After two months of trial and three days of deliberations in a federal court in Washington, Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, and another member of this far-right militia, became Tuesday, November 29 the first participants in the assault of the Capitol on January 6 to be found guilty of "sedition".
The twelve jurors acquitted three other members of the Oath Keepers of this extremely rare charge, punishable by 20 years in prison.
All five men were found guilty of obstructing an official process.
They will be sentenced in the spring of 2023.
On January 6, 2021, they attacked the temple of American democracy with a thousand other supporters of Donald Trump, when elected officials certified the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election.
More than 870 people were arrested and around 100 received prison sentences, including the perpetrators of violence against the police.
But, so far, no one had been convicted of "sedition".
This charge, which stems from a law passed after the Civil War to repress the last rebels in the south, involves having planned the use of force to oppose the government.
It differs from insurrection, which has a more spontaneous character.
A role denied by Stewart Rhodes
During the trial, prosecutors showed that the Oath Keepers purchased weapons and combat equipment, and stored them in a hotel near Washington.
On D-Day, helmeted and equipped with combat gear, they had entered the Capitol, in combat formation.
Stewart Rhodes had remained on the outside, but according to prosecutors, he had led his troops with a radio "like a general on the battlefield".
On the witness stand, this 57-year-old former soldier known for his black eye patch and his fiery diatribes, denied having “planned” the assault on the Capitol and considered it “stupid” that members of his militia were there. be joined.
He maintained that the "mission" of the Oath Keepers was to provide security for the demonstration called by Donald Trump to denounce "election fraud" (the existence of which has never been established).
With AFP
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