WASHINGTON — Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes spoke repeatedly about revolution in the weeks prior to Jan. 6, jurors heard Wednesday, telling his fellow Oath Keepers they should prepare to undertake violent conflict themselves if he was not able to convince former President Donald Trump that “waging war” was necessary.
Rhodes and four co-defendants began trial last week on a slew of charges, most serious among them seditious conspiracy. Prosecutors told jurors during opening arguments they would show Rhodes and other Oath Keepers had “concocted a plan for an armed rebellion to shatter a bedrock of American democracy” – that is, the peaceful transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021. During the first few days of testimony, three former Oath Keepers spoke about how Rhodes’ belligerent rhetoric after the 2020 election had driven them away from the organization. One witness told jurors Rhodes’ speech during a Nov. 9, 2020, GoToMeeting made him think the organization was “going to war with the United States government.”
On Wednesday, prosecutors focused on Rhodes’ messages in a Signal chat group used by members of the Oath Keepers’ southeast contingent from Alabama and Georgia. The messages contained phrases he used in other forums – including saying the Oath Keepers would have to fight a “bloody revolution/civil war” if Trump did not invoke the Insurrection Act – along with more specific references to violence.
In a Dec. 14, 2020, message to the group on the day states certified their slates of presidential electors, Rhodes reiterated his belief the incoming administration of Joe Biden was a “ChiCom puppet” (Chinese communist).
“’They’ captured nearly every level and branch of power. Without consequences,” Rhodes wrote. “They think they have it all figured out. But we armed Americans have one good trick left up our sleeve. It’s the same one Samuel Whitemore [sic] used long ago, right along with all the other framers who fired the shots heard round the world.”
“All he has to do is issue the orders,” Rhodes added, in reference to Trump.
Samuel Whittemore was a Massachusetts man who killed three British soldiers during the Revolutionary War. Whittemore, who was 78 years old at the time, was the oldest person to participate in combat during the revolution – something Rhodes acknowledged, calling him a “dangerous old man.”
“May there be ten thousand Samuel Whittemores and a thousand Bunker Hills (where we also made the Red Coats pay dearly),” Rhodes said in another Dec. 14, 2020, Signal message. Bunker Hill was a Revolutionary War battle during the Siege of Boston in 1775 in which the colonial militia inflicted significant casualties on British troops.
Rhodes also told Oath Keepers in the Southeast contingent’s chat channel that he was working to convince Trump of the necessity of “waging war on the enemy while he’s still commander in chief.”
“Things are in the works. That’s all I can say,” Rhodes said. “I am still in D.C. for a reason. Yes, take that as a big hint.”
Prosecutors also entered into evidence messages from other Oath Keepers responding to Rhodes. One member of the chat, identified only as “Roc,” wrote back a day later, “I am sure with all the firepower in our group we have enough to overthrow a small Third world country.”
A few days later, Oath Keeper Brian Ulrich, of Georgia, wrote, “Trump acts now maybe a few hundred radicals die trying to burn down cities. Trump sits on his hands, Biden wins, millions die resisting the death of the 1st and 2nd amendment.”
Ulrich, who entered the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6 as part of the Oath Keepers’ “Stack 2,” pleaded guilty in April to felony counts of seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding. He was expected to be called as a witness by the prosecution later in the trial to testify, among other things, that Oath Keepers had conspired to bring weapons to stage in Virginia as part of a quick reaction force (QRF).
Jurors heard more about that QRF Wednesday through the testimony of another Oath Keeper, Terry Cummings, who said he brought an AR-15 with him from Florida – though Cummings said he only intended to use the firearm as a “show of force,” if needed. But, Cummings acknowledged, if the QRF had been activated to enter D.C. it was well-stocked with guns.
“I hadn’t seen that many weapons in one place since my time in the military,” he said.
Wednesday was the sixth day of testimony in what was expected to be a six-week trial. At least six other Oath Keepers, including Ulrich, were expected to be called as witnesses – including at least three who have pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy connected to Rhodes’ alleged plan on Jan. 6.
WUSA9 reporter Jordan Fischer will be in court throughout the trial providing daily coverage. Follow him on Twitter at @JordanOnRecord and subscribe to our weekly newsletter “Capitol Breach” for all the latest Jan. 6 coverage.