Prosecutor says Oath Keepers planned violence

WASHINGTON — For weeks leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four associates discussed using violence to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and when rioters started storming the Capitol they saw an opportunity to do it, a federal prosecutor told jurors on Friday as the seditious conspiracy case wound toward a close.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakoczy said in her closing argument to jurors after nearly two months of testimony in the high-stakes case that Rhodes’ own words show he was preparing to lead a rebellion to keep Democrat Joe Biden out of the White House. Rhodes and his co-defendants repeatedly called for “violent overthrow” of the U.S. government and sprang into action on Jan. 6, she said.

“Our democracy is fragile. It cannot exist without the rule of law, and it will not survive if people dissatisfied with the results of an election can use force and violence to change the outcome,” Rakoczy said.

The closing arguments began in Washington federal court after the final pieces of evidence were presented in the trial alleging Rhodes and his band of anti-government extremists plotted for weeks to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power from Republican Donald Trump to Biden.

Rhodes’ attorney sought to downplay his violent rhetoric in the run-up to Jan. 6, describing it as “venting” and insisting there was no agreement or conspiracy. Defense attorney James Lee Bright said Rhodes’ language was focused on persuading Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act over what he saw as a stolen election.

Rhodes’ lawyer said his client was back at a hotel room eating chicken wings and watching TV when the first rioters started storming the Capitol.

Two other defendants testified in the case. Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, in Champaign County, echoed that her actions that day were “really stupid” but maintained she was not part of a plan and was “swept along” with the mob, which she likened to a crowd gathered at a store for a sale on the popular shopping day known as Black Friday.