A federal judge in Texas denied bail on Wednesday to Stewart Rhodes, who was charged with seditious conspiracy in the January 6 case, in part because of elaborate escape tunnels he had constructed in his back yard.
Rhodes, 56, the leader of the Oath Keepers, lived in fear of “being picked up by the feds.”
He had purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of razor wire for the perimeter of his Montana property, installed “elaborate escape tunnels,” and stashed unregistered cars hidden in the woods near his home.
Rhodes’ estranged former wife, Tasha Adams, reached out to the judge after a bail hearing on Monday asking for permission to offer this information to the court.
Adams also said that when she filed for divorce in 2018, Rhodes brandished weapons in their home “to control her behavior” and that he physically abused their six children “under the guise of participating in ‘martial arts practice.’” Adams said that Rhodes behavior had turned more violent in 2016 and that she feared he would murder her and their children before committing suicide.
Rhodes’ case is tentatively set to be heard in July of 2022, where prosecutors are saying he oversaw a complex plot “to oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power by force.”