A federal judge on Friday ruled that Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes must remain in jail while he awaits trial after prosecutors revealed new Signal app messages where Rhodes allegedly called January 6 “the final nail in the coffin of our republic” and instructed his followers to “prepare for violence.”
The messages from the encrypted app were presented during hearings Wednesday and Friday, according to CNN. The communications allegedly show how Rhodes advocated for then-President Donald Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and repeatedly urged his followers to be ready “to act” without Trump’s support.
“Be prepared for a major letdown on the 6th to the 8th, and be ready to do it ourselves,” one message read aloud in court said. “He must know that if he doesn’t act, we will. He has to understand that we will have no choice,” said another message.
“If Trump failed to invoke the Insurrection Act before he left office, patriots should… prepare to walk the same path as the founding fathers,” Rhodes allegedly wrote, CNN reported, citing court documents.
Defense lawyers argued there is a lack of evidence Rhodes conspired with others before, during, or after January 6, and said that Rhodes’ cooperation with the government for over a year after the Capitol riot suggests he isn’t likely to flee and is not a threat to the public.
But federal district Judge Amit Mehta agreed with the prosecutor’s argument that the messages are evidence that Rhodes is too dangerous to be let out of jail while he awaits trial and ruled that Rhodes will be kept in jail.
