Elmer Stewart Rhodes, founder of Oath Keepers, took the stand Friday to defend himself against the charges that his far-right group had attempted to stop peaceful power transfer on January 6, 2021.
Rhodes was sometimes emotional and projected a more gentle image when he spoke about his sense of patriotic duty, and recounted the pain he felt with Yale Law School classmates on 9/11. Rhodes claimed that Oath Keepers provided veterans with a sense and purpose. He seemed tearful as he highlighted the high suicide rate in the community of ex-servicemembers.
However, he made the type of verbal error that defense lawyers hate when a client testifies.
Rhodes stated, “I support riot to Riot,” before correcting himself and saying, “I support right to protest.”
This is a still evolving story.
