U.S. judge to consider Oath Keepers founder's bid to await trial in Texas

[February 04, 2022]    By Jan Wolfe

(Reuters) - The detained founder of the right-wing Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, obtained a court order on Thursday that bolsters his effort to remain in a Texas jail while he awaits trial on charges of seditious conspiracy for his role in last year's U.S. Capitol attack.

Oath Keepers militia founder Stewart Rhodes poses during an interview session in Eureka, Montana, U.S. June 20, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo

Rhodes has argued that if he must be detained while awaiting trial, he should remain in his current location - the Fannin County Jail in Bonham, Texas - where he says he can more easily meet with his Texas-based defense lawyers.

In a brief written order, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in the District of Columbia said the U.S. Marshals Service should not transport Rhodes from Texas to Washington until Mehta "has held a detention hearing and determined Mr. Rhodes’s detention status."

The order marked a reversal for Mehta, who one day earlier said Rhodes should be quickly moved to Washington.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

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