EXCLUSIVE REPORTING: Hatewatch Releases Interview With Children of Oath Keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new report released today by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) Hatewatch provides an inside look at Oath Keeper founder Stewart Rhodes, as told by his three adult children. In an exclusive interview, the children, Dakota, Sedona and Sequoia Adams, spoke extensively about suffering emotional, psychological, financial and physical abuse at Rhodes’ hands throughout their childhood.
“While building the far-right Oath Keepers organization, which claims more than 30,000 law enforcement officers, soldiers and military veterans, Stewart Rhodes was terrorizing his family,” said SPLC Senior Investigative Reporter Jason Wilson, who authored the report. “Like so many other leaders in the far-right, it is also clear he is an opportunist, enriching himself with the business of hate.”
The children revealed that Rhodes was used public appearances and Oath Keepers operations to keep donations flowing and then often spent money generated to indulge in lavish meals, travel, and to buy high end firearms and survivalist gear. All while his family struggled to make ends meet and dealt with his abusive and erratic behavior.
They also say that Rhodes belief that an incoming Biden administration would move to prosecute him over past misdeeds led him to "double down" with the "stop the steal" conspiracy narrative. He is currently being held while awaiting trial for his role in the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol.
Hatewatch previously reported Rhodes' ex-wife alleged widespread abuse in a petition for a restraining order in 2018. The petition included details of erratic and violent behavior.
Read the full report here.
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The Southern Poverty Law Center is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people. For more information, visit www.splcenter.org.
