Judging Freedom - Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes will stay in jail

Episode Date: February 21, 2022

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes will remain in jail while he awaits trial on charges that he plotted with other members of his militia group to attack the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2020, a federal judge ruled 2/18/22.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Resolve to earn your degree in the new year in the Bay with WGU. WGU is an online accredited university that specializes in personalized learning. With courses available 24-7 and monthly start dates, you can earn your degree on your schedule. You may even be able to graduate sooner than you think by demonstrating mastery of the material you know. Make 2025 the year you focus on your future. Learn more at wgu.edu. Hello there, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here with Judging Freedom. Today is Monday, February 21st, 2022. It's about 2.30 in the afternoon on the east coast of the United States. Late Friday afternoon, early evening, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. denied the application of Stuart Rhodes for bail.

This happens every day. Why is that significant? Well, Stuart Rhodes is the leader of the Oath Keepers, a group that was indicted by the federal government for conspiracy to overthrow the government of the United States of America. Now, it's inconceivable that 11 people, any 11 people, could overthrow the federal government. But any agreement to do so, where a step has been taken in furtherance of the agreement, will actually constitute a conspiracy under the law. Mr. Rhodes, as the leader of the group, a notorious leader of the group because he's so out there, was arrested with everyone else. Well, they were arrested at different times and places. Some were given bail.

Most were not. He made the application for bail, which was denied by the federal magistrate who signed the search warrant that was appealed to the federal district court judge in D.C. where he will be tried. And that judge late Friday denied it. I have a problem with there being no bail. The problem is that the Constitution specifically says unreasonable bail shall not be required. This is what British kings did. They arrested their opponents and then judges who were subject to the king for their salaries issued orders for outrageous bail that nobody could ever meet.

The effect was to lock somebody up before they were proven guilty and to wear down their resistance by the conditions in jail. That's exactly what's happening here. The judge said that Rhodes is a danger to society. So what? The government has the means to secure his return. The electronic surveillance available to the government today is as effective as putting him in jail. Government, of course, doesn't see it that way because it wants to punish him before he's convicted and it wants to wear him down. The government showed the federal district court judge speeches and copies of emails and texts that Mr. Rhodes had sent, which are incendiary and which make it sound like there is going to

be a conflagration on January 6th, be ready for it. But none of what I read shows Rhodes as instigating the conflagration, just as expecting one. Look, the government has a lot of problems with these cases that involve conspiracy, because a conspiracy is an agreement. Well, you have the right to enter into an agreement. You have the right to assemble and you have the freedom of speech. The question is, was this a real crime? And the government's going to have to prove it. We also know that there was either an undercover FBI agent or a cooperating witness in Mr. Rhodes's group. And that leads to the question, what did the government know and when did it know it? So the judge's decision is not that Rhodes is guilty. Judges can't make that decision. Only

juries can. But the judge's decision is that there's a lot of evidence of his proclivity to violence and therefore he should be kept in jail. Again, I say baloney. Give him an ankle bracelet, put a guard outside his house and let him have the freedom to communicate with his lawyers and his friends and his family like a person who is innocent has. After all, he is innocent until proven guilty. Judge Napolitano, judging freedom. Thank you.