CCTV camera trained on Stewart Rhodes for 9 minutes at US Capitol
Capitol Police on Jan. 6, 2021, captured Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes III on a closed-circuit security camera—video that Mr. Rhodes says was never provided to him or his defense team before his 2022 seditious-conspiracy trial in U.S. District Court.
Security video obtained by The Epoch Times shows that one of the exterior terrace-level cameras was trained on Mr. Rhodes while he stood on the Upper Northwest Terrace at the Capitol between 2:51 p.m. and nearly 3:00 p.m.
In the video, Mr. Rhodes appeared to be attempting cell phone calls but was not having success. It appeared that he was interviewed briefly by a podcaster, then continued trying to make calls, the video shows.
Standing with Mr. Rhodes during the video were former Oath Keepers general counsel Kellye SoRelle and an unidentified Oath Keeper in a camouflage jacket with an Oath Keepers cap turned backward.
At one point, Mr. Rhodes walked just out of camera view. The footage shows a hand reaching in to give the camera a nudge, which kept Mr. Rhodes in view. It appears someone was at the camera location during at least part of the nine minutes Mr. Rhodes stood on that portion of the terrace.
“I never saw it,” Mr. Rhodes told The Epoch Times in a June phone interview from jail, referring to the nine minutes of CCTV video. Mr. Rhodes said the idea that he was being surveilled is “really creepy.”
Mr. Rhodes said an undercover police officer was “eyeballing me at the November rallies around the Supreme Court.”
“He testified at our trial,” Mr. Rhodes said. “They were trying to insinuate that we were casing the Capitol when we were there in November or December. It was just ridiculous. So their intelligence people were apparently aware of who I am because we were there prior.”
Mr. Rhodes and Ms. SoRelle appeared on the left side of the camera view at 2:51:36 p.m., the CCTV video shows.
The unidentified Oath Keeper followed Mr. Rhodes into the camera view shortly after. The man was likely providing security for Ms. SoRelle, one of Mr. Rhodes’s attorneys told The Epoch Times.
Mr. Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison in May for seditious conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, and tampering with documents or proceedings. He has filed an appeal.
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