Standing behind President Donald Trump during his rally at the Circa Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday was the recently-commuted Stewart Rhodes, the right-wing militia founder who was sentenced to 18 years in prison on seditious conspiracy convictions arising from the role he played in the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Rhodes, who leads the Oath Keepers, was among other Trump supporters standing near the president on Saturday. He is one of 14 people whose sentences were commuted this week—all of whom are either members of the far-right Oath Keepers or Proud Boys groups. Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys leader who prosecutors say helped prepare his followers for street fights, was the only person to receive a longer sentence than Rhodes, at 22 years. He’s also out of prison now. The pair are joined by more than 1,500 other people who were charged in the January 6 attack and pardoned by Trump on day one of his presidency—including those who committed violent crimes, like assaults on law enforcement.
During Rhodes’ trial, federal prosecutors played a recording of a meeting between him and his militia on January 10, 2021, just days after the attack. “My only regret is they should have brought rifles,” Rhodes says in the recording, which was obtained by the FBI, according to CBS News. “We should have brought rifles. We could have fixed it right then and there. I’d hang [f******] Pelosi from the lamppost.”
After being released from prison on Tuesday, Rhodes donned a Trump 2020 hat and thanked the president, saying he felt “relief,” “joy,” and “gratefulness” when he heard the news, but that he “knew it was coming.” When asked how he thinks history should remember January 6, Rhodes replied, “Patriots’ Day.”
“That we stood up for our country, because we knew the election was stolen,” he said, before repeating baseless claims that former president Joe Biden lost four years ago.
According to federal prosecutors, Rhodes was one of the lead architects of the attack—plotting with other conspirators to stop Congress from certifying the presidential election results, stash weapons outside of Washington, DC, and march in militant formations on the Capitol. Following his release, he went back to those very grounds, except this time, he “met with at least one lawmaker during his visit and chatted with others, defending his actions that day and taking no responsibility in the violent siege that halted the certification of 2020 election,” per reporting from the Associated Press.
“I didn’t lead anything. So why should I feel responsible for that?” Rhodes said.
On Friday morning, Amit P. Mehta, the judge who oversaw Rhodes’ case, issued an order saying the Oath Keepers’ founder and other members of the militia, could no longer enter Washington, D.C. without the judge’s permission. It’s unclear if his order against Rhodes will stand, as Trump’s new US Attorney Ed Martin has already filed court papers seeking to reverse Mehta’s decision.
