The ‘sacred’ pledge that will power the relaunch of far-right militia Oath Keepers

January 6 insurrectionists staging a come-back?

Alexander Lowie, University of Florida

Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia, announced in November 2025 that he will relaunch the group after it disbanded following his prison sentence in 2023.

Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other crimes committed during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

In January 2025, Donald Trump granted clemency to the over 1,500 defendants convicted of crimes connected to the storming of the Capitol.

Trump did not pardon Rhodes – or some others found guilty of the most serious crimes on Jan. 6. He instead commuted Rhodes’ sentence to time served. Commutation only reduces the punishment for a crime, whereas a full pardon erases a conviction.

As a political anthropologist I study the Patriot movement, a collection of anti-government right-wing groups that include the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Moms for Liberty. I specialize in alt-right beliefs, and I have interviewed people active in groups that participated in the Capitol riot.

Former Charlestown state Rep. Blake "Flip" Filippi represented the Oath Keepers
at this illegal rally. The town banned this rally because all its police were tied up
 in the search for the Boston Marathon Bombers.

Rhodes’ plans to relaunch the Oath Keepers, largely composed of current and former military veterans and law enforcement officers, is important because it will serve as an outlet for those who have felt lost since his imprisonment. 

The group claimed it had over 40,000 dues-paying members at the height of its membership during Barack Obama’s presidency. 

I believe that many of these people will return to the group, empowered by the lack of any substantial punishment resulting from the pardons for crimes committed on Jan. 6.

They're already working on the sequel

Here's Brett Ratner, producer of the "Melania" movie, from the latest Epstein files release

Who do you think you are?

Your Constitutional right to be safe in your home and person is being shredded by Trump

Breaking the Fourth Amendment

Joyce Vance

A day in the life in Minnesota

The Associated Press reported that ICE, contrary to longstanding Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, is taking the position that it can enter people’s homes without a judicial warrant. 

Instead, they believe that an administrative warrant suffices. An administrative warrant is a form signed by an “authorized immigration official,” which means an executive branch employee who can be fired if they displease the president. It’s not difficult to see the problem here.

The Fourth Amendment provides that: 

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

It’s the reason your home can’t be searched by the police without a search warrant that has been supported with probable cause to believe that evidence or fruits of a crime will be found there.

ICE seems to be arguing that if they think a non-citizen for whom there is a final order of deportation is in a house, they can blow right past the Fourth Amendment, take the doors off the house if they aren’t admitted voluntarily, and go right in. But the Fourth Amendment doesn’t change just because ICE says so.

The Supreme Court has made it clear that a search warrant must be signed by a “judicial officer” or a “magistrate.” Their signature on the warrant says that they have reviewed the evidence that the agents believe constitutes probable cause to justify a search, and they agree that it is sufficient to breach the wall otherwise established by the Fourth Amendment and allow law enforcement into a private home (or car, or private areas of a business, etc.). 

The idea is that a detached, neutral judge—not someone involved in investigating a case or “on the same side” as law enforcement—should evaluate the evidence before a search warrant or an arrest warrant is issued.

As the Supreme Court explained in Johnson v. U.S., in 1948: 

“The point of the Fourth Amendment, which often is not grasped by zealous officers, is not that it denies law enforcement the support of the usual inferences which reasonable men draw from evidence. Its protection consists in requiring that those inferences be drawn by a neutral and detached magistrate instead of being judged by the officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime.”

Charlestown legend dies

Janice Falcone dies at age 94

By Will Collette

Janice at the podium at a Charlestown Council
meeting. Photo by Will Collette

Janice Falcone was a force of nature. Against all odds, she kept the General Stanton Inn going long after her beloved husband Sonny passed away. 

She was an active part of Charlestown's political scene speaking up at Town Council meetings on a variety of issues especially during the ten-year reign of the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA).

I admired the way she kept her cool every time that CCA leader and Council President Tom Gentz would try to belittle her.  Janice always stood her ground.

She will be missed.

Here is her published obituary:

Janice Elaine Falcone, 94, beloved mother and grandmother passed on January 28, 2026, in the comforts of her home in Charlestown RI surrounded by loved ones. Born on May 28, 1931.

She was a hard-working woman. She was employed with Westerly cleaners and Ladd School. She also owned several businesses: The Charlestown Lounge and The General Stanton Inn and Flea market - with her husband, Angelo (Sonny) Falcone.

She was an avid traveler and collector.

She is survived by her daughter, Beth (Coon) Sherman and her husband James Sherman. 5 Grandchildren- Angela (Coon) Durfee, Robert C Bitgood, Angelique (Coon) Vargas, Jan (Scarber) Perry, and Jason Lee Scarber. 11 great grandchildren. 6 great great grandchildren. Numerous siblings and friends.

She was predeceased by her husband of 50 years Angelo (Sonny) Falcone, her Son Roland S. Coon and his Wife Simone (Poole) Coon, her daughter Lisa Ann (Coon) Scarber and her Husband Tyrone Scarber.

A memorial service to celebrate Janice's life will be held at Avery Funeral Home Hope Valley on Wednesday evening 4-6 pm. Funeral services at St. Pius church Westerly 12:30 pm.

Autism Science Foundation condemns RFK Jr.’s purge of coordinating committee

Replacing scientists with anti-vaxxers will not help families or individuals

Autism Science Foundation

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a complete reconstitution of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), appointing 21 new members while excluding the scientific and advocacy leadership that has historically guided the committee.

The IACC, created through the efforts of the broad autism community’s work with Congress and sustained for more than two decades by the dedicated service of leading scientists, advocates, and public servants, has been fundamentally compromised. 

The current committee has been hijacked by a narrow ideological agenda that does not reflect either the autism community or the state of autism science. 

By sidelining rigorous, evidence-based inquiry, this shift will stall scientific progress, distort research priorities, and ultimately harm people with autism and all who love and support them.

US Catholic bishops draw the line: ‘We ask — for the love of God and the love of human beings, which can’t be separated — vote against renewing funding for such a lawless organization’

Tipping point: ICE murders and kidnapping of children

Aleja Hertzler-McCain, Religious News Service

(RNS) — After immigration enforcement officials shot several people and killed two U.S. citizens, U.S. Catholic bishops have used increasingly urgent language in opposing the Trump administration’s immigration policies in recent days.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, called on U.S. members of Congress to oppose a funding bill that includes money for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“We ask — for the love of God and the love of human beings, which can’t be separated — vote against renewing funding for such a lawless organization,” Tobin said in a webinar hosted by Faith in Action on Sunday (Jan. 25). 

Tobin also used stark language to describe immigration enforcement actions, saying, “We mourn for our world, for our country, that allows 5-year-olds to be legally kidnapped and protesters to be slaughtered.”

Right here

News Flash!

"What's that smell?"

Thousands of Rhode Island students walk out as part of a nationwide shutdown and general strike

Good turn-out for Rhode Island protest

Steve Ahlquist

Over two thousand people, mostly students from Rhode Island universities, colleges and high schools, rallied and marched outside the Rhode Island State House on Friday as part of a nationwide shutdown, walk-out, and general strike called by the Somali Student Association of the University of Minnesota in response to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) murder of Alex Pretti and the escalating campaign of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) terror.

Participating schools included, among many others, Brown University, the University of Rhode Island (URI), the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Johnson & Wales University, Roger Williams University, Rhode Island College (RIC), and the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI), The Wheeler School, Moses Brown School, Lincoln School and Providence, East Greenwich, and Barrington Public Schools.

The event began with a short speaking program before marching through downtown Providence and returning to the State House. For more information, see: ICE Out! National Day of Action: Protest in Providence as part of the national shutdown to stop ICE’s reign of terror

Here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9zdPTB_94M

Science does not support Bobby Jr. and Trump on rollback of childhood vaccines

No link found between routine childhood vaccines, aluminum adjuvants, and epilepsy risk

Laine Bergeson

Routine childhood vaccinations, nor the aluminum used as vaccine adjuvants, are not associated with an increased risk of epilepsy in young children, according to a new case-control study published this week in The Journal of Pediatrics. 

The study, led by a team from the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute in Marshfield, Wisconsin, examined whether being up to date on recommended vaccines or having higher cumulative exposure to vaccine-related aluminum was linked to the development of epilepsy in children under age four. 

Analyzing a decade of pediatric health data from the Vaccine Safety Datalink, which is a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and several health care sites that monitor vaccine safety, the team identified 2,089 children diagnosed as having epilepsy from age 1 year to less than 4 years and matched them with 20,139 children without epilepsy based on age, sex, and health care site. 

Most participants were boys (54%) and between the ages of 1 year and 23 months (69%). White non-Hispanics composed the largest ethnicity group in the study (40%).

Raimondo in name only

Republican Robert Raimondo announces gubernatorial campaign

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

Republican Robert Raimondo, 58, of North Kingstown, announces his gubernatorial bid at a sparsely attended campaign kickoff at Brewed Awakenings Coffee House in Warwick on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Photo by Laura Paton/Rhode Island Current)

Is Rhode Island ready for another Governor Raimondo?

Robert Raimondo hopes so. The North Kingstown Republican formalized his bid for the governor’s seat in a kickoff event at Brewed Awakenings Coffee House in Warwick Thursday morning. Aside from regular coffeehouse customers, the event drew two attendees, a Rhode Island Current photographer and a cameraperson for WPRI-TV 12.

Unlike former Gov. Gina Raimondo, who Robert said is a distant cousin, Robert Raimondo is a political newcomer. He’s never run for office before, and moved back to Rhode Island in October with the express purpose of fulfilling his lifelong dream to serve as state governor, he said in an interview Thursday.

The 58-year-old had not even registered to vote in the state at the time he filed his campaign paperwork in November, the Providence Journal reported. He has since registered. 

Trump’s DOJ admits DOGE Employees May Have Improperly Accessed Social Security Data With Aim to ‘Overturn Election Results’

The only surprise is that they are admitting it

Brad Reed for Common Dreams

The US Department of Justice acknowledged last week that two members of the Department of Government Efficiency may have improperly accessed Social Security data at the request of an unidentified organization whose goal is challenging US election results.

In a court filing dated January 16, the DOJ revealed that the unidentified organization last March reached out to two DOGE employees, who were working at the Social Security Administration (SSA), and requested that they “analyze state voter rolls that the advocacy group had acquired.”

“The advocacy group’s stated aim was to find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain states,” the DOJ wrote. “In connection with these communications, one of the DOGE team members signed a ‘Voter Data Agreement,’ in his capacity as an SSA employee, with the advocacy group.”

The filing said that SSA has “not yet seen evidence that SSA data were shared with the advocacy group,” but that it had reviewed emails indicating that “DOGE team members could have been asked to assist the advocacy group by accessing SSA data to match to the voter rolls.”