The largest chapter of the Oath Keepers sharply criticized its national leader for the breach of the Capitol on January 6, when several Oath Keepers in military gear went through the building’s doors. Oath Keepers national head, Stewart Rhodes, was present outside the Capitol and in communication with the group’s members there that day, some of whom are targets of the FBI’s investigation into the riot. The Oath Keepers is a 12-year-old organization whose members swear to uphold their oath to the U.S. Constitution and regularly bear arms and wear military gear in public; the FBI calls the group an anti-government militia movement. Sharyn Alfonsi reports on the Oath Keepers on the next edition of 60 Minutes, Sunday, April 18 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
So far 13 members associated with the Oath Keepers have been arrested for the assault on the Capitol. One has pled guilty and agreed to help in the ongoing investigation. Their members wearing combat gear can be clearly seen in footage making their way through the crowd in a military “stack formation” and entering the Capitol doors when they were breached. The move piqued the ire of Jim Arroyo, vice president of the Arizona chapter of Oath Keepers.
“I want to congratulate Stewart Rhodes and his 10 militia buddies for winning first place in the ultimate dumbass contest, because that’s what it was,” Arroyo says. “That goes against everything we’ve ever taught, everything we believe in. It was pre-planned. It was pre-staged. Ten guys go and do something stupid and suddenly, we’re the devil,” he tells Alfonsi.
Members of the Arizona chapter even suggest that those charged are not Oath Keepers. “It could have been a false flag,” says Mike Rice.
Cathy York echoed that sentiment, but acknowledged, “It could have been. They’re stupid people. It’s stupid. We don’t do that. That’s not Oath Keepers.”
Rice adds, “How are you going to take an oath to defend the Constitution and then try to disturb a session of Congress during what’s supposed to be one of our most precious political things…the transfer of power?”
Arroyo says the national Oath Keepers, including Rhodes, aren’t listening to their concerns. “He refuses to talk to us –we have made multiple attempts through national. I have not had direct contact with Stewart. My honest opinion is if there’s any honor left in this organization at the upper levels, they will deal with it.”
Rhodes declined to be interviewed by 60 Minutes. Photos and phone records place Stewart Rhodes on the Capitol steps on January 6, communicating with Oath Keepers before they went into the Capitol. Rhodes has not been charged.
60 Minutes attended a meeting of the Arizona Oath Keepers. They say Rhodes’ actions have divided the Oath Keeper movement and that there’s a larger civil war going on in the country right now.
“I think that we [are in a civil war]. You’ve got good versus evil right now going on in our country,” says York. And the evil is “Anybody that doesn’t support our Constitution and follow it., they’re trying to change it.”
Another member, Gary Harworth, agrees that we are in a civil war and says Oath Keepers are all the more important. “This country is divided right down the middle. And you’re on one side or the other,” he tells Alfonsi. “People have to realize that when things go crazy, things get a little chaos-y around you, you have to be able to take care of yourself, defend yourself, protect your family, those you love. That’s part of the Constitution.”