The incitement trial against several members of the far-right US militia Oath Keepers, including its founder Stewart Rhodes, came to a head on Monday. Prosecutors charged her with a heavily armed attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to keep Donald Trump in power.
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Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Nestler claimed that Stewart Rhodes, a former soldier known for his black eye patch and fiery rants, knew exactly what he was doing as he led his militiamen to US Congressional headquarters.
Mr Nestler showed videos of the violent attack, carried out by dozens of members of the group in riot gear, and said Stewart Rhodes guided them “like a general on the battlefield” as elected officials sought to win Democrat Joe Biden confirm in the presidential election.
On January 6, 2021, the Oath Keepers “devised a plan for armed rebellion … with a plan to oppose the United States government by force,” he said.
“They didn’t go to the capital to defend it or to help. They went there to attack. »
“peacekeeping force”
Stewart Rhodes’ lawyer, Phillip Linder, assured him that his client, who graduated from the prestigious Yale University with a law degree, 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 keep the peace on the streets,” he added.
“Stewart Rhodes had no intention of harming the Capitol that day. Stewart Rhodes had no violent intentions that day,” he said.
The Oath Keepers had created a “rapid reaction force” armed to deal with any eventuality and it would have been “defensive” if Donald Trump had called them on, he said.
Rare cargo
Stewart Rhodes was sentenced at the same time as four regional leaders of his militia.
Their lawyers said in court filings that they did not want to overthrow the government but expected Donald Trump to call the insurrection under an 1807 law allowing American presidents to mobilize certain military forces in exceptional circumstances.
But for Jeffrey Nestler, this argument is just a strategy by Stewart Rhodes to protect himself.
Since the attack, more than 870 people have been arrested and around 100 have been sentenced to prison, including perpetrators of violence against the police. But so far nobody has had to defend themselves against “incitement of the people”.
Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Thomas Caldwell, Jessica Watkins and Kenneth Harrelson are the first to be tried in this capacity.
These charges stem from a post-Civil War law designed to suppress the last southern rebels.
He faces 20 years in prison and is implicated as planning the use of force to overthrow the government or oppose any of its laws. It differs from the insurgency, which has a more spontaneous character.
According to the indictment, the defendants “conspired to violently oppose the legal transfer of power to the President.”
Specifically, Stewart Rhodes is accused of having started rallying his troops in November 2020. “We can’t get out of this without a civil war,” he wrote to them in a coded message two days after the presidential election.