Two militia leaders guilty of sedition in US Capitol assault
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Sunday
February 05, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2023
Two militia leaders guilty of sedition in US Capitol assault

USA

BSS/AFP
30 November, 2022, 09:45 am
Last modified: 30 November, 2022, 10:24 am

Related News

  • Oath Keepers guilty of sedition in Capitol riot trial
  • 6 Jan report blames former US president Trump, aims to prevent return to power
  • Justice Dept seeks to question Pence in Capitol attack probe
  • Trump incited Capitol riot after 'unhinged' White House meeting, panel told
  • US Capitol riot panel subpoenas White House counsel under Trump

Two militia leaders guilty of sedition in US Capitol assault

Stewart Rhodes and an aide werfound guilty of "seditious conspiracy" for their roles in the US Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Three other members of the group were acquited

BSS/AFP
30 November, 2022, 09:45 am
Last modified: 30 November, 2022, 10:24 am
Photo: AP
Photo: AP

Two leaders of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, including founder Stewart Rhodes, were found guilty of sedition on Tuesday in the most high-profile case yet stemming from the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by supporters of then-president Donald Trump.

A federal jury convicted Rhodes, 57, and Kelly Meggs, 53, leader of the militia's Florida chapter, of the rarely pursued charge of seditious conspiracy, which carries up to 20 years in prison.

The 12-person jury acquitted three other members of the Oath Keepers -- Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins and Thomas Caldwell -- who faced the sedition charge, but it convicted them of lesser offenses such as obstructing an official proceeding.

Rhodes, an eyepatch-wearing former soldier and Yale law school graduate, and the four other group members were accused of plotting to keep Trump in power and overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden.

During the nearly two-week trial in Washington, prosecutors said the Oath Keepers "concocted a plan for an armed rebellion... plotting to oppose by force the government of the United States."

Hundreds of Trump supporters have been arrested for their roles in the assault on Congress but they have faced less serious charges than those lodged against Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers.

The jury deliberated for three days before reaching a verdict in the case, which the defendants characterized as a political trial carried out by the Biden administration against supporters of Trump, who has announced plans to run for the White House again in 2024.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland named a special counsel this month to oversee the investigation into Trump's own efforts to overturn the election result and the attack on Congress by his supporters.

The special counsel will also take over the Justice Department's probe into a cache of classified government documents seized in an FBI raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in August.

- 'Off-mission' -

A not-guilty verdict on the sedition counts for all five defendants would have been a setback for the Department of Justice, which plans to try members of the Proud Boys, another right-wing extremist group, on the same charges.

The verdict was hailed by the congressional committee investigating the Capitol assault.

"Today's convictions are a victory for the rule of law and reinforce the fact that the violence of January 6th included a deliberate attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election and block the transfer of presidential power," a statement from the committee's chairs, Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson and Republican Liz Cheney, said.

Edward Tarpley, an attorney for Rhodes, said he was "disappointed."

"There was no evidence introduced indicating that there was a plan to attack the Capitol," Tarpley told reporters.

During the trial, prosecutors accused the Oath Keepers of stocking weapons at a hotel near Washington and joining the crowd that stormed the Capitol in a bid to block the certification by Congress of Biden's election victory.

Prosecutors showed videos of the attack by dozens of group members dressed in military-style combat gear.

Prosecutors also showed the jury text messages between Rhodes and his followers that called for action if Trump himself failed to act to prevent certification of Biden as the next president.

Rhodes did not personally enter the Capitol but directed his followers like a battlefield general, prosecutors said.

Rhodes took the witness stand during the trial and denied his group planned to assault the congressional complex, saying they were in Washington only to provide security at rallies.

"It was not part of our mission for that day to enter the Capitol for any reason," Rhodes said.

Speaking in military jargon, he admitted that a number of Oath Keepers went "off-mission" and entered the building.

He said Meggs, the Florida chapter head, was "an idiot" for taking his people inside.

"I think it was stupid to go into the Capitol. It opened the door for the political persecution of us. And that's where we are," Rhodes told the court.

World+Biz

jan 6 hearing / Capitol attack / US Capitol Hill Attack / Stewart Rhodes

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • ICB to withdraw Padma Bank investment as return eludes
    ICB to withdraw Padma Bank investment as return eludes
  • Some tough tasks on the plate for Bangladesh Bank!
    Some tough tasks on the plate for Bangladesh Bank!
  • Influentials thwart Bangladesh's reform attempts: Economists
    Influentials thwart Bangladesh's reform attempts: Economists

MOST VIEWED

  • Robert Harrison, 96, arrives to vote while wearing a mask to prevent exposure to novel coronavirus, in Hamilton, Ohio, US, March 12, 2020/ Reuters
    Democrats approve 2024 presidential primary shakeup
  • Air travellers wearing protective face masks, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, walk at JetBlue Terminal 5 at JFK International airport in New York, U.S., November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo
    US pauses activity at three airports for "national security effort" amid questions about Chinese spy balloon
  • China's and U.S.' flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken January 27, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
    China strongly opposes US move to shoot down unmanned airship
  • The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, U.S. February 4, 2023. REUTERS/Randall Hill
    US fighter jet shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon with missile
  • Photo :Reuters
    US proposes slashing salt, sugar in school meals
  • Chinese and US flags flutter near The Bund, before US trade delegation meet their Chinese counterparts for talks in Shanghai, China July 30, 2019/ Reuters
    Senior Chinese official calls for timely communication between China, US to avoid misjudgment

Related News

  • Oath Keepers guilty of sedition in Capitol riot trial
  • 6 Jan report blames former US president Trump, aims to prevent return to power
  • Justice Dept seeks to question Pence in Capitol attack probe
  • Trump incited Capitol riot after 'unhinged' White House meeting, panel told
  • US Capitol riot panel subpoenas White House counsel under Trump

Features

Photo: Courtesy

From 'Made in Bangladesh' to 'Designed in Bangladesh'

1h | Panorama
Sketch: TBS

Say 'Salud' before your salad main course

1d | Food
Coots running. Photo: Enam Ul Haque

Cute Coot of Baikka Beel: 'And yet he was as bald as a coot'

18h | Panorama
With only one government run specialised cancer hospital in the capital — the National Institute Of Cancer Research and Hospital (NICRH) in Mohakhali — patients have no option but to resort to private hospitals. Photo: Noor A Alam.

Cancer care: Medical treatment and beyond

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Prioritise medical equipment, raw material imports over luxury items

Prioritise medical equipment, raw material imports over luxury items

16h | TBS Round Table
Adani row rocks India’s parliament

Adani row rocks India’s parliament

15h | TBS World
Concord launches new plant to produce environment friendly bricks

Concord launches new plant to produce environment friendly bricks

21h | TBS Stories
How Asif Khan would invest his fresh funds right now

How Asif Khan would invest his fresh funds right now

22h | TBS Markets

Most Read

1
Leepu realised his love for cars from a young age and for the last 40 years, he has transformed, designed and customised hundreds of cars. Photo: Collected
Panorama

'I am not crazy about cars anymore': Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu

2
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Economy

IMF approves $4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh, calls for ambitious reforms

3
Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane
Infrastructure

Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane

4
Photo: Collected
Court

Japanese mother gets guardianship of daughters, free to leave country

5
Belal Ahmed new acting chairman of SIBL
Banking

Belal Ahmed new acting chairman of SIBL

6
Photo: Collected
Startups

ShopUp secures $30m debt financing to boost expansion, supply chain

EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net