Oath Keepers Return From Prison, Vow to Act as Trump’s “Personal Militia”

AMARILLO — Fresh off an 18-year prison sentence that evaporated with a presidential pardon, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes has announced he’s “relaunching” the far-right militia to serve directly under Donald Trump—an idea no one involved seems to find alarming.

Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy for helping organize the January 6 attack on the Capitol, said the group’s “essential mission” is to stand ready under Trump’s command. “He can call us up any time,” Rhodes said.

He added that “God turned prison into training camp” and promised that this new version of the Oath Keepers would be “built to outlast me—just like delusion itself.”

Legal experts were quick to note that no president has the authority to deputize a private militia, but conceded that the Oath Keepers “don’t really do authority, or law, or reading.” Others expressed confusion over whether the group was a real militia or just a LARP troop with a legal fund.

Former members of the group say they’ve been contacted to rejoin, with one ex-marine confirming the new oath is “mostly the same—except this time it ends with ‘So help me Donald…’”