For the first time in cases involving the US Capitol invasion, US prosecutors charged with seditious conspiracy on Thursday against the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers group, Stewart Rhodes, and ten others. It is the most serious accusation ever leveled against participants in the attack on Congress.
The crime is defined as an attempt to “depose, overthrow, or forcibly destroy the government of the United States”, with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Among the 11 accused on Thursday, 9 were already defendants in other cases for offenses such as conspiracy to commit a crime and affect official procedure.
The Oath Keepers are a loosely organized group of activists who believe the federal government is usurping their rights. They focus on recruiting current and former police officers, emergency service workers and the military.
The group was founded in 2009 by Rhodes, a 56-year-old ex-military man. He was arrested this Thursday.
Prosecutors said that in late December 2020, Rhodes used encrypted private media to arrange his trip to Washington on January 6. He and others planned to bring weapons to the scene to help support the operation.
“[Os acusados] They organized trips from all over the country to Washington, equipped themselves with all kinds of weapons, donned combat uniforms and were ready to respond to Rhodes’ call to arms,” ​​the indictment states.
The group’s leader and founder was in the Capitol area at the time of the invasion, but it is unclear whether he entered the building.
While some members of the Oath Keepers broke into the building using tactical equipment, others remained outside in what they considered “rapid response force” teams prepared to quickly transport weapons into the city, one of the prosecutors said.
The prosecution alleges that Thomas Caldwell, who was already a defendant, and Edward Vallejo, who is now accused, were in charge of coordinating this rapid response force. Vallejo, 63, was also arrested on Thursday.
Just over a year ago, the January 6, 2021 invasion of the Capitol led supporters of then-President Donald Trump to a failed attempt to prevent the US Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory.
The attack came shortly after a fiery speech in which the Republican repeated his baseless accusations that his defeat was the result of widespread fraud and urged his supporters to go to Capitol Hill to “fight like never before” to prevent the election from being stolen.
On the eve of the attack’s one-year anniversary, US Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed to hold anyone involved accountable. The ministry has already charged more than 725 people, of which 165 have pleaded guilty and at least 70 have already been sentenced. Garland further said that the Justice Department would “follow the facts wherever they lead.”
The seditious conspiracy charge raises the tone of the cases filed so far. Over the years, the Justice Department has won convictions for the crime of Puerto Rican nationalists and alleged Islamist militants.
The offense even featured prominently in a case federal authorities opened in 1987 against leaders and members of a neo-Nazi group known as The Order. 14 alleged members or supporters were indicted, 10 of whom faced seditious conspiracy charges. After a two-month trial, the jury acquitted all the defendants.
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