You Will Anyway: Stewart Rhodes: Guilty

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Stewart Rhodes: Guilty

Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the rightwing Oath Keepers militia [who wears an eye patch after accidentally shooting himself in the face], has been found guilty of seditious conspiracy, a charge arising from the attack on the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump.

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In an eight-week trial, Rhodes, a Yale Law-educated former paratrooper and disbarred attorney, was accused with four associates of fomenting a plot to use force to stop Congress certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

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Rhodes did not go inside the Capitol but was accused of leading the plot.

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US district judge, Amit Mehta, presided. The 12-member jury deliberated for three days.

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The rarely used, civil war-era charge calls for up to 20 years behind bars.

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Rhodes’ four co-defendants were Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins and Thomas Caldwell.

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Meggs, Watkins and Harrelson entered the Capitol wearing tactical gear.

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Meggs was convicted of seditious conspiracy. Harrelson, Caldwell and Watkins were acquitted.

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Rhodes and two others [Watkins, a transgender woman who fled the US army, and Caldwell, a disabled navy veteran,] testified in their own defense. They denied plotting an attack or seeking to stop Congress certifying results. Rhodes insisted that his followers who went inside went rogue.

The Guardian

I guess the jury didn't buy it.

Rhodes shot himself in the face and then in the foot, so to speak.

Caldwell, who like Rhodes did not enter the Capitol, never formally joined the Oath Keepers. He tried to downplay inflammatory texts he sent in connection with the attack, saying some of the lines were adapted from or inspired by movies such as The Princess Bride or cartoons such as Bugs Bunny.

Oh dear god. What is he, 12?

Four other Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy are due to go to trial in December. Members of another rightwing group, the Proud Boys, including its former chairman Enrique Tarrio, also are due for trial on seditious conspiracy charges in December.

I'm guessing they won't be having a very merry Christmas. And after Trump made it okay to say Merry Christmas again. Sad!

P.S. Some interesting background on Rhodes.

UPDATE:

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Life, as Explained in "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead"

GUILDENSTERN: What a fine persecution---to be kept intrigued without ever quite being enlightened.

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ROSENCRANTZ : The only thing that makes it bearable is the irrational belief that somebody interesting will come on in a minute.

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GUILDENSTERN: But for God's sake what are we supposed to do?!

PLAYER: Relax. Respond. That's what people do. You can't go through life questioning your situation at every turn.

GUILDENSTERN: But we don't know what's going on, or what to do with ourselves. We don't know how to act.

PLAYER: Act natural. You know why you're here at least.

GUILDENSTERN: We only know what we're told, and that's little enough. And for all we know it isn't even true.

PLAYER: For all anyone knows, nothing is. Everything has to be taken on trust; truth is only that which is taken to be true. It's the currency of living. There may be nothing behind it, but it doesn't make any difference so long as it is honoured. One acts on assumptions.

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GUILDENSTERN : We act on scraps of information... sifting half-remembered directions that we can hardly separate from instinct.

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PLAYER: Life is a gamble, at terrible odds-if it was a bet you wouldn't take it.