Far-Right Oath Keepers Founder Guilty in Jan. 6 Trial

Updated May 25, 2023

• Founder Steward Rhodes of the far-right militia, the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 attack. 
• The prosecutor sought a 25-year term. Before handing down the sentence, U.S. district judge Amit Mehta told Rhodes that he posed a continuous threat to the government, adding it was clear he "wants democracy in this country to devolve into violence." Mehta continued:

"The moment you are released, whenever that may be, you will be ready to take up arms against your government."

• Rhodes claimed he never went into the Capitol on Jan. 6 and that the prosecution was politically motivated:

"I'm a political prisoner and like President Trump my only crime is opposing those who are destroying our country."

• Prosecutors, however, made the case that the Oath Keepers founder and his leaders prepared an armed rebellion, including stashing arms at a Virginia hotel in order to make a quick course to Washington, D.C. The judge said:

"Mr. Rhodes directed his co-conspirators to come to the Capitol and they abided."

Updated May 4, 2023

What’s the story?

• Former chairman of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, and three other members of the far-right extremist group were found guilty of seditious conspiracy in a federal court in Washington, D.C. 
• The four men were also convicted of obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging their duties, obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, and destruction of government property valued over $1,000 during the Capitol attack on Jan 6, 2021. 
• The defendants could face a maximum of 50 years in prison on the conspiracy counts alone. 

What does this mean?

• These verdicts signal a win for the Justice Department as it officially secured convictions against top leaders of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers for their roles in attempting to overthrow the 2020 election. 
• Prosecutor Conor Mulroe told jurors during his closing argument last week:

“Politics was no longer something for the debating floor or the voting booth. For them, politics meant actual physical violence…And they liked it and they were good at it.”

• Prosecutors also placed former President Donald Trump at the center of the Proud Boys’ actions, as they told the jury that the defendants acted as “Donald Trump’s army” and fought “to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say.” Lawyers argued Tarrio could not be blamed for Trump’s words, saying he is just a “scapegoat” for the Justice Department. In response, prosecutors reminded the jury that the Proud Boys member sent a message after the mob infiltrated the Capitol, reading, “Make no mistakes, we did this.”

What’s the story?

• Guy Wesley Reffitt was the first defendant to go to trial in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) criminal inquiry into the Jan. 6 attacks. On Monday, a federal judge sentenced Reffitt to more than seven years in prison, which is the longest sentence thus far in a Capitol riot case. 

What's the sentence?

• The sentence, handed down by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich, is at the lower end of the guideline sentence range. Prosecutors wanted Reffitt to face 15 years. Friedrich noted that her sentence — seven years and three months in prison, three years of probation, $2,000 in restitution, and court-mandated mental health treatment — is still significantly longer than any sentence given to the more than 800 people arrested in connection to the riot. Many of these people have struck plea bargains.
• The judge said the sentencing guidelines for Reffitt's case were two more years than if he had pleaded guilty and reached a plea deal. 
• Reffitt was found guilty on five felony charges, including obstructing Congress’s certification of the 2020 presidential election, carrying a .40-caliber pistol during the riot, and two counts of civil disorder. 

Obstruction

• Prosecutors and defense lawyers had been waiting to see how the obstruction charge would hold up in court, a rarely used count which has been central to many of the Jan. 6 cases. Judge Friedrich said Reffitt’s case was an unusual one due to the threats he made against his children when he discovered he might be included in a federal investigation of the riot.
• His son, Jackson Reffitt, testified that his father became radicalized leading up to the attack. Reffitt threatened his son and daughter to dissuade them from speaking to the authorities, telling them that “traitors get shot.”
• In the final remarks, Judge Friedrich stressed that while Reffitt’s actions were not as violent as many others on Jan. 6, they nonetheless put hundreds of people in danger. Reffitt described himself and others from the day as “patriots” and offered a brief apology for his actions. Friedrich doubted his sincerity and called his behavior the “antithesis of patriotism.”

“Not only are they not patriots, they are a direct threat to our democracy and will be prosecuted as such.”

What do you think of the sentence?

-Jamie Epstein

(Photo credit: Flickr/Geoff Livingston)