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Stewart Rhodes, a former Army paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer who founded the far-right Oath Keepers militia, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for conspiracy in connection with the 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
This is the longest sentence for 1,000 people accused of connection with the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 by supporters of the Republican president Donald Trump when they failed to prevent Congress from certifying the Democratic rival Joe Biden. Election victory November 2020. The previous longest sentence was 14 years in prison given to a Pennsylvania man who attacked police during a rampage.
Rhodes was convicted in November by a federal court jury in Washington
In addition to seditious conspiracy – a felony charge involving attempting to “overthrow, overthrow or destroy by force the government of the United States” – Rhodes was convicted of obstructing official proceedings and destroying documents. Rhodes was acquitted of two other charges.
Rhodes gave a defiant speech before sentencing, likening himself to Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, according to reports.
Judge Amit Mehta rejected the idea of Rhodes as a political prisoner in lengthy remarks before handing down the sentence.
Co-defendant Kelly Meggs, also convicted of seditious conspiracy, is set to be sentenced later Friday.
Officers said he was traumatized
Before the sentencing hearing, five law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol and a congressional staffer who fled to safety during the violence were in court on Wednesday.
“We were spat on. We were oppressed,” said Metropolitan Police officer Christopher Owens, who broke down in tears as he recalled how the rioters attacked the police and called them “traitors.”
Officer Harry Dunn of the US Capitol Police told the court that he now fears for the safety of his family, calling the attack a nightmare “that plays over and over and doesn’t stop.”
Rhodes, who wears an eye patch after accidentally shooting himself with his own gun, founded the Oath Keepers in 2009. Members of the militia group include current and retired US military personnel, law enforcement officers and first responders. They have appeared, often heavily armed, at protests and political events including demonstrations for racial justice following the May 25, 2020, killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd by a police officer.
LISTENING | Andy Campbell, author of We Are the Proud Boys, on October 13, 2022:
Front burner19:36The Oath Keepers on trial
Several Oath Keepers breached the Capitol in paramilitary gear. Others did so at a suburban hotel as a “quick reaction force” that prosecutors said was equipped with firearms that could be quickly transported to Washington. Rhodes was on the Capitol grounds that day but did not enter the building.
Two others linked to Oath Keepers, Jessica Watkins and Kenneth Harrelson, will be sentenced Friday. He was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other crimes. Four Oath Keepers convicted of seditious conspiracy in a second trial will be sentenced next week.
A judge postponed a sentencing hearing that had been scheduled for Wednesday for Thomas Caldwell, another co-defendant who was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other charges.
The sentencing comes just weeks after former national Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy alongside other leaders of the far-right group for what prosecutors said was a separate plot to block the transfer of presidential power. The Proud Boys are scheduled to be sentenced in August and September.
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