A federal judge sentenced Stewart Rhodes, leader and founder of the far-right group Oath Keepers, to 18 years in prison this Thursday for seditious conspiracy and other crimes related to the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021: the attempted of coup instigated by Donald Trump to try to annul the result of the presidential elections of November of the previous year.
A Washington jury found Rhodes guilty of such crimes last November at the end of a two-month trial against a total of five leaders of the same violent group.
This Thursday is the first sedition sentence handed down in the complex judicial process against those responsible for the largest insurrection against American democracy.
The seditious conspiracy charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
"For decades, Mr. Rhodes, you have wanted democracy in this country to turn to violence," US District Judge Amit Mehta said before handing down the sentence.
"You are not a political prisoner," he also told him, but "a "continuing threat" to the United States.
Earlier this month, another Washington, D.C. jury convicted four Donald Trump supporters and members of the far-right group Proud Boys, including its former leader, Enrique Tarrio, for seditious conspiracy in planning the January 6 assault on the Capitol. 2021. The specific sentence is pending to be set.
