Quartzsite Police Officers Refuse to Follow Unlawful Orders

Full disclosure -- I am now the official legal counsel for both Jennifer Jones and for Ed Foster, the Mayor of Quartzsite, Arizona, regarding all of the many well documented abuses of their civil rights, and in particular, their First Amendment protected rights of free speech, assembly, as well as their rights to take part in the political process, by the Quartzsite Chief of Police and Town Council. This is in my individual capacity as a lawyer, not as the President of Oath Keepers. I want to make that clear. But I do see this as part of my responsibility to keep my oath, and in particular the oath I swore as a lawyer, to defend the Constitution. Sometimes the law can indeed be used as a sword of justice, so please wish me luck in helping them hold the town council and the Chief of Police accountable!

For the Republic,

Stewart Rhodes

Oath Keepers -- You may have heard about the situation in Quartzsite, Arizona. The town council and the Police Chief there are now in full spin mode in reaction to national media attention being focused on their well documented pattern of silencing political opponents by means of intimidation and false arrest, including at public meetings. Now they are claiming that there is an “emergency” which requires them to cancel normally scheduled and open public meetings, by claiming that they are in danger -- claiming they have received threats.

An easy way to cut through all the spin is to read the written report submitted by ten of the police officers in the Quartzsite Police Department, expressing their vote of no confidence in the Chief of Police, and requesting an independent investigation of misconduct by the Chief. Their letter lays out many violations of the law and of the rights of the people. This is from the men and women who work in that department, who feel compelled to step up and speak out, at risk of their jobs. These officers are a stellar example of what all police should be doing when unconstitutional behavior happens in their departments, and they are keeping their oaths. Our hats are off to them! The whole document is worth reading, but the following quotes are particularly valuable in understanding what is going on there:

From page 4 of the document: