Rhodes also discussed flaws he found in the former president on that day in Wichita Falls.
More: Oath Keepers founder: Trump had flaws, didn't understand Constitution enough
Rhodes is an attention-grabbing figure with his black eyepatch and "We the People" tattoo on one forearm. He engaged his Wichita Falls audience with comments such as, "The best thing would be if your sheriff started a posse."
He wears the eyepatch because of a gun accident, according to an article in The Atlantic.
The event at Red River Harley-Davidson attracted Wichita Falls City Council member Steve Jackson, businessman and Navy veteran Steve Cooper, a family practice physician, a Texas GOP operative, and a man, his face shrouded by a bandana, who identified himself as another group's leader in the Lone Star State.
Rhodes' appearance was not a Wichita Falls Tea Party event although members of that group were present.
He is a Yale Law School graduate, former Army paratrooper from Montana and a Libertarian who volunteered to work on former Congressman Ron Paul's presidential campaign in 2008.
He made it clear that summer day in Wichita Falls that he took issue with the Oath Keepers being called a militia, vigilante or radical, antigovernment group.
“A vigilante takes the law in his own hands," he said during the interview before the event. "We provide volunteer security."
The Oath Keepers are known for showing up armed to provide security for events and businesses.
Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news, politics and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes arrested, charged with sedition
