1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Before we get into it, be advised that this series 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:16,080 Speaker 1: contains bad language and references to violence. At two thirty 3 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: p m. On January six, the crowd at the east 4 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: side of the US Capital is a mass of heaving bodies. 5 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: Rioters are surging forward as police in body armor attempt 6 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:33,480 Speaker 1: to hold the line. Limbs, flagpoles, batons, railings, and riot 7 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:38,279 Speaker 1: shields are tangling in a violent mess. But in the 8 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: midst of the chaos, a small group stands out from 9 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: everyone else. They're decked out in full camo with body armor, 10 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:49,200 Speaker 1: helmets and radios. Okay, guys, were on open channel here. 11 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,880 Speaker 1: Now everybody can hear and talk. What makes them different 12 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: is the way they're moving. They're walking slowly in single file, 13 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: each with a hand on the shoulder of the person 14 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 1: in front. They're piercing through the crowd, working their way 15 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: to the front. In the military, this way of moving 16 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: is known as a ranger file or ranger stack. It's 17 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: a standard formation for ground troops about to breach a building. 18 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: And that's exactly what this group is going to do. 19 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 1: This is what we lived up for, everything we fucking 20 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: trained for. They're communicating via a walkie talkie app called Zello, 21 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,959 Speaker 1: the name of their channel, stopped the Steel j six. 22 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: Like tens of thousands of their fellow protesters, these people 23 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 1: want to prevent what they see as the theft of 24 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: a presidential election. They've just thought it out a bit 25 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: more than everyone else. We have a good, great We 26 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,639 Speaker 1: got about thirty of us were sticking together and sticking 27 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: to the plan. This unit believes that today is their 28 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: last chance to save American democracy. Today they can become heroes. 29 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: That's right, mother, This is a can of war bass 30 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: made in America. Fu. Yeah, in the coming weeks and months, 31 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 1: almost every member of this unit will be identified and arrested. 32 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: Today they're facing some of the most serious criminal charges 33 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: to stem from the riot. But that's all for the future. 34 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: For now, they're having the time of their lives. The 35 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: squadron that pierced the capital like human bayonets on January 36 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:41,799 Speaker 1: six were no ordinary rioters. The men and women who 37 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: moved in military formation that day were members of a 38 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 1: well armed paramilitary force that boasts chapters all over the 39 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: United States. They were, in short, members of a militia. 40 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: In this episode, we're going to look under the hood 41 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: of one of the biggest militia pops in the United 42 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: States and figure out how they fit into the picture. 43 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: On January six, we'll meet the guy who founded the 44 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: organization and still runs it today. We'll also explore the 45 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: life of one of his foot soldiers who invaded the 46 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: capital in the ranger Stack and fought his way into 47 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: the Great Hall underneath the Capital Dome. So come with 48 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:29,359 Speaker 1: me into the United States Capital. From the teams at 49 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media, I Heart Radio and Novel This is 50 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: the Assault on America Episode three, no Ordinary Rioters. M 51 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: America has always had militia's back. In the eighteenth century, 52 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: they were a way of organizing resistance against the British, 53 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: and George Washington would never have beat the Red Coats 54 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: without them. This is what gives modern militias a patina 55 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: of credibility, and the way people in the Patriot movement 56 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: talk today about seventeen seventy six, you'd think they'd personally 57 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:27,600 Speaker 1: skewered Redcoats on their bayonets at the Battle of Long Island. Now, 58 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: the militia heyday in the eighteenth century was well before 59 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:33,040 Speaker 1: the United States had a standing army of its own, 60 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:38,719 Speaker 1: bigger and better and stronger than ever before. These days, 61 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: America does have a standing army, a fairly large one. 62 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: Nobody's gonna mess where those folks nobody, So you might 63 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 1: ask yourself, why, in the year one are there hundreds 64 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: of unregulated militia groups spread around the country and armed 65 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,720 Speaker 1: to the teeth. I spoke to someone who might know. 66 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 1: I've probably dozens of threats that I've recorded in Zelo, 67 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:07,119 Speaker 1: like specifically against me for writing about groups. Hampton Stall 68 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 1: is the editor of Militia Watch, a research platform that 69 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: covers America's far right militia's He's also the guy who 70 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,160 Speaker 1: recorded the audio of militia members you heard at the 71 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: start of the episode. Hampton worked with a w n 72 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,599 Speaker 1: y C journalist named Michael Loewinger, and together they eaves 73 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: dropped on militia groups as the capital was stormed. I mean, 74 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:31,600 Speaker 1: it gets your heart racing, like it's It's definitely an 75 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 1: adrenaline shot, especially when it's groups that are, like, you know, 76 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: a twenty minute drive from my front door. Hampton grew 77 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,280 Speaker 1: up in upstate South Carolina. It is deep red territory, 78 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,239 Speaker 1: and when the populist right wing Tea Party movement burst 79 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: onto the national stage in the late two thousand's, they 80 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: gained a lot of support in Hampton's hometown. It was 81 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: around then that Hampton noticed something else happening too. I 82 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:01,600 Speaker 1: started seeing people from teep party groups start taking up 83 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: arms and start saying kind of wild phrases, and so 84 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: there's sort of a personal interest in like, who the 85 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: hell were these people that were marching around armed in 86 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:16,320 Speaker 1: my hometown. Militia movements have waxed and waned throughout America's history. 87 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: In the nineteen eighties and early nineties, militias blossomed tied 88 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:24,480 Speaker 1: to the militant white supremacist movement, but they fell into 89 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: decline after militia member Timothy McVeigh carried out the Oklahoma 90 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: City bombing. In and later on during the Obama years, 91 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: Hampton witnessed firsthand the resurgence of American militias. Many of 92 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: these groups were motivated by conspiracy theories that the new 93 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,919 Speaker 1: black liberal president was planning to mobilize the National Guard 94 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: against gun owners and put them in concentration camps. And 95 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: it wasn't just ordinary civilians who were falling for this stuff. 96 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: I've detected multiple times active police officers involved in militia spaces, 97 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 1: and they've been in all the way up to chain, 98 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,480 Speaker 1: from just kind of expressing support to people who are 99 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: in militia's to joining, you know, militia chats on Facebook, 100 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: to even being members of militia groups. The whole gamut 101 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: has kind of been seen more on that later in 102 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: the series. After being reignited by the election of Obama, 103 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: America's militia movement was given a massive boost in two 104 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: thousand sixteen. Suddenly the government that militia's loved to hate 105 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: was taken over by someone they straight up loved. That 106 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: is some group of people thousands so nice, Thank you 107 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:41,480 Speaker 1: very much, that's really nice. Here was a president they 108 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 1: could get on board with, someone with obvious disdain for 109 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: the workings of government, and someone who's far right rhetoric 110 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: was more of an air rate than a dog whistle. 111 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, their rapists, and some 112 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: I assume are good people. So when Trump lost in 113 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: twenty twenty, many of America's militias weren't pleased, and in 114 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: the winter months following the election, lots of them got 115 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 1: caught up in Alie Alexander's Stopped the Steel campaign, which 116 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:17,080 Speaker 1: we covered in the last episode. Even if they never 117 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: heard the name Ali Alexander, they heard about January six. 118 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 1: I saw it everywhere, maybe just before Christmas. People were 119 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: talking about January six pretty aggressively at the time. They 120 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: were saying things like we're going to go to the 121 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 1: tunnels of the Capitol and fight Antifa down there, which 122 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,839 Speaker 1: is just like way more specific than stuff that had 123 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:42,719 Speaker 1: been being said for the last few months. So that's 124 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: kind of what the big warning sign was for me. 125 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:47,120 Speaker 1: That made me realize, you know, it's probably a good 126 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: idea when January six came around, to sit down at 127 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 1: my computer and be watching the feeds to try and 128 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: document what sort of armed groups were present, And that's 129 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,680 Speaker 1: how Hampton came to be recording the Zelo channel called 130 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: Stop the Steel j six during the Capitol riot. In 131 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: the roughly two hours of audio, we hear a militia 132 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:13,199 Speaker 1: member report back to her friends elsewhere in the country 133 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,600 Speaker 1: as she storms the capital. At the start of the recording, 134 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:19,680 Speaker 1: there's palpable excitement in her voice as she nears her target. 135 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: Everybody's marching on the Capitol, all million of us. It's insane. 136 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: We're about two blocks away from it now. Police are 137 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 1: doing nothing. They're not even trying to stop us. At 138 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: this point. As she reports back, voices from across the 139 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:35,559 Speaker 1: country cheer her on joking about draining the swamp. Trump's 140 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: been trying to drain the swamp with a straw. We 141 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:40,240 Speaker 1: just brought a shop back. We're gonna have to blow 142 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: the damn to drain this fucking swamp. Be safe down here, 143 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: That's all I gotta say. Just be safe, be alert, 144 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: and stay in groups. Like it's Christmas all over again 145 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 1: for us patriots. Alas the Christmas vibes are few and 146 00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: far between and the rest of the audio, most of 147 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 1: the voices are considerably more disturbing. They've got the gallows 148 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 1: that upside the Capitol building. It's trying to start sucking 149 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: using them. Patriots need to have the guns nearby. The 150 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: FBI rats are trapped on the roof and they have 151 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:17,600 Speaker 1: nowhere to go. I won't take you through the whole thing. 152 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:20,720 Speaker 1: I wouldn't do that to you. But here are some headlines. 153 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: For one, these guys are obsessed with Antifa. We're not 154 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: dumbasses like anti Tifa. They hate Mike Pence. We got 155 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:36,200 Speaker 1: a report that Pence is a pedophile, unindicted pedophile, and 156 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 1: They have fascinating theories about what Joe Biden does with 157 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: his downtime. He's hiding an ambrazement balance and little kids 158 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: off his back and having him play with his blonde 159 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:48,439 Speaker 1: leg or looker. My team was unable to fact check 160 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 1: this allegation, but you get the point. The voices on 161 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: this channel are not part of the same reality that 162 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:56,680 Speaker 1: I live in and probably that you live in. Two 163 00:10:57,120 --> 00:10:59,559 Speaker 1: and neither are the militia members and the Rangers stacks. 164 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 1: I think the crowd. While the Zelo channel cheers them 165 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: on with heartwarming messages of encouragement, the unit on the 166 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: ground achieves their objective. We are in the main dome 167 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: right now. We are rocking at their their longer nets. 168 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:14,439 Speaker 1: They're perk and shooting people with payballs. But we're in 169 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: here fucking gets some God blessom God's being, and keep going. 170 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 1: Get it, Jess. For the militia members, this is a 171 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: moment of pure jubilation. But what's extraordinary is the fact 172 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:30,760 Speaker 1: that none of them seem bothered or even aware that 173 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:34,720 Speaker 1: they're breaking the law. As they speak freely on a 174 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:37,680 Speaker 1: public walkie talkie channel. It's clear that they feel they're 175 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: on the right side of history and thus untouchable by 176 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:45,640 Speaker 1: law enforcement. Patriots are taking self east together with capital police. 177 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:51,440 Speaker 1: Inside the capital, they even reassure each other that their 178 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:56,360 Speaker 1: actions are legal, using highly dubious jargon the civilian authority 179 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:03,079 Speaker 1: of we the people, constitutional enforcement action, direct action. There 180 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:05,840 Speaker 1: seems to be no understanding that those who enter the 181 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 1: capital maskless and openly boasting on social media are putting 182 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: themselves in legal jeopardy. Then again, perhaps it's what we 183 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,800 Speaker 1: should expect from an outfit whose getaway plan and involves 184 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: hijacking federal snowplows. Those snowplows are going to be easily 185 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,520 Speaker 1: hot wired their diesel trucks. That's the way out if 186 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: need to be. They belong to us, the taxpayers, We 187 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:34,800 Speaker 1: the fucking people. Now, I wouldn't begrudge my tax dollars 188 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: going towards the world's slowest police chase with a few 189 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: dozen militia members crammed into snowplows. But the point stands 190 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 1: anyone who would even consider that route is not part 191 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: of a world class conspiracy. And that's because the militias 192 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:50,880 Speaker 1: that breached the capital and the voices cheering them from 193 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 1: back home, they're just the foot soldiers They're not to 194 00:12:56,559 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: be written off. They are dangerous people breaking the hell 195 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 1: out of some laws, but they're not the brains of 196 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 1: the operation. That distinction belongs to someone else entirely. While 197 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: the militia member in the ranger stack is broadcasting her 198 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:16,160 Speaker 1: movements on zello, there's a man standing nearby, a safe 199 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:23,640 Speaker 1: distance back from the violence. His name is Omer Stewart Rhodes, 200 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:26,960 Speaker 1: and he's the leader of the largest militia group in America, 201 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,800 Speaker 1: which just so happens to be the most extensively prosecuted 202 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:36,400 Speaker 1: paramilitary organization related to the January six riots. To understand 203 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: his organization and what it's capable of, we need to 204 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:52,960 Speaker 1: understand the man. It's time to meet Stupard Rhodes. His 205 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,439 Speaker 1: involvement is exactly what I thought it would be. I 206 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:57,840 Speaker 1: knew he would never go inside the capitol. He's sort 207 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,199 Speaker 1: of the the leader that stands him back and ends 208 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,640 Speaker 1: he's gonna lead, and then hangs back. This is Tasha Adams, 209 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 1: the estranged wife of Stewart Rhodes. I'm stating the obvious here, 210 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:09,679 Speaker 1: but Tasha is not an impartial source when it comes 211 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:12,720 Speaker 1: to Rhodes. As I record this, she's running a go 212 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:15,520 Speaker 1: fund make campaign to get money to pay for her divorce. 213 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:22,880 Speaker 1: She lives in rural Montana with her six children and 214 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: a lot of animals. I think some of the noise 215 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: interruption might be my chickens. Tasha met Stewart in Las 216 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 1: Vegas in nineteen She was an eighteen year old dance 217 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 1: instructor and one day a twenty five year old Stewart 218 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: Rhodes came in for a barn dancing lesson. He's all stiff. 219 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: At this point, Rhodes had already served in the U. S. 220 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: Army and was now a commercial artist making sculptures for 221 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 1: local casinos. He was really assertive, almost kind of aggressive, 222 00:14:56,600 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: and personality me being to innately shy and quiet person 223 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: that was always something that I liked in, you know, 224 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: someone to date because it's sort of opened doors for me. 225 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 1: Stewart and Tasha lived in a tenerant life, starting a 226 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 1: big family, but always moving from town to town, job 227 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: to job. In two thousand eight, Rhodes took a job 228 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:23,000 Speaker 1: working for the libertarian Ron Paul's short lived presidential campaign. 229 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: If we do the right things, we can restore the 230 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 1: greatness of this country. Thank you very much. He must 231 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: have liked something about it, because soon after the campaign flatlined, 232 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:36,000 Speaker 1: Rhodes told Tasha that he wanted to form his own organization. 233 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 1: I thought, wow, this is something he can do for 234 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,200 Speaker 1: a living where all he has to do is talk. 235 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,520 Speaker 1: You know, this is something he can do. As Tasha 236 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,040 Speaker 1: describes it, his way with words and his Yale degree 237 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 1: won him work easily enough. He just never saw it through. 238 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: Tasha figured that any job that just let him speak 239 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 1: would be a good thing for him. You know, he 240 00:15:57,640 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 1: grew up in a family of motivational speakers and ministers. 241 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 1: This is what they do in that family as they 242 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: give speeches and they they sell multi level marketing products 243 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: and they their reference and they love this stuff. This 244 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 1: is great, you know, something you won't get fired at. 245 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:15,600 Speaker 1: Rhodes was indeed brilliant and evangelizing for his new organization, 246 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: and soon created a membership structure with annual fees, and 247 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: traveled the country and recruiting members. Our mission is simply 248 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: to reach out and remind all active duty military, police, 249 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: and firefighters of their civic obligation of their legal duty 250 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:37,760 Speaker 1: and responsibilities under Article six of the U S Constitution. 251 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: It was amazingly immediate, he launched a free blog. He 252 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: wrote up a bit and it was almost instant, and 253 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 1: so in March of two thousand nine, the oath Keepers 254 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: were born. It was a pressure group campaigning for police 255 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: and military to keep the oaths that they'd sworn to 256 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: uphold the Constitution. He created a list called the Declaration 257 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:01,800 Speaker 1: of Orders We will not bay Buist reads like a 258 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 1: big dog whistle to the conspiracy theory that Democrats were 259 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: planning to impose martial law and take everyone's guns. But 260 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,080 Speaker 1: at the turn of the two thousand tens, Republicans were 261 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 1: catastrophizing that the newly elected President Obama was about to 262 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 1: send gun owners to the gulag, and Rhodes's message found 263 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:21,879 Speaker 1: a willing audience. As the Oathkeepers grew and grew, Rhodes 264 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 1: masterminded their transition from being an advocacy group to a 265 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:29,000 Speaker 1: straight up militia. If the people in this country were 266 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: to recognize the necessity of getting back to the Founder's plan, 267 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 1: the necessity of the well regulated militia being necessary for 268 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,000 Speaker 1: security or free state, if they were to do that, 269 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,520 Speaker 1: that were through a massive monkey wrench and the plans 270 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:46,960 Speaker 1: of the globalist oligarchy. Because they want to sarm populations 271 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:50,680 Speaker 1: that are easy to control. Under rhodes Is charismatic leadership, 272 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:53,400 Speaker 1: the Oathkeepers grew to become one of the largest militias 273 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: in the country. They claimed to have over forty fee 274 00:17:56,520 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 1: paying members. But in two thousand fourteen, something seems to 275 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: have changed for Roads. His ex wife, Tasha links this 276 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:07,920 Speaker 1: change to a meeting he allegedly had with the FBI. 277 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: His mental state spiraled fast after that, and that was 278 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,520 Speaker 1: when we realized I had to get out of this. 279 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,680 Speaker 1: Tasha doesn't know what the FEDS said to Stewart or 280 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:20,760 Speaker 1: if the meeting was even related to his decline in 281 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:24,960 Speaker 1: mental health, but after twenty five turbulent years of marriage, 282 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,040 Speaker 1: having met Rhoads when she was just eighteen, she finally 283 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: woke up to the kind of man that he really was. 284 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: It was actually some of the books he had laying around. 285 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:35,920 Speaker 1: He had a book in particular called The Sociopath next Door, 286 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:38,359 Speaker 1: and I just sat down and read it, and it 287 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:41,720 Speaker 1: felt like I just was drained of all life for 288 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:43,639 Speaker 1: a minute, you know. Really, after I read that, it 289 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,800 Speaker 1: just hit me and there was no way around it. 290 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:53,879 Speaker 1: He's a sociopath. Tasha describes years, decades of feeling that 291 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:57,080 Speaker 1: Stewart's abusive behavior was her fault. She would think that 292 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 1: maybe she just wasn't lovable, maybe she'd done something wrong 293 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,359 Speaker 1: long and whatever issues he had could surely be loved away. 294 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:06,960 Speaker 1: At long last, she decided the problem was not with her, 295 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:10,399 Speaker 1: it was with her husband. Much of the abuse, Tasha 296 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 1: alleges was financial. Rhodes was paying himself a salary of 297 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: eighty thousand dollars a year to run the Oathkeepers, but 298 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: Tasha says that almost none of that money trickled back 299 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:24,639 Speaker 1: to the family. We were really in a difficult place. 300 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:29,280 Speaker 1: The disparity of how money was spent was just so odd. 301 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:31,919 Speaker 1: We were just so used to it, you know, just 302 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:34,680 Speaker 1: even little things like the kids and I only ever 303 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,200 Speaker 1: shopped and thrift stores, but all his clothes were top 304 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: of the line expensive clothes. The kids would have holes 305 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:41,720 Speaker 1: in their shoes, and you know, I think he had 306 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:43,440 Speaker 1: fifty pairs of shoes, and all of them over a 307 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,840 Speaker 1: hundred dollars each. I mean, just things like that. There 308 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 1: was physical abuse to Tasha says that Rhodes would sometimes 309 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:52,840 Speaker 1: hurt her or even the kids, and then come up 310 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: with ludicrous excuses. I was just practicing my martial arts. 311 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 1: As far as we can tell, Rhodes has ever commented 312 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: publicly on Tasha's allegations, and they have not been proved 313 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: in a court of law. But as a relationship with 314 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: Rhodes deteriorated, Rhodes's public rhetoric became increasingly extreme. He developed 315 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 1: a working relationship with America's pre eminent conspiracy theorist, the 316 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:19,439 Speaker 1: Info Wars host Alex Jones, and would often appear on 317 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 1: Jones's show to promote the Oath Keepers. Here he is 318 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:26,800 Speaker 1: in calling for Donald Trump to deploy the military against leftists. 319 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 1: In the past have been opposed using the military domestically 320 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:31,960 Speaker 1: for for this purpose, he needs to use the military. 321 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,479 Speaker 1: We were worried about globalist using the military against us, 322 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,480 Speaker 1: which is gonna happen. This is globalist overthrowing our government. 323 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: We better have the military stop the globalist. I mean, 324 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:43,480 Speaker 1: you have to love it. Rhodes founded his organization out 325 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: of a fear that Democrats were going to use the 326 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 1: military to crush American freedoms. And now here he is 327 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:53,160 Speaker 1: agitating for the U. S military to murder his political enemies. 328 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 1: And he wasn't just relying on Trump in the run 329 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:59,439 Speaker 1: up to January six, Rhodes appears to have made plans 330 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:02,280 Speaker 1: of his own. We have been already stationed outside d 331 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: C as a nuclear option, So I've got good men 332 00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:07,640 Speaker 1: on the ground already. We've been in a leadcon there 333 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:10,920 Speaker 1: last week, and we're sorting out. We're gonna be staging 334 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: and we'll be there, will be inside d C. Will 335 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,639 Speaker 1: also be on the outside of DC, armed, prepared to 336 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:21,719 Speaker 1: go in. Rhodes is describing an armed paramilitary force lurking 337 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 1: outside of DC, ready to enter the city at his word. 338 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 1: This is a so called q r F, or quick 339 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:32,679 Speaker 1: reaction force. The idea is that if Rhodes gets the signal, 340 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,480 Speaker 1: a small group can bring weapons into d C and 341 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:38,719 Speaker 1: distribute them to the unarmed oath keepers already present at 342 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: the capitol. You can only guess at the carnage that 343 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: might have ensued if dozens of oath Keepers had gotten 344 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 1: their hands on guns during the riot. On the day 345 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,119 Speaker 1: of the insurrection, Info Wars host Alex Jones can barely 346 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:54,199 Speaker 1: contain his excitement. Can you not feel history happening right now? 347 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:56,600 Speaker 1: I mean, it's happening right now. It is, and we're 348 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,040 Speaker 1: all we'll all need to realize that we're Americans, were 349 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 1: born in this country at the time. For this purpose, 350 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: we need to Stewart Rhodes clearly did not let go 351 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:08,159 Speaker 1: of his fear on January six He never called in 352 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,920 Speaker 1: the q r F. He never went into the Capitol 353 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:14,240 Speaker 1: building either. At least twenty of his oath keepers have 354 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:16,960 Speaker 1: since been arrested, some of them are looking at decades 355 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: in prison. In each of their indictments, someone called Person 356 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 1: one features prominently communicating with them all day on an 357 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:29,080 Speaker 1: encrypted signal channel called d c op jan six one. 358 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:32,720 Speaker 1: And you guessed it. Person one is believed to be 359 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 1: Stewart Rhodes. So will Rhodes eventually get picked up for 360 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,119 Speaker 1: conspiracy to obstruct Congress or for the small matter of 361 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:49,320 Speaker 1: plotting an armed coup? Time will tell Meanwhile, there's no 362 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:52,440 Speaker 1: such ambiguity for his foot soldiers who entered the Capitol 363 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: on jan sixth, blissfully unaware of the trouble they were 364 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 1: storing up for themselves. Hey brother, we're boots on the 365 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:00,960 Speaker 1: ground here. We're moving on to capital now. I'll give 366 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: you a booth on the ground update here. And I 367 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,880 Speaker 1: wanted to know more about Rhodes as foot soldiers There's 368 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: been a lot written about them online, both vilifying and glorifying, 369 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: depending on where Google leads you. But I figured that 370 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: to get a read on them, i'd need to get closer. 371 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:26,479 Speaker 1: My name is Danisa and I am the sister of 372 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:30,440 Speaker 1: one of the domestic terrorists that tried to overtake the capital, 373 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:35,679 Speaker 1: Donovan Kraw. Dennis's brother, Donovan Kraw, is a former marine 374 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:38,680 Speaker 1: and a current oathkeeper. We heard his voice briefly in 375 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:46,720 Speaker 1: the Zello recordings. Donovan comes first in the aftermath of 376 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 1: the riot. Donovan's picture went viral because he looked, you know, 377 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:53,119 Speaker 1: like a scary guy. He was wearing a combat helmet, 378 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:56,040 Speaker 1: ballistic goggles, and a tactical best and he was carrying 379 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 1: a handheld radio. What I wanted to know was how 380 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: does American citizen and a veteran reached this point? Where 381 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:07,640 Speaker 1: does he come from? My parents were very young parents. 382 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:12,240 Speaker 1: They were too young to be having children and be 383 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: My father was a raging alcoholic and very abusive. But 384 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,960 Speaker 1: Donovan was kind of the protector, you know, he was 385 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 1: my older brother. Of course I idolized him. This makes 386 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 1: a change from Stuart Rhodes practicing karate on his own kids. 387 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,680 Speaker 1: Donovan and Denisa grew up in Bushnell, Illinois, and Donovan 388 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 1: had a normal, fulfilling life, building a family, working in 389 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 1: a factory, coaching baseball, and he and Denissa stayed close. 390 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,920 Speaker 1: I was a single parent and he was helping me. 391 00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 1: He worked nights at a factory, and I, of course 392 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: worked days as a nurse, so he would watch my 393 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: daughter while I was at work, and I would keep 394 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: his daughter on the weekends. But in the two thousand tens, 395 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,280 Speaker 1: Donovan went through a difficult worse. He lost his job 396 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:04,919 Speaker 1: and he got addicted to alcohol and other substances, and 397 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:08,600 Speaker 1: that wasn't the only major change in his life. One day, 398 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,040 Speaker 1: Donovan had called me and we were just talking, and 399 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,360 Speaker 1: just out of the blue, he says, I want you 400 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:19,159 Speaker 1: to start saving gas and gas cans. I want you 401 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 1: to keep cash on hand at all times, and I 402 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 1: want you to get a map and draw a back 403 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: route to my house in case you have to leave 404 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,560 Speaker 1: real quick and get to me. And I'm like, what 405 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:33,400 Speaker 1: in the hell are you talking about, Donovan? Why would 406 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,400 Speaker 1: I even need to do that. Donovan became a prepper, 407 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:40,400 Speaker 1: someone who prepares for societal breakdown. His sister, Deniso wrote 408 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,359 Speaker 1: it off as a drink fueled eccentricity, but it became 409 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:47,440 Speaker 1: harder to ignore. We were having a family reunion and 410 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,639 Speaker 1: we had it out at the property that Donovan lived 411 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:55,440 Speaker 1: on because they could do target practice and whatever Neanderthal's do. 412 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 1: And I had walked up to the house to go 413 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: to the bathroom, and when I went into the bathroom, 414 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:06,000 Speaker 1: I saw this magazine. It was a prepper magazine, something 415 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:09,720 Speaker 1: like you put your food in thirty three gallon drums, 416 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: and very right wing magazine. So I made fun of him. 417 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: I took it out and I said, what is this bullshit? 418 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 1: I was concerned about the people he was hanging out with. 419 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:26,880 Speaker 1: I had never heard of the oath Keepers. In case 420 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,399 Speaker 1: you're not a regular listener, Dnisa is talking about the 421 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,960 Speaker 1: sort of stuff you hear on Info Wars. It goes 422 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 1: like this. It's either President Trump is concouraged and bolstered 423 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:37,800 Speaker 1: strengthened to do what he must do, or we wind 424 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: up in a holoody fight. We all know that the 425 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,840 Speaker 1: fight's coming. I don't know what Donovan was watching or 426 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,640 Speaker 1: what his online habits were, but it's clear that the 427 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:48,359 Speaker 1: kind of far right message pushed by Stewart Rhodes and 428 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,360 Speaker 1: others on Info Wars hit home at a hard period 429 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:57,720 Speaker 1: in Krawell's life. He felt that Obama was a Muslim. 430 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:00,919 Speaker 1: I think there were racists under tones that I had 431 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:05,399 Speaker 1: never heard from him before. I mean, he fought in 432 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:09,840 Speaker 1: the Gulf War next to all ethnicities, so this was 433 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:12,160 Speaker 1: kind of something new to me, and I think that 434 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 1: is kind of an undercurrent of right wing media. You 435 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,040 Speaker 1: might have guessed that Denis's politics aren't the same as 436 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:22,120 Speaker 1: her brothers. The two drifted apart as Donovan latched onto 437 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,359 Speaker 1: Donald Trump in and became increasingly immersed in a paranoid 438 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: world of conspiracy theories. I didn't put up with it, 439 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:32,719 Speaker 1: where everybody else would just be like, yeah, yeah, just 440 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:34,280 Speaker 1: to get him to shut up, I would tell him, 441 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:38,400 Speaker 1: you're a moron. Think about what you're saying. I mean, 442 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: the mental gymnastics that he would have to do to 443 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:46,840 Speaker 1: justify FEMA camps and Hillary eating babies and just all 444 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:52,000 Speaker 1: of this stuff. It's just absolutely ridiculous. It was around 445 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:55,199 Speaker 1: this time that Denis's relationship with her brother fell apart. 446 00:27:56,680 --> 00:27:59,560 Speaker 1: In two thousand and sixteen, Denisa went to a family gathering. 447 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 1: On first day she wore an I'm with her T shirt, 448 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:05,360 Speaker 1: meaning she was going to vote for Hillary, and then 449 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:07,879 Speaker 1: the second day, I wore a nasty woman T shirt 450 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:12,840 Speaker 1: that went over not well at all. Sure enough, it's 451 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 1: set Donovan off, and the ensuing argument would be the 452 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: last time they'd speak for quite a while. In fact, 453 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:24,359 Speaker 1: Denissa wouldn't hear Donovan's voice until January, when she heard 454 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:33,280 Speaker 1: a now familiar clip on the news The Capol Donovan 455 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:35,679 Speaker 1: Krowll is looking it up to twenty years in prison 456 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 1: for his part in the Rangers stack that preached the capital. Meanwhile, 457 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: Stewart Rhodes, Crowl's commander is a freeman. This could simply 458 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:49,160 Speaker 1: be because Rhodes is so careful. Tasha describes a level 459 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 1: of paranoia that has no doubt served him well since 460 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,720 Speaker 1: the insurrection. He's very, very aware of being recorded and 461 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 1: monitored at all times. He won't even talk in a house. 462 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:01,560 Speaker 1: If he wants to have private conversation with someone, they'll 463 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:03,840 Speaker 1: take off their smart watches, they'll take off their phones, 464 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 1: and they'll stand in the woods somewhere and talk under 465 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:09,040 Speaker 1: the covers of trees so satellites can't read their lips. 466 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:13,000 Speaker 1: Maybe that's why Stewart wasn't eager to do an interview 467 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 1: with me. But what if there's another explanation for his paranoia. 468 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,239 Speaker 1: It was in two thousand and fourteen Natasha decided she 469 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,360 Speaker 1: had to escape her marriage, and at around this point 470 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:27,360 Speaker 1: Rhodes seemed to unravel following a secret meeting with the FBI. 471 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,800 Speaker 1: Is it possible this meeting is the reason that he 472 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:34,360 Speaker 1: hasn't gone to prison. I'm not sure what happened, but 473 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,760 Speaker 1: he seemed to really melt down after that. And I 474 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:39,560 Speaker 1: don't know if they threatened him with, you know, with 475 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: possible arrest, or if he made a deal with them 476 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: and possibly worked as an informant after that. I don't 477 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: know what happened, but he really melted it down after that, 478 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:51,960 Speaker 1: and that became dangerous. Is Stewart Rhodes a federal informant? 479 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 1: It might explain why so many members of his organization 480 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: are in prison on conspiracy charges while the alleged chief 481 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:02,480 Speaker 1: conspirator remains free. But people are starting to talk. When 482 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: Rhodes attended Sea Pack, one of the biggest conservative gatherings 483 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:09,320 Speaker 1: of the year, in July, he was accosted by an 484 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:14,120 Speaker 1: Alright media influencer, both keeper Guy right Hey fake for 485 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:19,400 Speaker 1: your service. We'll love our federal informants. Oh, the macho 486 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:22,600 Speaker 1: militia man is being mocked on a live stream, taunted 487 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,600 Speaker 1: about being a federal informant. Explain why you haven't been yet? 488 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:29,280 Speaker 1: There's no and you've avoid at all conspiracy charges so far. 489 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 1: The react of my ass right now, I want to 490 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:40,400 Speaker 1: go outside and fight the fucking go fight. While Stewart 491 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:43,720 Speaker 1: Rhodes defends his honor at Sea Pack, Donovan Crowell waits 492 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:47,520 Speaker 1: for the justice system to decide his fate. His sister, 493 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:50,840 Speaker 1: Danissa feels like her brother has been used and discarded. 494 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,680 Speaker 1: I don't know where he goes from here. I just 495 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:59,680 Speaker 1: I don't know. I missed my brother. Denisa has spoken 496 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 1: to don open once or twice since his arrest by 497 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:05,800 Speaker 1: the FBI in January. To me, at least the way 498 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: she describes it, their interactions leave open a possibility of 499 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,720 Speaker 1: the kind of redemption simply not possible for a man 500 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:16,520 Speaker 1: like Stuart Rhodes. I said, Donovan, I love you. What 501 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:20,400 Speaker 1: are you doing here? He said? We used to have 502 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 1: each other's back, and I don't understand how you know 503 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:29,640 Speaker 1: what happened, But I love you too, and you know 504 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:33,120 Speaker 1: I saw a little bit of the old Donovan, but 505 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:37,160 Speaker 1: the old Donovan never lasts long. Donovan and Denis's mother 506 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:41,160 Speaker 1: died of cancer in August. When she was on her deathbed, 507 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 1: she would have occasional phone calls with her eldest son. 508 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,280 Speaker 1: When Donovan would call her when she was in the hospital, 509 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: all he would do was rail against the medical establishment 510 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:55,720 Speaker 1: and saying all she needed was hydrogen peroxide. My mom 511 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:58,760 Speaker 1: would just essentially set the phone down or say she 512 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 1: had to go because he would get fired up talking 513 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:07,160 Speaker 1: about how not to take the vaccine and that the 514 00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:14,120 Speaker 1: hospital was trying to kill her. The oath Keepers have 515 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:16,200 Speaker 1: gotten a lot of attention in the months since the 516 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 1: Capital riot, but when it comes to militia's in the 517 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 1: United States, Stuart Rhodes and his oath Keepers are just 518 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:26,600 Speaker 1: the start of the story. The malicious scene is highly fragmented, 519 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:30,040 Speaker 1: with hundreds of groups constantly forming and splintering, some with 520 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:33,120 Speaker 1: three or four members and many with dozens of people involved. 521 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: This depressing prospect makes me think back to the Zelo 522 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:42,440 Speaker 1: audio that Hampton Stall recorded on J six. For all 523 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:48,560 Speaker 1: the funny stuff about hot wiring, snowplows and playing with 524 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 1: Biden's leg hair, there were a few voices in the 525 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 1: chat that sounded like they meant business. At some point 526 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:02,400 Speaker 1: during the riot, a mysterious General E drops by his 527 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:05,760 Speaker 1: moniker and obvious play on the Confederate General Robert E. 528 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 1: Lee General stop the still j six. General E proceeds 529 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:13,600 Speaker 1: to sketch out a plan for continuing the campaign on 530 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:17,840 Speaker 1: January seven. The premise is far fetched, but it does 531 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:20,920 Speaker 1: sound like he has equipment and manpower. First thing in 532 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:22,920 Speaker 1: the morning, we are heading out in a convoy. We 533 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:26,600 Speaker 1: have armored vehicles coming from Texas, North Texas, South Texas. 534 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:28,520 Speaker 1: We will be moving in a convoy up to d 535 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 1: C the next two and a half days. We're going 536 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:34,440 Speaker 1: to meet in a sibyl at the Virginia river line. 537 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:39,200 Speaker 1: All Detrious and Melissa man need to report to the 538 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:42,600 Speaker 1: river on the Virginia side. We will be assembling there 539 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:46,520 Speaker 1: and we'll be taking our capital back. The good General's plan, 540 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:50,320 Speaker 1: of course, is utter madness, but so is the Capital riot. 541 00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:53,479 Speaker 1: And there are voices in the group who sound like 542 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 1: they want to sign up. Generally, this is uh Gator, 543 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,960 Speaker 1: even if it is someone called ead. Our group wants 544 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:06,720 Speaker 1: to link up with you and move in. If you 545 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:12,080 Speaker 1: could please contact me. You have my number and Gator 546 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:16,719 Speaker 1: isn't the only voice Jones in for treason. General E uh, 547 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:20,400 Speaker 1: this is bad Land's actual I just sent a request 548 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:24,760 Speaker 1: on Zello. Can you side Porch please? Now? This second 549 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:28,080 Speaker 1: attempt at a coup never materialized. Within twenty four hours 550 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,800 Speaker 1: of the Capitol Riot, d C was flooded with National 551 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:34,680 Speaker 1: Guard troops who embedded there for weeks. So we'll never 552 00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:37,399 Speaker 1: know whether our General E and company would have gone 553 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:41,040 Speaker 1: through with their tough talk. But when it comes to 554 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: domestic terrorism, I'm usually inclined to take people at their word. 555 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:48,640 Speaker 1: So the million dollar question remains, what can we do 556 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:57,360 Speaker 1: about these guys? Here's Hampton Stall. I don't think that 557 00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:00,920 Speaker 1: the FBI or DHS or whom have or else is 558 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:04,279 Speaker 1: going to be able to like shoot their way out 559 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 1: of this problem. I don't think they're going to be 560 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:08,800 Speaker 1: able to jail their way out of this problem. I 561 00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:10,520 Speaker 1: don't think they're gonna be able to like no knockerate 562 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:13,160 Speaker 1: their way out of this problem. Of like militia involvement 563 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:17,040 Speaker 1: in the United States, it could be termed as a 564 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:20,040 Speaker 1: hyper low level insurgency at this point, and I think 565 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:23,120 Speaker 1: a security approach will only serve to escalate that insurgency 566 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:28,560 Speaker 1: into like, very real like violence. So I'm not sure 567 00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:36,160 Speaker 1: it's going to be as effective as everybody's hoping. The 568 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:38,680 Speaker 1: idea that a bunch of disparate militias armed with a 569 00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:41,680 Speaker 1: motley assortment of rivals could present a threat to the U. 570 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:45,960 Speaker 1: S Military is often mocked by liberals. It shouldn't be. 571 00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:49,720 Speaker 1: On January six, some of these people were seconds away 572 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:53,520 Speaker 1: from potentially capturing elected leaders, and god knows what might 573 00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:56,719 Speaker 1: have happened. Then, when we write these groups off as 574 00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:00,400 Speaker 1: y'all Kaida country bumpkins doomed to lose any fight they start, 575 00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:03,359 Speaker 1: we're allowing our own biases to blind us to a 576 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:08,240 Speaker 1: very real threat. World history is filled with small groups 577 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:11,279 Speaker 1: of armed and motivated people who, through a mix of 578 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:16,280 Speaker 1: daring and blind bravado, changed the world, often for the worse. 579 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:20,359 Speaker 1: Perhaps the most frightening thing about people like Rhads isn't 580 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:22,719 Speaker 1: that they might overthrow the government or even start the 581 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:25,880 Speaker 1: civil war that many of them fantasize about. It's the 582 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:29,080 Speaker 1: fact that they have increasingly deep ties two elected leaders 583 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:32,160 Speaker 1: on the right. Imagine what might happen if these people 584 00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:36,480 Speaker 1: find themselves supported and empowered by an administration all too 585 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,960 Speaker 1: happy to cut them loose against the enemies of the people. 586 00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:44,440 Speaker 1: It's happened before in Germany, Rwanda, Bosnia, and a thousand 587 00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:48,840 Speaker 1: bloody little conflicts all over the globe. There's nothing written 588 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:59,040 Speaker 1: in the stars that says it can't happen here. Next time, 589 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:01,480 Speaker 1: we're going to look at a very different activists from 590 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:04,960 Speaker 1: Stewart Rhodes, a militant whose weapon of choice is memes. 591 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:09,000 Speaker 1: An l a rapper addicted to online engagement who served 592 00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:13,040 Speaker 1: the social media algorithms, cruising through music and politics before 593 00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:16,680 Speaker 1: finally reaching the capital with an outrageous plan in mind. 594 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:22,680 Speaker 1: Hey let's call Trump. Let's call Trump yet, so join 595 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:25,080 Speaker 1: me in episode four as we meet the guy that 596 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:29,000 Speaker 1: everyone overlooked, including myself, with dire consequences,