Washington (WBAP/KLIF) – Federal prosecutors will lay out their case against the founder of the Oath Keepers extremist group and four associates charged in the most serious case to reach trial yet in the Jan. 6, 2021, US Capitol riot.
Opening statements are expected today in Washington’s federal court in the trial of Stewart Rhodes of Granbury, Texas and others are charged with seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors say was a weeks-long plot to stop the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.
The stakes are high for the justice department, which last secured a seditious conspiracy conviction at trial nearly 30 years ago.
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Prosecutors will tell jurors that the insurrection for the antigovernment group was not a spontaneous outpouring of election-fueled rage but part of a drawn-out plot to stop Biden from entering the White House.
On trial with Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, are Kelly Meggs, leader of the Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers; Kenneth Harrelson, another Florida Oath Keeper; Thomas Caldwell, a retired U.S. Navy intelligence officer from Virginia; and Jessica Watkins, who led an Ohio militia group. They face several other charges as well.
Authorities say Rhodes began plotting to overturn Biden’s victory just days after the election. Court records show the Oath Keepers repeatedly warning of the prospect of violence — or “a bloody, bloody civil war,” as Rhodes said in one call — if Biden were to become president.
By December, authorities say, Rhodes and the Oath Keepers had set their sights on Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6.
The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
