At a Dec. 12 rally of Trump fans convened on the National Mall, Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes called on President Donald Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act in the wake of Democrat Joe Biden's imminent ascendency to the presidency of the United States, and declare martial law. Should Trump fail to do this, Rhodes said, Oath Keepers and its fellow travelers would be compelled to take matters into their own hands, in what he said would be a "much more bloody war."
The rally was convened jointly by the right-wing groups Jericho March and Phyllis Schlafly Eagles, and organized by the hard-right smear-monger Ali Alexander to protest what they claim, without credible evidence, was a massive fraud operation by the Democrats in the 2020 presidential election.
Rhodes also seemed to call for Trump to pardon Julian Assange "and put him in charge of doing a data dump," which would, in Rhodes' mind, expose the alleged fraudsters. The Insurrection Act would apparently permit the United States Special Operations Command, in Rhodes' reading, to "seize the files" that, per his scheme, would then be provided to Assange.
As Rhodes brought his "bloody war" speech to a close, emcee Eric Metaxas offered him a blessing, adding, "This guy's keepin' it real, folks."
Oath Keepers is a group formed in concert with the Tea Party movement that comprises a membership of law enforcement officers and veterans of the armed forces who pledge not to execute orders that they deem to be unconstitutional.
From Rhodes' rally speech, as livestreamed by Right Side Broadcasting:
RHODES: ...SOCOM and go seize all the files, all the databases, and he needs to free Julian Assange and put him in charge of doing a data dump to display to all of you all the skeletons out of the closet into the streets, show the world who the traitors are, and then use the Insurrection Act to drop the hammer on them. And all of us veterans who swore that oath--until you're age 65, you can be called up as the militia to support and defend the Constitution. He needs to know from you that you are with him, [and] that if he does not do it now while he is commander in chief, we're going to have to do it ourselves later, in a much more desperate, much more bloody war. Let's get it on now--while he is still the commander in chief.
METAXAS: Oh, God bless you. This guy's keepin' it real, folks. I thought we'd bring a little music from Marian Markarian.
