- America The founder of the ultra group 'Oath Keepers', found guilty of "sedition" for the storming of the Capitol
- Crisis Assault on the Capitol: the open wound that bleeds the United States
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes has been sentenced to 18 years in prison in a historic verdict for spearheading a week-long plot to keep former President Donald Trump in power, culminating in the attack by far-right extremists on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
He is the first defendant convicted of seditious conspiracy to receive a final sentence, setting the standard for a large number of sentences for members of extremist groups to come. Prosecutors say Rhodes remains a threat to American democracy more than two years after leading a plot to forcibly block Trump's transfer of power to President Joe Biden after the Republican lost the 2020 election.
During a court hearing Wednesday, police officers and congressional staffers at the Capitol on Jan. 6 recounted the physical and emotional trauma they still endure after engaging in hand-to-hand combat with rioters for hours or fleeing as the mob roamed the halls looking for lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence.
Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, was convicted in November of seditious conspiracy along with Florida chapter leader Kelly Meggs, and four other Oath Keepers were found guilty of the rarely used charge during a second trial in January. Three of Rhodes' co-defendants were acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other crimes.
It was one of the most important cases brought by the Justice Department as it has sought to prove that the revolt by right-wing extremists like the Oath Keepers was not an impromptu protest but the culmination of weeks of organized conspiracy to overturn Biden's election victory.
- Joe Biden
- Donald Trump
- United States
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