Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and one of his far-right group's members were found guilty of seditious conspiracy in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021, incident in Capitol Hill.
The jury's verdict was read on Tuesday and found the two men guilty of seeking to keep former United States President Donald Trump in power. They were found to have attempted this using a plot that began after the 2020 election and culminated in the unprecedented mob attack on the Capitol building.
Stewart Rhodes Found Guilty
On the other hand, the Federal District Court in Washington's jury also found three other defendants in the case not guilty of sedition. They also acquitted the far-right group's founder of two separate conspiracy charges.
The split verdicts came after three days of deliberations and were still seen as a victory for the Justice Department. They mark the first time in nearly 20 trials related to the Capitol attack that a jury decided that the historic violence observed on Jan. 6, 2021, was the result of an organized conspiracy, as per the New York Times.
Seditious conspiracy is known as the most serious charge that has so far been brought in any of the 900 criminal cases related to the investigation of the Capitol attack. The probe could still result in scores, if not hundreds of additional arrests of potential people involved. The charge also carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Furthermore, Rhodes was convicted of sedition along with a member of the Oath Keepers, who was identified to be Kelly Meggs. The latter ran the Florida chapter of the far-right group at the time of the Capitol Hill attack.
According to Yahoo News, prosecutors in Rhodes' case used dozens of encrypted messages, recordings, and surveillance videos to highlight their claims. They argued that shortly after the 2020 election that Joe Biden won, the Oath Keepers founder started an armed rebellion to prevent the transfer of power from happening.
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Seditious Conspiracy
During the seven weeks of testimony, jurors heard that Rhodes rallied his followers in an attempt to keep Trump in power. They also listened to testimonies that noted the far-right group's founder discussed the prospect of a "blood" civil war and warned that the Oath Keepers may need to "rise up in insurrection" to defeat Biden if the Republican businessman did not act.
While Rhodes and Meggs were found guilty of seditious charges and the three other members were found not guilty of the same charge, all five individuals were found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding. The proceeding in question was Congress' certification of Biden's official electoral victory.
The two guilty individuals were the first in nearly three decades found guilty of the rarely-used Civil War-era charge. They also come as the Justice Department seeks to hold accountable the people responsible for the attack that shook America's democratic foundations.
The last time that someone was found guilty of seditious conspiracy was in 1995 when 10 Islamist militants were convicted for trying to plant bombs at New York City landmarks. The charge was first enacted in an attempt to prevent residents of southern states from fighting against the United States government, BBC reported.
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