1 of 1 Stewart Rhodes on 10 October 2019 Photo: Jim Urquhart/Portal Stewart Rhodes on 10 October 2019 Photo: Jim Urquhart/Portal
A US court this Thursday (25) sentenced the founder of the rightwing extremist group Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, to 18 years in prison for conspiracy and other crimes related to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Prosecutors wanted an even longer sentence of 25 years for Rhodes.
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Rhodes introduced himself to the judge and explained that he was a political prisoner.
US court convicts members of extremist group for invading Capitol
The judge in that case, Amit Mehta, told Rhodes that he was not a political prisoner but a threat to the US and democracy in the country.
Rhodes served in the US Army and thereafter became a Yaletrained attorney.
More than a thousand people have been arrested for their part in the attack on the Capitol (the US Congress building is known as the Capitol because it is on a hill by that name).
Most of them are charged with trespassing or vandalism, but 350 have been charged with assaulting police officers or resisting arrest, and more than 50 with serious conspiracy offences.
At the time, supporters of thenRepublican President Donald Trump tried to prevent Congress from confirming Joe Biden’s election victory.
Rhodes’ sentence is the longest of anyone convicted in the Capitol attack. The highest sentence to date was 14 years in prison for a Pennsylvania man who assaulted police during the riot.