The portrayal of the Oath Keepers as disciplined contrasts with testimony on Thursday about Rhodes’ leadership during the Million MAGA March in November of 2020. 11, 2001, terror attack unfold on TV while he was a student at Yale Law School, and as he talked about how military veterans often come home and struggle to find a new purpose for their lives. He appeared to choke up as he recalled watching the Sept. Rhodes got emotional at times during his testimony. Rhodes said he supports “their right to riot” before quickly correcting himself to say he supports their right to protest, not riot. He tripped up at one point when discussing protests, some which turned violent, after George Floyd’s 2020 killing.
“You love your country?” Rhodes’ attorney asked him. Rhodes, whose stint as an Army paratrooper was cut short by a training accident, said he considers himself a patriotic person. Rhodes, wearing a dark suit and tie, faced jurors as he described his military experience and decision to start the Oath Keepers in 2009. 6, when his followers pushed through a mob of Trump supporters to storm the Capitol in military-style stack formation.
Rhodes has yet to get into the details of Jan. Rhodes’ decision to testify carries risks for him, opening the way for intense cross-examination from prosecutors, who will get a chance to question him after the trial resumes next week. Rhodes mostly appeared relaxed, but at times seemed to choke up, as he began his testimony after prosecutors spent weeks laying out evidence they say proves Rhodes was behind a violent plot to keep Democrat Joe Biden out of the White House and Republican Donald Trump in. WASHINGTON (AP) - Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes took the witness stand Friday in his seditious conspiracy trial, telling jurors he is a patriotic American as he tries to counter allegations that his far-right extremist group planned an armed rebellion to stop the transfer of presidential power.
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