MEL:
What sort of advice do you have or what, what would you guys as oath keepers be doing? Um, in the situation that's going on, uh, in North Carolina and the surrounding state.
STEWART:
Well, we did 14 hurricane relief missions plus some tornado relief and flood relief. So, in all of that experience, uh we never saw FEMA, never saw FEMA because we were out in the field. So thankfully didn't have to deal with some FEMA bureaucrat trying to micro-manage what we were doing. My advice would be to other people who have if you have any. police with officers with you and any police or law enforcement officers, um, any fire ems. search and rescue, just make sure that you have one of each on your team if you can. And when you approach law enforcement officers, let your cops talk to cops; that smooths things over and we never had any problem, well, very rarely had problems in the field just only on two occasions. Um, but for the most part, we had really good relationships with the guys on the ground actually doing the work. So we would never contact the sheriff's office and try to talk to the brass. or contact the National Guard Command and try to talk to the brass. We just ignored the brass and just went in on the ground and we had good relationships with, uh, with the guys on the ground. Like I said, we link up and I would go talk to the firefighters and I used to be a firefighter and we would have our, our, uh, our medics talk to their, their, their ems, we'd have our cops talk to their cops. And once they realized we had competent men that knew what they were doing in our team, then we just plug right in what do you need and we would just be a force multiplier. Um, and in the United States, we, we were always armed wherever we could be armed we were. And that also helped to uh provide something we could, we could offer them. So like in Hurricane Harvey, for example, in, in Texas, we wound up guarding the National Guard um, while they slept because the Louisiana National Guard came over to help, but they were not allowed to bring any weapons. They were completely unarmed and defenseless against looters. There were, you know, carjackers going on and truck jackings. and drug addicts running around, you know, trying to take advantage of the situation and, and looting. And so the National Guard asked for our help. So it was unofficial, this was like I said, boots on the ground, the guys on the ground. And so we, we actually did, uh, ride alongs with them. They, our guys with air 15 to jump in a, in a truck with them and while they went and delivered food and, and like I said, they would watch while they, while they slept. And the same thing happened with, with the, with the sheriff deputies, local sheriff deputies would come by in the middle of the night and ask for someone to go with them while they did a wellness check on somebody trying to find someone's relative didn't want to be by themselves. And so we would jump in the car and go with them. But that was all unofficial on the down low. And, um, very often we, that was necessary because the brass, if they knew they were doing that would of course say No. So that's the first thing you got to realize is there's a big difference between the guys on the ground doing the work and the ones that are back in some office, some place who are more likely to get their feathers ruffled by somebody coming in. So that happened during Hurricane Katrina, we weren't, we weren't there. We weren't, you know, formed up yet. But during hurricane Katrina, you had, uh, people who had boats who were trying to go in and, and rescue people being turned away, they've been told to go away and being threatened with arrest. So my advice, if you, if you know, if you do all your best, you can to work with the locals and, and uh plug in. But if that doesn't work and you're still being threatened with arrest, then just find another way to get there, just flow around the obstacles and go do the work. It's ridiculous and dishonorable for them to try to tell you if you have competent, trained men, uh, that you cannot help. It's ridiculous. And so, uh I don't think I would, I would let that bother me or to stop you. I would just find another way to get there. So that's my best advice is flow around those obstacles, you know, improvise a gap and overcome.
MEL:
Yeah. Well, there's a, there's a phrase that's been floating around, uh, elite panic. Um, and it suggests that, uh, you know, the powers that be, don't want, you know, the, the pleads to realize that they can actually take care of themselves. You know, they, they want, they want us all to think that we, we must have the government, we must have these people come to our rescue. Um, you know, and it's the reason they don't want us farming or, or, or anything like that.
STEWART:
Right. Well, so that's, that's the, that's the mindset of the bureaucrats in Washington. But like I said, though, we, we, we never saw fema. I think fema is next to useless, um, for at least the 1st 30 days. So maybe after that they can bring in, maybe they'll bring in food or bring in, you know, trailers or whatever for you to live in, but they're not gonna help in, in the immediate immediate situation. They are gonna get in the way. That's just my two cents. So I think people are going to help like the Cajun Navy did a great job in Texas and the Texas governor to his credit. I'm not a big fan of Abbott, but he did the right thing. And, and this call is from a federal prison. The public appeal to the Texas, to the, uh, to the Cajun Navy. The guys who flap those from, from Louisiana to come to Texas and help and they did and they did a great job. So I think that's, that's, that's true across the country is that people who are competent, who know what they're doing are going to show up to help and they should be allowed to help. And like I said, they just have to flow around the bureaucracy. Just understand that, that the bureaucrats are always going to say no. So don't ask, you know, go to ask forgiveness and permission, just go do the work. And if, and if you are threatened with the rest for doing the work, then you have to make, make a decision, you know, what's best for you in that situation? Do you just go ahead and back off and, and find some place else to help? That might be the way to roll? It depends on what, what the situation is. like. I heard one interview on, on Wendy Bell of a helicopter pilot who was told he had to leave a man abandoned on a, on a mountain side. Um If it was me, I go pick him up and gone someplace else if they can't arrest you if you flying through, through the air. So I think you have to pick that man up to leave him stranded like that, you know. So you just just do what you can to be to, to be helpful, to be as honorable as you can and don't let other people get in your way of helping you helping your fellow American. That's what I think we should be doing.
MEL:
Absolutely. When we've got another one on the way, it's oddly, uh, going west to east right through the middle of Florida. And then apparently there's another one coming right after that as well.
STEWART:
We did several hurricanes in, in Florida and, you know, sadly, you know, Panama Beach and there's some other pretty, pretty hard hit areas where people were killed. So, um, if you're going, if you wanna help them, the best thing you can do is, is, is make sure you're safe during the storm does no good to go in and become a victim yourself, but just be ready to go in, right? The storm passes to go in and rescue people. That's the best best uh general advice is to not become a victim yourself. If you wanna help, don't get in too soon because you'll just be washed away along with everybody else. So just be ready to go in afterwards.
MEL:
Absolutely. And, and I think if they get, if you can get there quickly enough afterward, um, then fema still hasn't made it there yet.
STEWART:
yeah, you can count on that. So that could be in your way and there's really good groups out there. The person does good work. But the one thing that we oath keepers have was built in security because we had retired police officers. and infantry veterans. Like I was, I was a paratrooper in the army. We had other guys who were built into the team. We had medics, we had search and rescue. We had ham radio operators to provide emergency communication. Uh We had a lot of assets that were built into our teams but, but security was always built in. So we were able to go into areas that other, other groups could not go into. We were able to go into places where there are, are gangs, for example, or uh, like I said, Carjack is going on. And so that was one thing we want. We were able to provide a security. We did security in Houston for a big warehouse full of, of, uh, really supplies in a gang infested area. You know, at the request of the owner of the building, we went in there and we did the same thing across, across the entire, you know, us south. Uh, at one point in Florida, we had, we did protection for two towns at the request of both, both their mayors. because the, uh, the sheriff department was so stretched, so, so thin that the, that the local firefighters were trying to guard the pharmacy, for example, the roof had been blown off the pharmacy and they're trying to guard it and they were just running double duty trying to do their work and they also trying to guard the pharmacy and it was just exhausted. So we went in there and, and, and took up the slack so they can go out there and do their work. So if you're a retired law enforcement, military veterans in particular, if you can go in and help with that kind of operation and do it, you know, of course, do it, uh, as professionally as possible. that he could be an asset because other groups are, they don't, they don't have weapons, they're not able to provide security.
It's. just frustrating that, that I'm not able to go help, you know, here
MEL:
I'm sure that it's so hard for you.
STEWART:
It's disturbing that, you know, here I am as a political prisoner basically in my own country and I can't be out there helping people. Um, but, you know, my word to all the veterans out there is, don't let the weenies stop you from doing the right thing. There's plenty of people out there that are so fearful and I've seen it over the years, you know, we're gonna get trouble, you know. Yes, that's possible. I mean, here I sit, I don't belong here, but here I am. But you, you gotta do it honorable and right.
MEL:
Yeah. Absolutely. Ok. Stewart. Well, thank you so much for sharing what you your thoughts are on this situation and we’re looking forward to you being back out here to help us again.
STEWART:
Yeah, the other thing other folks could do is, of course. document what's happening. But I'm hearing, you know, rumors flying around that they're not counting the dead because they don't want people to know how many there there are
MEL:
very much
STEWART:
Like in the in the Hawaii fire. So you know, one thing locals can do is document video photographs, do your own documentation, sadly, you know, sadly. Alright. Thank you very much. Take care.
MEL
Thanks so much, Stewart. I'll talk to you soon.
STEWART
God bless.
MEL
God bless.
Stewart Rhodes on Hurricane Relief Efforts