capitol riot

Oath Keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes' Path: From Yale to Jail

As a law clerk, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes began to rail against the government for its surveillance programs after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks

FILE - Stewart Rhodes, founder of the citizen militia group known as the Oath Keepers
AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Oath Keepers militia group founder Stewart Rhodes was once a promising Yale Law School graduate. Rhodes was born in California and spent time in Nevada and once secured an Arizona Supreme Court clerkship. But Rhodes' deep distrust of government and thirst for greatness led him down a different path. Rhodes built one of the country’s largest anti-government militia groups with members who'd eventually storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The 57-year-old Rhodes and four others tied to the group head to trial this week on charges of seditious conspiracy. It's the most serious charge leveled by the Justice Department in its far-reaching prosecution of Capitol rioters.

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