2009

Elmer Stewart Rhodes

– 2009 Founder and National President of Oath Keepers
–

About Oath Keepers

Oath Keepers is an organization founded in 2009 by Elmer Stewart Rhodes, an Army veteran, former staffer for Congressman Ron Paul and 2004 graduate of Yale Law School. Launched in Lexington, Massachusetts, the group recruited current and former military, law enforcement and first responders around a pledge to honor their oath to the Constitution and to refuse orders its members considered unconstitutional, including any order to disarm law-abiding Americans.

The organization’s history changed sharply after the January 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. On November 29, 2022, a federal jury in Washington, D.C., convicted Rhodes of seditious conspiracy and evidence tampering in connection with that day, and in May 2023 Judge Amit Mehta sentenced him to 18 years in prison. Several other members were also convicted. On January 20, 2025, President Trump commuted Rhodes’ sentence to time served as part of a broad grant of clemency to January 6 defendants, and he was released the next day. Major news outlets have described the group as far-right; it is presented here for its documented history only.

Key Facts

2009: Oath Keepers founded by Stewart Rhodes and launched in Lexington, Massachusetts
December 8, 2015: Montana Supreme Court disbars Rhodes
November 29, 2022: Jury convicts Rhodes of seditious conspiracy related to January 6, 2021
May 2023: Rhodes sentenced to 18 years in federal prison
January 20, 2025: Sentence commuted to time served; released January 21, 2025

Sources

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