On Thursday, a federal judge sentenced Oath Keepers founder Stuart Rhodes to 18 years in prison for sedition and other crimes related to the attack on the US Capitol.
“What we absolutely cannot allow is groups of citizens who don’t like the election results and don’t believe the law is being properly enforced to foment a revolution,” District Judge Amit said. Mehta before sentencing. “I dare say, Mr. Rhodes – and I’ve never said this to anyone I’ve convicted – you are a constant threat and danger to our democracy and the fabric of this country.”
Before sentencing, Stuart Rhodes, 58, a Yale-trained lawyer and former paratrooper, said he was a “political prisoner” standing up to people “who are destroying our country”. He also promised to “expose the criminality of this regime” from his prison cell.
“For decades, Mr. Rhodes, you obviously wanted to see democracy in this country turn into violence,” Amit Mehta said in this regard. “You are not a political prisoner.
Rhodes was convicted by a federal jury in Washington in November 2022 in connection with the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which was carried out by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. It was an attempt to block Congress from certifying victory for Trump’s rival, Democrat Joe Biden, in the November 2020 election.
Rhodes was sentenced to the longest prison term of more than 1,000 people convicted of participating in the attack on the Capitol.
First on the list until today was the conviction of a Pennsylvania man who attacked police during the Capitol storm (he was sentenced to 14 years in prison).
Prosecutors have requested 25 years in prison for Rhodes.
“Mr. Rhodes led a conspiracy to use force and violence to intimidate and coerce members of our government into ending a legitimate transition of power after the presidential election,” said U.S. attorney Katherine Rakoczi.
In addition to the charge of conspiracy to sedition – a crime that includes attempting to “overthrow, suppress, or destroy by force the government of the United States” – Rhodes was also convicted of obstruction of official process and false. He was acquitted on two other counts.
Rhodes, who wears an eye patch after accidentally shooting himself in the face with his own pistol, founded the Oath Keepers in 2009. This far-right paramilitary group includes active and retired military, armed forces law enforcement and first responders. They were often present, armed to the teeth, at various protests and political events, including the racial justice protests that followed the 2020 killing of African American George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Some members of the Oath Keepers, dressed in military attire, burst into the Capitol. Others at a suburban hotel organized a “rapid response team” which prosecutors said was equipped with firearms that could be quickly transported to Washington. On that day, January 6, 2021, Rhodes was on the Capitol grounds but did not enter the building.
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