George Graham

Arrest This Man!

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Lawmakers have no excuse for letting Stewart Rhodes remain free. It seems obvious to me that he belongs behind bars.

Rhodes is founder and director of Oath Keepers, which proclaims itself:

… a non-partisan association of current and formerly serving military, reserves, National Guard, veterans, Peace Officers, and Fire Fighters who will fulfill the Oath we swore, with the support of like minded citizens who take an Oath to stand with us, to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help us God. Our Oath is to the Constitution.

Members of the group promise to disobey any government order that (they think) violates the US Constitution. The organization has a history of provocative behavior (photo above).

It was involved in the recent showdown at the Cliven Bundy ranch, in which militia members pointed loaded guns at federal agents. And Rhodes has since been videotaped admitting he distributed ammunition to “mentally imbalanced” insurgents at the ranch. He is also shown on tape boasting that the ammunition was intended for use against the federal government.

Can you imagine the media response if Rhodes and the other militia types were Black Panthers? Can you imagine how law officers would have responded to their defiance of the law?

But Rhodes – a Yale Law School graduate, ex-US Army paratrooper, and former Ron Paul staffer – is white. And the Bundy insurgency was driven in large part by white-power forces.

Apparently there’s a different law in America for white “patriots” than for black protesters.

So far, the only media source I’ve seen calling for Rhodes’ arrest is a web site named the Daily Kos. They point out that it is a violation of Federal law to distribute ammunition to anyone you believe is mentally ill. They display the video and argue that Rhodes “is a dangerous domestic terrorist” who has admitted committing treason.

It’s an argument that deserves to be heard in a court of law.

Click for the Daily Kos article.

About the author

gwgraeme

I am a Jamaican-born writer who has lived and worked in Canada and the United States. I live in Lakeland, Florida with my wife, Sandra, our three cats and two dogs. I like to play golf and enjoy our garden, even though it's a lot of work. Since retiring from newspaper reporting I've written a few books. I also write a monthly column for Jamaicans.com