Stewart Rhodes (Founder of Oathkeepers) talks about our need to prepare for a revolution.
August 9th, 2012
Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock
9 a.m. - Noon (EST)
Studio Line: 602-264-2800
Hour 1
Stewart Rhodes
Founder and President of Oathkeepers
Army Veteran
Attorney
Declaration Of Orders We Will Not Obey
“The time is now near at hand
which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or
Slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own;
whether their Houses, and Farms, are to be pillaged and destroyed, and
they consigned to a State of Wretchedness from which no human efforts
will probably deliver them. The fate of unborn Millions will now depend,
under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this army” -- Gen. George
Washington, to his troops before the battle of Long Island
Such a time is near at hand again. The fate of unborn millions will
now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this Army -- and this Marine Corps, This Air Force, This Navy and the National Guard and police units of these sovereign states.
Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of currently serving
military, reserves, National Guard, peace officers, fire-fighters, and
veterans who swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution
against all enemies, foreign and domestic … and meant it. We won’t “just
follow orders.”
Below is our declaration of orders we will NOT obey because we will
consider them unconstitutional (and thus unlawful) and immoral
violations of the natural rights of the people. Such orders would be
acts of war against the American people by their own government, and
thus acts of treason. We will not make war against our own people. We
will not commit treason. We will defend the Republic.
Declaration of Orders We Will NOT Obey
Recognizing that we each swore an oath to support and defend the
Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and affirming
that we are guardians of the Republic, of the principles in our
Declaration of Independence, and of the rights of our people, we affirm
and declare the following:
1. We will NOT obey any order to disarm the American people.
The attempt to disarm the people on April 19, 1775 was the spark of
open conflict in the American Revolution. That vile attempt was an act
of war, and the American people fought back in justified, righteous
self-defense of their natural rights. Any such order today would also be
an act of war against the American people, and thus an act of treason.
We will not make war on our own people, and we will not commit treason
by obeying any such treasonous order.
Nor will we assist, or support any such attempt to disarm the people by other government entities, either state or federal.
In addition, we affirm that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to
preserve the military power of the people so that they will, in the
last resort, have effective final recourse to arms and to the God of
Hosts in the face of tyranny. Accordingly, we oppose any and all further
infringements on the right of the people to keep and bear arms. In
particular we oppose a renewal of the misnamed “assault-weapons” ban or
the enactment of H.R. 45 (which would register and track gun owners like
convicted pedophiles).
2. We will NOT obey any order to conduct warrantless searches
of the American people, their homes, vehicles, papers, or effects --
such as warrantless house-to house searches for weapons or persons.
One of the causes of the American Revolution was the use of “writs of
assistance,” which were essentially warrantless searches because there
was no requirement of a showing of probable cause to a judge, and the
first fiery embers of American resistance were born in opposition to
those infamous writs. The Founders considered all warrantless searches
to be unreasonable and egregious. It was to prevent a repeat of such
violations of the right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects that the Fourth Amendment was written.
We expect that sweeping warrantless searches of homes and vehicles,
under some pretext, will be the means used to attempt to disarm the
people.
3. We will NOT obey any order to detain American citizens as
“unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to trial by military
tribunal.
One of the causes of the American Revolution was the denial of the
right to jury trial, the use of admiralty courts (military tribunals)
instead, and the application of the laws of war to the colonists. After
that experience, and being well aware of the infamous Star Chamber in
English history, the Founders ensured that the international laws of war
would apply only to foreign enemies, not to the American people. Thus,
the Article III Treason Clause establishes the only constitutional form
of trial for an American, not serving in the military, who is accused of
making war on his own nation. Such a trial for treason must be before a
civilian jury, not a tribunal.
The international laws of war do not trump our Bill of Rights. We
reject as illegitimate any such claimed power, as did the Supreme Court
in Ex Parte Milligan (1865). Any attempt to apply the laws of war to
American civilians, under any pretext, such as against domestic
“militia” groups the government brands “domestic terrorists,” is an act
of war and an act of treason.
4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state
of emergency” on a state, or to enter with force into a state, without
the express consent and invitation of that state’s legislature and
governor.
One of the causes of the American Revolution was the attempt “to
render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power” by
disbanding the Massachusetts legislature and appointing General Gage as
“military governor.” The attempt to disarm the people of Massachusetts
during that martial law sparked our Revolution. Accordingly, the power
to impose martial law – the absolute rule over the people by a military
officer with his will alone being law – is nowhere enumerated in our
Constitution.
Further, it is the militia of a state and of the several states that
the Constitution contemplates being used in any context, during any
emergency within a state, not the standing army.
The imposition of martial law by the national government over a state
and its people, treating them as an occupied enemy nation, is an act of
war. Such an attempted suspension of the Constitution and Bill of
Rights voids the compact with the states and with the people.
5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state
that asserts its sovereignty and declares the national government to be
in violation of the compact by which that state entered the Union.
In response to the obscene growth of federal power and to the
absurdly totalitarian claimed powers of the Executive, upwards of 20
states are considering, have considered, or have passed courageous
resolutions affirming states rights and sovereignty.
Those resolutions follow in the honored and revered footsteps of
Jefferson and Madison in their Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, and
likewise seek to enforce the Constitution by affirming the very same
principles of our Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights that we
Oath Keepers recognize and affirm.
Chief among those principles is that ours is a dual sovereignty
system, with the people of each state retaining all powers not granted
to the national government they created, and thus the people of each
state reserved to themselves the right to judge when the national
government they created has voided the compact between the states by
asserting powers never granted.
Upon the declaration by a state that such a breach has occurred, we
will not obey orders to force that state to submit to the national
government.
6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.
One of the causes of the American Revolution was the blockade of
Boston, and the occupying of that city by the British military, under
martial law. Once hostilities began, the people of Boston were tricked
into turning in their arms in exchange for safe passage, but were then
forbidden to leave. That confinement of the residents of an entire city
was an act of war.
Such tactics were repeated by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto, and by
the Imperial Japanese in Nanking, turning entire cities into death
camps. Any such order to disarm and confine the people of an American
city will be an act of war and thus an act of treason.
7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.
Mass, forced internment into concentration camps was a hallmark of
every fascist and communist dictatorship in the 20th Century. Such
internment was unfortunately even used against American citizens of
Japanese descent during World War II. Whenever a government interns its
own people, it treats them like an occupied enemy population. Oppressive
governments often use the internment of women and children to break the
will of the men fighting for their liberty – as was done to the Boers,
to the Jewish resisters in the Warsaw Ghetto, and to the Chechens, for
example.
Such a vile order to forcibly intern Americans without charges or trial
would be an act of war against the American people, and thus an act of
treason, regardless of the pretext used. We will not commit treason, nor
will we facilitate or support it.”NOT on Our Watch!”
8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of
any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the
peace” or to “maintain control” during any emergency, or under any
other pretext. We will consider such use of foreign troops against our
people to be an invasion and an act of war.
During the American Revolution, the British government enlisted the
aid of Hessian mercenaries in an attempt to subjugate the rebellious
American people. Throughout history, repressive regimes have enlisted
the aid of foreign troops and mercenaries who have no bonds with the
people.
Accordingly, as the militia of the several states are the only
military force contemplated by the Constitution, in Article I, Section
8, for domestic keeping of the peace, and as the use of even our own
standing army for such purposes is without such constitutional support,
the use of foreign troops and mercenaries against the people is wildly
unconstitutional, egregious, and an act of war.
We will oppose such troops as enemies of the people and we will treat
all who request, invite, and aid those foreign troops as the traitors
they are.
9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of
the American people, including food and other essential supplies, under
any emergency pretext whatsoever.
One of the causes of the American Revolution was the seizure and
forfeiture of American ships, goods, and supplies, along with the
seizure of American timber for the Royal Navy, all in violation of the
people’s natural right to their property and to the fruits of their
labor. The final spark of the Revolution was the attempt by the
government to seize powder and cannon stores at Concord.
Deprivation of food has long been a weapon of war and oppression,
with millions intentionally starved to death by fascist and communist
governments in the 20th Century alone.
Accordingly, we will not obey or facilitate orders to confiscate food
and other essential supplies from the people, and we will consider all
those who issue or carry out such orders to be the enemies of the
people.
10. We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right
of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition
their government for a redress of grievances.
There would have been no American Revolution without fiery speakers
and writers such as James Otis, Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, and Sam
Adams “setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”
Patrick Henry: “Give me Liberty, or Give me DEATH!”
Tyrants know that the pen of a man such as Thomas Paine can cause
them more damage than entire armies, and thus they always seek to
suppress the natural rights of speech, association, and assembly.
Without freedom of speech, the people will have no recourse but to arms.
Without freedom of speech and conscience, there is no freedom.
Therefore, we will not obey or support any orders to suppress or violate
the right of the people to speak, associate, worship, assemble,
communicate, or petition government for the redress of grievances.
— And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm
reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually affirm our
oath and pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred
Honor. Oath Keepers
The above list is not exhaustive but we do
consider them to be clear tripwires – they form our “line in the sand,”
and if we receive such orders, we will not obey them. Further, we will
know that the time for another American Revolution is nigh. If you the
people decide that you have no recourse, and such a revolution comes, at
that time, not only will we NOT fire upon our fellow Americans who
righteously resist such egregious violations of their God given rights,
we will join them in fighting against those who dare attempt to enslave
them.
NOTE: please also read our Principles of Our Republic We Are Sworn to Defend
More About Oath Keepers
Oath Keepers is a non partisan association of currently serving
military, peace officers, fire-fighters, and veterans who will fulfill
our oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies,
foreign and domestic, so help us God.
Our oath is to the Constitution, not to the politicians, and not to
any political party. In the long-standing tradition of the U.S.
military, we are apolitical. We don’t care if unlawful orders come from a
Democrat or a Republican, or if the violation is bi-partisan. We will
not obey unconstitutional (and thus unlawful) and immoral orders, such
as orders to disarm the American people or to place them under martial
law. We won’t “just follow orders.” Our motto: “Not on Our Watch!” or to
put it even more succinctly, in the words of 101st Airborne Commander
General Anthony McAuliffe at the Battle of the Bulge, “NUTS!”
There is at this time a debate within the ranks of the military
regarding their oath. Some mistakenly believe they must follow any order
the President issues. But many others do understand that their loyalty
is to the Constitution and to the people, and understand what that
means.
The mission of Oath Keepers is to vastly increase their numbers.
We are in a battle for the hearts and minds of our own troops.
Help us win it.
www.oathkeepers.org
PLEASE DONATE AND SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS
Oath Keepers is growing FAST, but like
General Patton, we are outpacing our own supply lines. Your donations
are “fuel” for our advance!
Feature Article • More about 
Feature Article • More about 
