'Martyr' Stewart Rhodes built himself up as a modern-day Nelson Mandela: reporter
On CNN Wednesday, reporter Sara Sidner outlined how the conviction of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes for seditious conspiracy is unlikely to put an end to his brand of extremism.
Some experts have suggested the conviction will be a disaster for the ability of far-right paramilitaries to recruit. However, Sidner argued, Rhodes successfully cast himself as a victim of the system to followers, even comparing himself to Nelson Mandela, the legendary South African leader who spent years incarcerated for his movement to end the racist apartheid regime.
"You have reported quite a bit on these far-right groups; do you think these convictions do anything to deter those who might carry out acts like this?" asked anchor Alex Marquardt.
"It depends on who you're talking about," said Sidner. "In some cases, these people who have been convicted who a jury of their peers convicted in this case with plenty of evidence to go off of, some will be looked at as martyrs, we saw it in the court case as this case was going on. There are people there who stand with — they call themselves the January 6th Defenders, who believe they're being railroaded. There's no way to make that accusation in this case because the jury came back with a hodgepodged decision, not everyone was guilty of everything, but everyone was guilty of something."
Despite this, Sidner continued, Rhodes has built a persecution narrative for himself.
"You will see a leader like Stewart Rhodes has already, while he was in jail awaiting this trial — he already made himself into, in his own mind, a martyr, talking and likening himself to Nelson Mandela, talking about a dictatorship, how you have to fight for your rights even if that means you go to jail. Believe me when I say, these ideas they're not gone. They may be pushed down a bit in this particular group. But the ideas are still there. And they are still dangerous."
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