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Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, speaks during a rally outside the White House in June 2017. Photo: AP

US charges Oath Keepers head Stewart Rhodes with sedition in Capitol attack

  • The militia group’s founder and 10 others face the first charges of seditious conspiracy brought against Trump supporters over the deadly siege
  • The indictment says the Oath Keepers formed two teams on January 6: one to go after the House and Senate, and one to confront officers
US Politics

Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group, has been arrested and charged with seditious conspiracy in the attack on the US Capitol, authorities said on Thursday.

Ten other people also were charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the attack on January 6, 2021, when authorities said members of the extremist group came to Washington intent on stopping the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.

These are the first charges of seditious conspiracy that the Justice Department has brought in connection with the attack led by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

Rhodes, 56, of Granbury, Texas, and Edward Vallejo, 63, of Phoenix, Arizona, were arrested on Thursday. The others who were charged were already facing criminal charges related to the attack. Rhodes is the highest-ranking member of an extremist group to be arrested in the deadly siege.

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The arrest of Rhodes and the others is a serious escalation of the accusations against the thousands of rioters who stormed the Capitol.

And the charges answer in part a growing chorus of Republicans who have publicly questioned the seriousness of the January 6 insurrection, arguing that since no one had been charged yet with sedition or treason, it could not have been so violent.

Rhodes did not enter the Capitol building on January 6 but is accused of helping put into motion the violence that disrupted the certification of the vote.

The Oath Keepers case is the largest conspiracy case federal authorities have brought so far over January 6, when rioters stormed past police barriers and smashed windows, injuring dozens of officers and sending lawmakers running.

US capital sues Proud Boys and Oath Keepers over January 6 attack

The indictment against Rhodes alleges Oath Keepers formed two teams, or “stacks,” that entered the Capitol. The first “stack” split up inside the building to separately go after the House and Senate. The second “stack” confronted officers inside the Capitol Rotunda, the indictment said.

Outside Washington, the indictment alleges, the Oath Keepers had stationed two “quick reaction forces” that had guns “in support of their plot to stop the lawful transfer of power”.

Jonathan Moseley, a lawyer representing Rhodes, said his client was arrested Thursday in Texas.

“He has been subject to a lot of suspicion to why he wasn’t indicted,” so far in the January 6 riot, Moseley said. “I don’t know if this is in response to those discussions, but we do think it’s unfortunate. It’s an unusual situation.”

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes speaks at a rally in Berkeley, California, in April 2017. Photo: Reuters

Moseley said Rhodes was supposed to testify before the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection in a deposition but it got called off. He was talking to Rhodes on the phone about the committee when Rhodes was contacted by the FBI.

The Oath Keepers and members of other extremist groups, such as the Proud Boys, make up just part of the more than 580 people who have been charged in the riot.

But several of their leaders, members and associates have become the central targets of the Justice Department’s sprawling investigation as authorities work to determine to what extent the attack was plotted in advance.

Overall, the bar for proving sedition is not as high as it is for the related charge of treason. Still, sedition charges have been rare and are difficult to win

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