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Oath
Keepers
boss
guilty
of
seditious
conspiracy
in 1/6
case
By
LINDSAY
WHITEHURST,
ALANNA
DURKIN
RICHER
and
MICHAEL
KUNZELMAN
apnews.com
WASHINGTON
- Oath
Keepers
founder
Stewart
Rhodes
was
convicted
Tuesday
of
seditious
conspiracy
for a
violent
plot to
overturn
Democrat
Joe
Biden’s
presidential
win,
handing
the
Justice
Department
a major
victory
in its
massive
prosecution
of the
Jan. 6,
2021,
insurrection.
A
Washington,
D.C.,
jury
found
Rhodes
guilty
of
sedition
after
three
days of
deliberations
in the
the
nearly
two-month-long
trial
that
showcased
the
far-right
extremist
group’s
efforts
to keep
Republican
Donald
Trump in
the
White
House at
all
costs.
The
rarely
used,
Civil
War-era
charge
calls
for up
to 20
years
behind
bars.
Rhodes
didn’t
go
inside
the U.S.
Capitol
on Jan.
6, but
was
accused
of
leading
a plot
that
began
shortly
after
the 2020
election
to wage
an armed
rebellion
to stop
the
transfer
of
presidential
power.
Through
recordings
and
encrypted
messages,
jurors
heard
how
Rhodes
rallied
his
followers
to fight
to keep
Trump in
office,
warned
of a
possible
“bloody”
civil
war and
expressed
regret
that the
Oath
Keepers
didn’t
bring
rifles
to the
Capitol
on Jan.
6.
In an
extraordinary
move,
Rhodes
and two
other
defendants
took the
stand in
their
defense,
opening
themselves
up to
intense
questioning
from
prosecutors.
Rhodes
told
jurors
there
was no
plan to
attack
the
Capitol
and
insisted
that his
followers
who went
inside
the
building
went
rogue.
On trial
alongside
Rhodes,
of
Granbury,
Texas,
were
Kelly
Meggs,
leader
of the
Florida
chapter
of the
Oath
Keepers;
Kenneth
Harrelson,
another
Florida
Oath
Keeper;
Thomas
Caldwell,
a
retired
Navy
intelligence
officer
from
Virginia;
and
Jessica
Watkins,
who led
an Ohio
militia
group.
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