{"id":23502,"date":"2022-09-27T06:17:08","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T10:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=23502"},"modified":"2022-09-27T06:17:08","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T10:17:08","slug":"oath-keepers-trial-is-biggest-capitol-riot-case-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2022\/09\/27\/oath-keepers-trial-is-biggest-capitol-riot-case-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Oath Keepers trial is biggest Capitol riot case yet"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia group, will go on trial after jury selection begins Tuesday in one of the most high-profile cases stemming from the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Among those being tried is the group’s leader, Stewart Rhodes, who is charged, along with four others, with seditious conspiracy – plotting to oppose the transfer of presidential power. They have pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The trial in Washington could be the most significant 6 January case yet, given the seriousness of the charges and the potential to answer a key question: to what extent was the storming of the US Capitol planned in advance?<\/p>\n

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What is the Oath Keepers?<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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A pro-gun, anti-government group launched in 2009, the Oath Keepers began with a rally in Lexington, Massachusetts – site of one of the first battles in the Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Its founder, Mr Rhodes, is a former US Army paratrooper who studied at Yale Law School and was once an aide to libertarian Republican congressman Ron Paul of Texas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The group is named after the oath of service that police, military and other officials take. Those taking the military oath, for instance, pledge to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Oath Keepers focus recruitment on people with military and law enforcement experience, along with other frontline “first responders”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Extremism researchers have kept tabs on the group from the beginning, but it began to get a bigger profile when armed members started popping up in the middle of protests and civil unrest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In 2014, they appeared at an\u00a0armed standoff<\/a>\u00a0between a Nevada rancher and law enforcement. Later that year\u00a0the Oath Keepers were spotted in Ferguson, Missouri<\/a>, during protests after the shooting death of a black man, Michael Brown, by a police officer.<\/p>\n

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In that case, they said they were protecting business interests in the area, though they are not police.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“The danger with that is they are inserting themselves in already tense situations,” said Alex Friedfeld, an investigative researcher with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Center on Extremism. “It escalates the likelihood of violence.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What did the Oath Keepers do on 6 January 2021?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Prosecutors say Mr Rhodes began a campaign to reject the results of the November 2020 election two days after the vote, while ballots were still being counted. On 5 November, the Oath Keepers’ leader told supporters on Signal, a private messaging app: “We aren’t getting through this without a civil war. Too late for that. Prepare your mind, body, spirit.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Biden was declared the winner of the election on 7 November 2020, following days of vote-counting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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According to a federal indictment, Mr Rhodes and others bought thousands of dollars of weapons and gear over the next two months, made plans to stash guns, and organised members into military-style units.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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On 6 January 2021, a melange of groups – along with hundreds of individuals apparently unconnected to any organisation – assembled outside the Capitol after then-President Donald Trump held a rally nearby.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Trump urged supporters to march to congressional headquarters to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”, but also told the audience: “And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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