Stewart Rhodes restarted Soath Keepers. Even the old Oath Keepers don’t care

Stuart Rhodes announced Last week he was relaunching the Oath Keepers, his anti-government militia that effectively disappeared after dozens of its members — including Rhodes — were arrested for their role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Speaking to Gateway Pundit this week, Rhodes says he sees the reboot group as playing a role in fighting what he calls a “revolt of the left” on the streets of US cities. “Currently, under federal law, President Trump can call us up as a militia if he deems it necessary, specifically for three purposes: repelling invasion, suppressing insurgency, and enforcing the laws of the Union,” Rhodes said.

But in the days since Rhodes announced his return, experts, former members and online chatter indicate there is no interest in relaunching what was at one point one of the largest militias in America, with a leaked database listing an estimated 38,000 members in 2021.

But even the former Oath Keepers are not interested. Janet Arroyo, who ran an Oath Keeper chapter in Chino Valley, Arizona with her husband, Jim Arroyo, before the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, said they had not heard from Rhodes in six years and had no plans to join his group.

“He has had no contact during his incarceration or since he was released,” Arroyo said. “No hard feelings, but we’re doing what we’re doing and not spending too much time wondering what he’s up to. DC’s stupid stunt has scared a lot of great patriots into hiding. My guess is he’s not going to make it.”

Another Oath Defender, Jessica Watkins, an Army veteran who was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for her role in the attack on Congress, said she hadn’t even heard of the reboot when contacted by WIRED this week. “I haven’t heard of a reboot, but most of the J6s I know are trying to rebuild their lives,” Watkins says. Felons are not allowed to be on or work with sworn officers.

Kelly Maggs, who headed the Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers and was convicted of treason for his role in the attack on the Capitol, says he will not join the relaunched Oath Keepers group because he fears he will be targeted again when Democrats return to power. “I’m more concerned about the future,” Meggs says. “I think four or five years from now, eight years from now, 12 years from now, whenever it is, anyone who is a member of these organizations is going to be at risk of what I went through.”