- The head of the far-right anti-government group called the Oath Keepers has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his involvement in the attack on the American Capitol on January 6, 2021. Stewart Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy, which federal prosecutors argued was an act of terrorism as the group had conspired to commit treason in an attempt to overturn the results of an American election. Rhodes was among the first to be convicted of treason-related charges in decades, and he wore a prison-issued orange jumpsuit to his sentencing hearing. The sentencing was the first among January 6 defendants found guilty of seditious conspiracy and the first to include additional terrorism-related penalties. Federal prosecutors had sought a 25-year sentence for Rhodes, arguing that “the need to deter others is especially strong” because Rhodes had “engaged in acts that were intended to influence the government through intimidation or coercion,” which they compared to terrorism. Nonetheless, Rhodes called himself a “political prisoner” and claimed his only crime was “opposing those who are destroying our country,” comparing himself to former President Donald Trump, whose baseless narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him fueled the siege in the halls of Congress. US District Judge Amit Mehta told Rhodes during his sentencing hearing that seditious conspiracy “is among the most serious crimes an individual American can commit” and an “offense against the people of the country.” Mehta also condemned Rhodes, saying that he had wanted American democracy to “devolve into violence” for decades, and he represents an ongoing threat to the country’s democracy.
Politics
Stewart Rhodes, the Oath Keepers leader, receives an 18-year prison sentence for sedition on January 6th
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