Oath Keeper trial

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was yesterday convicted of seditious conspiracy for a violent plot to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential win, handing the Justice Department a major victory in its massive prosecution of the January 6, 2021, insurrection. A Washington DC jury found Rhodes guilty of sedition after three days of deliberations in the nearly twomonth-long trial that showcased the far-right extremist group’s efforts to keep Republican Donald Trump in the White House at all costs. The rarely used, Civil War-era charge calls for up to 20 years behind bars. Rhodes didn’t go inside the US Capitol on January 6, but was accused of leading a plot that began shortly after the 2020 election to wage an armed rebellion to stop the transfer of presidential power. Through recordings and encrypted messages, jurors heard how Rhodes rallied his followers to fight to keep Trump in office, warned of a possible “bloody” civil war and expressed regret that the Oath Keepers didn’t bring rifles to the Capitol on January 6.