{"id":39109,"date":"2023-05-25T17:13:43","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T17:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/05\/25\/oath-keepers-founder-gets-18-years-for-jan-6-seditious-conspiracy\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:02:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:02:25","slug":"oath-keepers-founder-gets-18-years-for-jan-6-seditious-conspiracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2023\/05\/25\/oath-keepers-founder-gets-18-years-for-jan-6-seditious-conspiracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Oath Keepers founder gets 18 years for Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The founder of the Oath Keepers extremist group was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison for orchestrating a weekslong plot that culminated in his followers attacking the U.S. Capitol in a bid to keep President Joe Biden out of the White House after the 2020 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stewart Rhodes is the first person charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack to be sentenced for seditious conspiracy, and his sentence is the longest that has been handed down so far in the hundreds of Capitol riot cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s another landmark in the Justice Department\u2019s sweeping Jan. 6 investigation, which has led to convictions against the top leaders of two far-right extremist groups that authorities say came to Washington prepared to fight to keep President Donald Trump in power at all costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors had urged the judge in Washington\u2019s federal court to put Rhodes behind bars for 25 years, saying he remains a threat to American democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In remarks before the judge handed down his sentence, Rhodes called himself a \u201cpolitical prisoner\u201d and said his only crime is opposing those who are \u201cdestroying\u201d the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta agreed with prosecutors to apply enhanced penalties for \u201cterrorism,\u201d under the argument that the Oath Keepers sought to influence the government through \u201cintimidation or coercion.\u201d Judges in previous sentencings had shot down the Justice Department\u2019s request for the so-called \u201cterrorism enhancement\u201d \u2014 which can lead to a longer prison term \u2014 but Mehta said it fits in Rhodes\u2019 case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr. Rhodes directed his co-conspirators to come to the Capitol and they abided,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense lawyer, Phillip Linder denied that Rhodes gave any orders for Oath Keepers to enter the Capitol on Jan. 6. Linder told the judge that Rhodes could have had many more Oath Keepers come to the Capitol \u201cif he really wanted to\u201d disrupt Congress\u2019 certification of the Electoral College vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, was found guilty in November of seditious conspiracy alongside Florida chapter leader Kelly Meggs, and four other Oath Keepers<\/a> were convicted of the rarely used charge during a second trial in January. Three of Rhodes\u2019 co-defendants were acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was one of the most consequential cases brought by the Justice Department as it has sought to prove that the riot for right-wing extremists like the Oath Keepers was not a spur-of-the-moment protest but the culmination of weeks of plotting<\/a> to overturn Biden\u2019s election victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proud Boys<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rhodes\u2019 sentencing comes just weeks after former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy<\/a> alongside other leaders of his far-right group for what prosecutors said was a separate plot to block the transfer of presidential power. The Proud Boys will be sentenced in August and September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rhodes\u2019 lawyers say he should be sentenced to the 16 months he has already served behind bars since his January 2022 arrest. In seeking leniency for Rhodes<\/a>, his lawyers cited his military service and told the judge that Rhodes\u2019 writings and statements were all \u201cprotected political speech.\u201d Rhodes\u2019 attorneys plan to appeal his conviction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meggs is expected to be sentenced after Rhodes later Thursday and two other Oath Keepers will be sentenced Friday. Four other defendants convicted of seditious conspiracy will be sentenced next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judge canceled the sentencing hearing scheduled this week for another defendant \u2014 Thomas Caldwell of Berryville, Virginia \u2014 as the judge weighs whether to overturn the jury\u2019s guilty verdict against Caldwell for obstruction and a documents tampering charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The convictions were a major blow for the Oath Keepers, which Rhodes founded in 2009<\/a> and grew into one of the largest far-right anti-government militia groups. Recruiting past and present members of the military and police officers, the group promotes the belief that the federal government is out to strip citizens of their civil liberties and paints its followers as defenders against tyranny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The defense tried to seize on the fact that none of the Oath Keepers\u2019 messages laid out an explicit plan to storm the Capitol. But prosecutors said the Oath Keepers saw an an opportunity to further their goal to stop the transfer of power and sprang into action when the mob began storming the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Civil war\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messages, recordings and other evidence presented at trial show Rhodes and his followers growing increasingly enraged after the 2020 election at the prospect of a Biden presidency, which they viewed as a threat to the country and their way of life. In an encrypted chat two days after the election, Rhodes told his followers to prepare their \u201cmind, body, spirit\u201d for \u201ccivil war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a conference call days later, Rhodes urged his followers to let Trump know they were \u201cwilling to die\u201d for the country. One Oath Keeper who was listening was so alarmed that he began recording the call and contacted the FBI, telling jurors \u201cit sounded like we were going to war against the United States government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another man testified that after the riot, Rhodes tried to persuade him to pass along a message to Trump<\/a> that urged the president not to give up his fight to hold onto power. The intermediary \u2014 who told jurors he had an indirect way to reach the president \u2014 recorded his meeting with Rhodes and went to the FBI instead of giving the message to Trump. Rhodes told the man during that meeting that the Oath Keepers \u201cshould have brought rifles\u201d on Jan. 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The longest sentence<\/a> previously in the more than 1,000 Capitol riot cases \u2014 14 years in prison \u2014 was handed down this month for a man with a long criminal record who attacked police officers with pepper spray and a chair as he stormed the Capitol. Just over 500 of the defendants have been sentenced, with more than half receiving prison time and the remainder getting sentences such as probation or home detention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rhodes called himself a \u201cpolitical prisoner\u201d and said his only crime is opposing those who are \u201cdestroying\u201d the 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