The founder of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, has openly stated that he wants his right-wing group to “repel invasions, to suppress insurrections, and to execute the laws of the union.” However, when Rhodes says he wants to “execute the laws of the union,” it raises questions about whether he truly means to uphold the rule of law or, instead, to undermine it.

Rhodes was convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy related to the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The New York Times reported that he “left a voluminous paper trail of his increasingly violent thoughts” following former President Trump’s loss in the 2020 election. Rhodes expressed that his organization might have to engage in a civil war to defeat what he saw as his enemies—a supposed coalition of Democrats, leftist protesters, and the Chinese Communist Party.

Despite this, Trump commuted Rhodes’ sentence on his first day back in the White House. Since then, Rhodes has announced plans to revive his extremist group. Media Matters captured his statements on The Gateway Pundit’s podcast on November 9, where he said, “I’m relaunching the organization and rebuilding it.” He expressed hope that his group would serve as some kind of adjunct force to the National Guard.

Rhodes went further, urging Trump to “call us up as a militia” and “order us all to come together in our counties under his command.” He made it clear that he is eager to engage in violence against both immigrants and left-wing activists, suggesting that the two are indistinguishable threats. According to Rhodes, “We’re facing an ongoing invasion of this country, it has not stopped. We’re facing an insurrection by the left. And we’re also facing a direct blocking and resistance against enforcing federal law—federal immigration laws—attacking ICE agents, you know, trying to ram them and run them off the road, throwing bricks to their windows.”

He emphasized that “the militia is all of us. So, the National Guard is part of the militia, which is why it’s completely lawful for [Trump] to use the National Guard as he has, and he should do more of that, I think, across the country.”

Rhodes concluded with a call to action directed at Trump: “Given the circumstances of an invasion, insurrection, and resistance against federal law being enforced, I’m calling up the militia. He can do that, and I think he should do that. And so that’s what I’ll be advocating for from him.”
https://crooksandliars.com/2025/11/stewart-rhodes-wants-make-oath-keepers