Oath Keeper Indicted For Seditious Conspiracy

On January 12, the grand jury investigating the January 6th insurrection handed down a 17-count indictment against 11 members of the Oath Keepers, including founder Stewart Rhodes, a former aid to neo-confederate libertarian Congressman Ron Paul. The Oath Keepers are an extremist group, founded in 2009,  many of whose members are involved with militias. They were the first to be charged with seditious conspiracy, an historically rare charge, for activities starting Nov 5 and continuing beyond January 6.

Two days after the election, in an encrypred chat, “Rhodes urged his followers to refuse to accept the election result and stated: “We aren’t getting through this without a civil war. Too late for that. Prepare your mind, body, spirit,” the indictment charged.

Rhodes and his co-defendents conspired “to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power…. which included multiple ways to deploy force,” according to the indictment. “They coordinated travel across the country to enter Washington, D.C., equipped themselves with a variety of weapons, donned combat and tactical gear, and were prepared to answer Rhodes’ call to take up arms at Rhodes’ direction.”

In addition, “Some co-conspirators also amassed firearms on the outskirts of Washington D.C., distributed them among ‘quick reaction force’ (‘QRF’) teams, and planned to use the firearms in support of their plot to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power.” They were also accused of “continuing to plot, after January 6, 2021, to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power.”

Rhodes had been identified as “Person one,” an unindicted co-conspirator in an earlier Oath Keeper indictment. Four of the 17 counts were common to all 11 defendents, including the charge of seditious conspiracy, as well as the charge of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, previously brought against Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, Three Percenters and others. They were also charged with Obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting, and with conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties.

While commentators noted that previous seditious conspiracy trials of white supremacists have not resulted in convictions, none of those cases were comparable in scope. Meanwhile, the second conspiracy charge and other offenses have been charged against other January 6 insurgents, including some who’ve struck plea deals.