Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the US far-right Oath Keepers group, told a jury on Monday that he never ordered members to storm the US Capitol on January 6 2021, and that he thought it was ‘stupid' that some of them decided to enter the building.
Rhodes, a Yale Law-educated former US Army paratrooper, is on trial, along with Oath Keeper associates Thomas Caldwell, Kenneth Harrelson, Kelly Meggs and Jessica Watkins, on multiple charges in connection withthat sent legislators and staffers fleeing for their lives.
“I didn’t want them to get wrapped up in all the nonsense with the Trump supporters around the Capitol. I wanted to keep them out of that. Idle hands are a devil’s playground,” Rhodes said.are facing felony charges including seditious conspiracy, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.Oath Keepers plotted to use force to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory, with defendants Meggs, Watkins and Harrelson entering the building clad in tactical gear.
“Was there a plan to go in and disrupt the election?” asked Rhodes’ defence attorney, Phillip Linder.When Linder asked Rhodes how he reacted to the news that Meggs had breached the Capitol, Rhodes recalled telling him: “That was stupid.”
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