Four members of the far-right militia “Oath Keepers” were convicted Monday of sedition for their role in the Capitol storming, after the second trial staged on this extremely rare charge.
Since the Capitol takeover, only 14 activists from far-right groups (nine members of “Oath Keepers” and five “Proud Boys”) have been charged with “sedition,” a charge punishable by 20 years in prison that involves having he planned the use of force to oppose the government.
A first trial in November
Due to lack of sufficient space in the federal court in Washington, justice organized the trial of the Oath Keepers, accused of having trained and armed for the occasion, in two stages.
A first trial concluded at the end of November with a mixed verdict: the founder of this militia, Stewart Rhodes, and a local official were found guilty of sedition, but his three co-defendants were acquitted of this charge.
On Monday, at the end of the second trial, jurors found guilty the final four Oath Keepers, men between the ages of 38 and 64 described as dangerous “traitors” by the prosecution, but “bragglers” by their lawyers.
The trial of the Proud Boys, including their leader Enrique Tarrio, began in December and was still continuing Monday in the same court. Separately, a 62-year-old man, who was immortalized with his feet up on a table in the office of Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi during the attack, has been found guilty of other crimes.
Jurors found Richard Barnett guilty, among other things, of obstructing official process, robbery, and trespassing into an official building with a dangerous weapon (a baton capable of delivering electric shocks).
On January 6, 2021, he was photographed by AFP in the office of the leader of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, with his feet on a piece of furniture. The cliché had gone around the world and allowed the police to quickly arrest him.
Source: BFM TV
