The Justice Department announced on Thursday that Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and 10 others were charged with seditious conspiracy related to the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021.
Prosecutors charged Rhodes and the other defendants with crimes “related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, which disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.”
Rhodes, who had not previously been charged, was arrested in Texas on Thursday morning. The Oath Keepers leader is a former U.S. Army paratrooper who later graduated from Yale Law School. He founded the right-wing group in 2009.
Rhodes’s lawyer, Jon Moseley, told the Washington Examiner that he was on the phone with his client earlier today planning an appearance before the Democrat-led House select committee on the Capitol riot when the FBI phoned Rhodes. Moseley was on the line when Rhodes conferenced in the FBI.
“The FBI special agent said they were outside and [Rhodes] needed to come out with his hands up and be arrested,” Moseley said.
Another new defendant, Edward Vallejo, was also arrested in Arizona. Nine other defendants connected to the Oath Keepers — Thomas Caldwell, Joseph Hackett, Kenneth Harrelson, Joshua James, Kelly Meggs, Roberto Minuta, David Moerschel, Brian Ulrich, and Jessica Watkins — have previously been arrested and charged with other crimes. All 11 have now been hit with the first sedition-related charges connected to the Capitol riot. The charge carries a potential 20-year sentence.
The Justice Department described the Oath Keepers as “a large but loosely organized collection of individuals, some of whom are associated with militias” and said that the group had a specific focus on “recruiting current and former military, law enforcement, and first-responder personnel.”
The Justice Department contended that Rhodes “conspired with his co-defendants and others to oppose by force the execution of the laws governing the transfer of presidential power.” The DOJ said Rhodes and his alleged co-conspirators used encrypted messaging in a conspiracy that began in late December 2020 to coordinate and make plans to meet in Washington.
Rhodes is not accused of entering the Capitol building but did allegedly enter a restricted area around it.
The Justice Department said the 11 defendants brought “paramilitary gear,” knives, batons, camouflaged uniforms, helmets, and radios to the Capitol grounds in a bid to block certification of President Joe Biden’s election.
The Capitol riot committee subpoenaed Rhodes in November. For a year, prosecutors had repeatedly referred to “Person One,” easily identifiable as Rhodes, in their cases against Oath Keepers members.
George Washington University’s Program on Extremism said earlier this month that 24 (now 26) defendants charged in the Capitol riot were affiliated with the Oath Keepers, while another 48 accused were affiliated with the Proud Boys, and 14 defendants were tied to the Three Percenters.
Michael Sherwin, then the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, first mentioned potential sedition charges nearly a year ago. Attorney General Merrick Garland seemed to hint at the seditious conspiracy charges in a speech last week.
“The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last,” Garland said. “The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law.”
Rhodes was also charged with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, obstruction of an officer from discharging their duties, and tampering with documents. Prosecutors say that after the Capitol riot, he deleted information from his cellphone related to the allegations in the indictment.
The Department of Justice said in late December that at least 725 defendants have been arrested in connection with the Capitol riot and that more than 225 defendants had been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement officers.
