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The founder of the far-right Oath Keeper militia was sentenced to 18 years in prison Thursday for seditious conspiracy in a 2021 attack on the district. US Capitol Buildingthe toughest punishment yet awarded for the January 6 attack.
Stuart Rhodes He was one of more than 1,000 people charged with the attack, which was encouraged by then-President Donald Trump and aimed at preventing Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the November 2020 election.
“The sedition conspiracy is one of the most serious crimes an American can commit,” Judge said. Amit Mehta in pronouncing the sentence.
“You represent a constant threat and danger to this country,” Mehta told Rhodes, who led the oath guards and organized their participation, with a stockpile of weapons, in an attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.
“You are intelligent, charismatic and persuasive, and that, frankly, is what makes you dangerous,” Mehta said, dismissing Rhodes’ claim that he was a “political prisoner”.
The sentence was less than the 25 years the government had demanded, though Mehta accepted the argument that the oath-keepers plan to prevent Biden from becoming president amounted to terrorism.
Just before the sentencing, Rhodes, who was wearing an eyepatch and was wearing an orange jumpsuit, defiantly defended his group and their actions in support of Trump.
“My only crime is to oppose those who are destroying our country,” he declared, comparing himself to the famous Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
But his group stockpiling weapons outside the city and donning combat gear in an organized assault into the building demonstrated a level of planning and willingness for violence not found with many others in the crowd.
A Washington jury in November indicted Rhodes, 57, and Kelly Meggs, 53, leader of the Florida branch of the Oath Keepers, of rarely pursued seditious conspiracy — conspiracy to overthrow the government or unlawfully oppose its authority.
In the same trial, three other oath keepers were found guilty of obstructing official proceedings, as rioters shut down Congress and sent lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence fleeing to safety.
Prosecutors said during the trial that the Oath Keepers had “prepared a plan of armed insurrection… planning to oppose the United States government by force.”
Rhodes’ attorneys argued that he himself had never entered the Capitol and that he did not support others in doing so.
But Mehta dismissed it as mitigating the sentence.
Mehta said Rhodes was unequivocally the leader of the group and had summoned them both to Washington with a cache of weapons for the assault.
“Stuart Rhodes is a graduate of Yale University and a very intelligent man,” said the judge. “He was the one giving the orders…they were there because of him.”
But Rhodes’ attorney, Philip Linder, said he should not be held responsible for the Capitol attack and pointed the finger at Trump.
“I think what happened on January 6 was unfortunate,” Linder told the court.
But he insisted that Rhodes had not planned the uprising.
“We need to look at the reason for this… Who started the Million Maga March?… Who started on January 6th?” Linder said.
“It’s not the person who started this speech that made people brace.”
Stuart Rhodes He was one of more than 1,000 people charged with the attack, which was encouraged by then-President Donald Trump and aimed at preventing Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the November 2020 election.
“The sedition conspiracy is one of the most serious crimes an American can commit,” Judge said. Amit Mehta in pronouncing the sentence.
“You represent a constant threat and danger to this country,” Mehta told Rhodes, who led the oath guards and organized their participation, with a stockpile of weapons, in an attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.
“You are intelligent, charismatic and persuasive, and that, frankly, is what makes you dangerous,” Mehta said, dismissing Rhodes’ claim that he was a “political prisoner”.
The sentence was less than the 25 years the government had demanded, though Mehta accepted the argument that the oath-keepers plan to prevent Biden from becoming president amounted to terrorism.
Just before the sentencing, Rhodes, who was wearing an eyepatch and was wearing an orange jumpsuit, defiantly defended his group and their actions in support of Trump.
“My only crime is to oppose those who are destroying our country,” he declared, comparing himself to the famous Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
But his group stockpiling weapons outside the city and donning combat gear in an organized assault into the building demonstrated a level of planning and willingness for violence not found with many others in the crowd.
A Washington jury in November indicted Rhodes, 57, and Kelly Meggs, 53, leader of the Florida branch of the Oath Keepers, of rarely pursued seditious conspiracy — conspiracy to overthrow the government or unlawfully oppose its authority.
In the same trial, three other oath keepers were found guilty of obstructing official proceedings, as rioters shut down Congress and sent lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence fleeing to safety.
Prosecutors said during the trial that the Oath Keepers had “prepared a plan of armed insurrection… planning to oppose the United States government by force.”
Rhodes’ attorneys argued that he himself had never entered the Capitol and that he did not support others in doing so.
But Mehta dismissed it as mitigating the sentence.
Mehta said Rhodes was unequivocally the leader of the group and had summoned them both to Washington with a cache of weapons for the assault.
“Stuart Rhodes is a graduate of Yale University and a very intelligent man,” said the judge. “He was the one giving the orders…they were there because of him.”
But Rhodes’ attorney, Philip Linder, said he should not be held responsible for the Capitol attack and pointed the finger at Trump.
“I think what happened on January 6 was unfortunate,” Linder told the court.
But he insisted that Rhodes had not planned the uprising.
“We need to look at the reason for this… Who started the Million Maga March?… Who started on January 6th?” Linder said.
“It’s not the person who started this speech that made people brace.”
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