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:

Oath Keepers trial

Jessica Watkins, a former bar owner in Ohio and an Army veteran, took the stand on Wednesday in a high-stakes trial charging Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four other militia members with the rarely used charge of seditious conspiracy.

Watkins, who has been locked up for two years following her arrest in the case, said she did not intend to stop certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory when she stormed the Capitol in a military stack formation with other Oath Keepers.

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Watkins explained she was given a “steady diet” of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election from “Infowars” host Alex Jones.

  The Hill

Force fed, I guess.

Watkins, Rhodes and three other Oath Keeper members on trial face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the seditious conspiracy charges. Closing arguments could begin as early as this week.

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When he took the stand, Rhodes also said it was “stupid” for Oath Keepers members to charge into the Capitol and repeated that he never meant to overturn certification of the 2020 election.

Rather, Rhodes said he and other militia members were awaiting orders from former President Trump to invoke an old series of laws known as the Insurrection Act, which allows the commander-in-chief to call up a militia to quell a domestic disturbance.

Then it follows that they created the disturbance in order to have Trump make the call. Which is, of course what the plan was, and Trump was in on it.

But Watkins on Wednesday said there was no plan to invoke the Insurrection Act.

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“There was talk of the Insurrection Act, but no one was taking it seriously."

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[Another Oath Keeper on trial, Thomas] Caldwell, a retired Navy intelligence officer, said he was not serious when he wrote messages to the militia group about ferrying “heavy weapons” across the Potomac River into Oath Keepers’ “waiting arms,” according to the AP.

Caldwell called those messages “creative writing.”

Sure.

At least Watkins and Caldwell - or their attorneys - understood Rhodes' admission they were waiting for the Insurrection Act call up was a bad mistake.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

First seditious conspiracy trial begins

Using text messages, video and recorded calls, the Justice Department is trying to persuade the jury at a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., that [Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four other members] set out to overturn the results of the 2020 election by storming the Capitol and interrupting the count of electoral votes.

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Rhodes never entered the building on Jan. 6, 2021, but he was photographed on the Capitol grounds "surveying" his troops like a battlefield general, the government said. A couple of minutes before 14 people wearing military-style gear marched toward the building's doors and pushed past the police, Rhodes spoke with his fellow defendant Kelly Meggs.

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Lawyers for Rhodes asked the jury to keep an open mind and hold the government to its burden of proof. Attorney Phillip Linder said the Oath Keepers had traveled to Washington to provide security for events in early January 2021.

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Prosecutors had presented messages in which Rhodes wrote before Jan. 6: "We aren't getting through this without a civil war." And after Jan. 6, Rhodes allegedly said, "my only regret is that they should have brought rifles....we could have fixed it right then and there."

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"My client did nothing illegal that day, even though it may look inflammatory," [Rhodes attorney Phillip] Linder said, describing Rhodes' hot-tempered statements before and after Jan. 6 as "nothing more than free speech and bravado."

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After the assault, the defendants felt "elated," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nestler said, citing messages they shared boasting about their actions. Rhodes allegedly wrote, "you ain't seen nothing yet." Meggs, who ran the Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers, allegedly wrote, "we aren't quitting!! We are reloading!!"

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Defendant Thomas Caldwell wrote "I rolled with the Oath Keepers..... I said, let's storm the place and hang the traitors."

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Within a couple of days, the mood had turned, and Rhodes allegedly directed people to "delete your self incriminating comments or those that incriminate others."

  NPR

I guess the brilliant lawyer Rhodes didn't know you never really delete anything from the web.

Earlier Monday morning, Judge Amit Mehta denied a request by the defense to move the trial out of D.C., saying the three-day voir dire process had produced a 16-member jury with no bias against the defendants.

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Defense lawyer David Fischer, who represents defendant Thomas Caldwell, used his opening statement to blast the FBI for conducting what he considered a questionable investigation and misunderstanding military terms used by Caldwell, a disabled U.S. Navy veteran. In another instance, Fischer said, the FBI used statements to support its search of Caldwell's farm that actually came from the cult classic movie, The Princess Bride.

Does it matter where he got them?

Fischer also said the quick reaction force was a "break the glass in case of emergency" option the Oath Keepers had used at previous rallies in Ferguson, Mo., and in D.C., when Congress was not in session.

But they didn't "break the glass" except at the Capitol.

A lawyer for Watkins told jurors she is a transgender woman and "she's never felt like she's fit in."

What person who doesn't feel like they fit in doesn't attack the Capitol and the democracy?

Watkins turned herself in voluntarily and spoke with the FBI four times, not what someone trying to overthrow the government would do, Crisp said.

It's someone who's trying to save her own skin. 

I still wonder if they'll be able to connect and indict Roger Stone.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE: