The sedition trial of several members of the far-right US militia Oath Keepers, including its founder Stewart Rhodes, came to a head on Monday, with prosecutors accusing them of heavily armed themselves on January 6, 2021 to attack the Capitol in order to to keep Donald Trump in power.
Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Nestler claimed that Stewart Rhodes, a former military man known for his black eye patch and fiery rants, knew exactly what he was doing as he led his militia members to the headquarters of the American Congress.
Showing videos of the violent attack carried out by dozens of members of the group dressed in combat gear, Mr Nestler said Mr Rhodes led them “like a general on the battlefield”, as the chosen ones tried to certify the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election.
On January 6, 2021, the Oath Keepers “developed a plan for an armed rebellion […]plotting to oppose the government of the United States by force,” he said.
“They did not go to the capital to defend or to help. They went there to attack. »
“Almost a peacekeeping force”
Stewart Rhodes’ lawyer, Phillip Linder, for his part assured that his client, who graduated in law from the prestigious Yale University, was “extremely patriotic” and “a constitutional expert”. According to him, the Oath Keepers had come to Washington to provide security.
“The Oath Keepers are almost a peacekeeping force. They make themselves available to help keep the peace in the streets,” he added.
“Stewart Rhodes had no intention of hurting the Capitol that day. Stewart Rhodes had no violent intentions that day,” he insisted.
“This is the biggest false advertisement in the history of the American justice system,” said David Fischer, attorney for another defendant, member of the Oath Keepers, Thomas Caldwell.
Mr. Caldwell had been instructed within the organization to create an armed “rapid reaction force” to deal with any eventuality and it would have been “defensive” if Donald Trump had called on them, according to the defense.
But this “force” was never mobilized, Thomas Caldwell never entered the Capitol and never attacked anyone, according to his lawyer.
“He went to Washington for an evening with his wife,” says Fischer.
Rare charge of “sedition”
Stewart Rhodes is judged at the same time as four regional leaders of his militia.
Their lawyers said in court papers that they did not want to overthrow the government, but expected Donald Trump to declare a state of insurrection, under an 1807 law that allows presidents Americans to mobilize certain armed forces in exceptional circumstances.
But for Jeffrey Nestler, this argument is only a strategy on the part of Stewart Rhodes to protect himself.
Since the attack, more than 870 people have been arrested and around 100 have received prison sentences, including the perpetrators of violence against the police. But so far, no one had had to defend themselves against “sedition”.
Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Thomas Caldwell, Jessica Watkins and Kenneth Harrelson are the first to be tried in this capacity.
This charge stems from a law passed after the Civil War to repress the last southern rebels.
Punishable by 20 years in prison, he implies having planned the use of force to overthrow the government or oppose one of its laws. It differs from insurrection, which has a more spontaneous character.
According to the indictment, the defendants “conspired to oppose by force the legal transfer of presidential power”.
Concretely, Stewart Rhodes is accused of having started to rally his troops in November 2020. “We are not going to get out of it without civil war”, he wrote to them, two days after the presidential election, on an encrypted message.