Posted on 01/13/22
| News Source: The Hill
Federal prosecutors have charged the founder of the Oath Keepers and 10 other members of the far-right group with seditious conspiracy for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
Stewart Rhodes, 56, was arrested Thursday in Little Elm, Texas, and also faces charges for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol.
The Oath Keepers leader and founder has said he was present at the riot but never entered the Capitol. But members of the group were seen donning paramilitary gear and using a military formation to pass through crowds and enter the Capitol.
“The seditious conspiracy indictment alleges that, following the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election, Rhodes conspired with his co-defendants and others to oppose by force the execution of the laws governing the transfer of presidential power by Jan. 20, 2021,” Justice Department wrote in a release.
“Beginning in late December 2020, via encrypted and private communications applications, Rhodes and various co-conspirators coordinated and planned to travel to Washington, D.C., on or around Jan. 6, 2021, the date of the certification of the electoral college vote, the indictment alleges. Rhodes and several co-conspirators made plans to bring weapons to the area to support the operation. The co-conspirators then traveled across the country to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area in early January 2021.”
The charges are the first seditious conspiracy charge used in connection with the riot, carrying the risk of up to 20 years in prison for those that “conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force” the government.
In the indictment released Thursday, prosecutors say that Rhodes coordinated with members of the right-wing militia group to travel to D.C. for the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. In the weeks following the 2020 election, Rhodes allegedly vowed in private conversations to use force if President Biden were sworn into office.