Capitol assault: far-right US militiamen in court

Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, here in 2017. AP - Susan Walsh

Text by: Guillaume Naudin Follow

4 mins

In the United States, in the series of lawsuits against the participants in the attack of January 6, 2021 against the Capitol, a rather special trial begins this Tuesday, September 27: that of five members of the far-right militia of " Oath Keepers”, including their leader Stewart Rhodes.

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The Oath Keepers is a well-known far-right militia in the United States.

This paramilitary group brings together in particular former soldiers or members of the police.

It was founded in 2009 by a former soldier, a former paratrooper, who was also discharged following a back injury suffered during a jump.

He is also a lawyer, he studied after his accident at the prestigious Yale University.

At that time, it was his wife who supported the family.

Since 2018, she has been unsuccessfully asking for a divorce from the one she considers a complete sociopath.

His name: Stewart Rhodes.

He is 57 years old and he is easily recognizable by his eye patch, a memory of an error in handling a firearm.

Arrested last January, he is on trial from September 27 with four other members of the Oath Keepers.

► To read also: Assault on the Capitol: arrest of the leader of the Oath Keepers, an influential far-right militia

A very serious charge

They are prosecuted for seditious conspiracy.

And they are the first to be in this capacity in the assault on the Capitol.

It is defined as the attempt to overthrow, suppress, or destroy by force the government of the United States.

They risk up to 20 years in prison.

The prosecution will try to prove that the Oath Keepers had developed a plan, for several weeks, from the announcement of Joe Biden's victory, to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power on January 6.

That they had organized themselves accordingly by procuring firearms, storing them in a hotel near Washington, fighting their way to the Capitol using military-grade tactics and equipment.

It has not yet been proven that Stewart Rhodes himself entered the building, but there are images of him nearby, in forbidden places, in paramilitary uniform.

An anti-fascist insurrection that never happened

At first, they tried unsuccessfully by all legal means to move the trial in time, asking for multiple postponements.

And in space: they say that in Washington, where the events took place, they will not be entitled to a fair trial.

Then, they claim that they were not there with the aim of overturning the result of the election, but for defensive reasons: first to ensure the protection of Roger Stone, a close friend of Donald Trump who hastened to leave Washington on January 6, 2021 in the face of this turn of events.

And also in case the president at the time called on them in the event of an attack by imaginary anti-fascist militants or who in any case never showed up on January 6.

The legal basis they imagined was the “Insurrection Act”, a federal law of 1807 which has already been invoked several times in the country's history.

It authorizes the President to deploy the United States military on United States territory to put an end to civil unrest, insurrection and rebellion.

This law, Donald Trump had mentioned his use without ever taking action at the beginning of the summer of 2020, at the time of the riots which followed the assassination by a white police officer of the African American George Floyd in Minneapolis.

► To read also: The "Insurrection Act", the law which allows Trump to call in the army

A trial with multiple stakes

The Department of Justice hopes to learn more during this trial about

.

And then if the defendants are convicted of seditious conspiracy, it will be a message for supporters of political violence.

Homegrown terrorism is considered the number one terrorist threat in the United States today.

Further trials are planned.

One at the end of November against other members of the Oath Keepers, another in mid-December against the leaders of the "Proud Boys", another well-known far-right group.

So far, more than 900 people have been charged for their part in the attack on January 6, 2021, nearly 400 have pleaded guilty.

He is a former police officer who received the heaviest sentence, ten years in prison. 

► To read also: United States: behind the Capitol riots, the power of the militias

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