It is the highest prison sentence to date in connection with the violent attack on the US Capitol: A court in Washington sentenced the founder of the right-wing extremist militia Oath Keepers, Rhodes, to 18 years in prison.
The founder of the far-right US militia Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for storming the US Capitol. The sentence against the 57-year-old for “seditious conspiracy” was announced by a federal judge in the capital Washington. It is the highest prison sentence to date in connection with the violent attack on the US Congress on January 6, 2021, two months after the presidential election.
Prosecutors had asked for 25 years in prison for Rhodes. Among other things, she had requested that “terrorist behavior” be added as an aggravating factor. Judge Amit Mehta accepted the request, but his sentence remained below the prosecutor’s request.
Allegation of “armed rebellion”
Rhodes was found guilty of “seditious conspiracy” in November. The offense is aimed, among other things, at attempts to overthrow the US government and is rarely used in the US.
Prosecutors had accused the five accused Oath Keepers members in the trial of planning an “armed rebellion” against the US government. Accordingly, the extremists wanted to prevent the transfer of power from President Donald Trump to his successor Joe Biden.
“Like a General on the Battlefield”
Members of the Oath Keepers, classified as anti-government and violent, along with hundreds of other radical Trump supporters, stormed the Capitol when Biden’s election victory was to be finally confirmed there.
According to the indictment, the ex-soldier Rhodes, known for his black eye patch, and the other defendants bought weapons and combat equipment and stored them in a hotel near the capital. Rhodes acted “like a general on the battlefield” during the storming of the Capitol, prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler said during the trial last fall.
Rhodes denies planning an attack on the Capitol. According to him, he and his militia only wanted to provide security at a Trump rally in Washington on the day in question.