By Sarah N. Lynch and Jan Wolfe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors on Thursday indicted Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, and 10 alleged members of the seditious conspiracy group, of participating in the deadly January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. .
They said Rhodes had warned his group to prepare for a “bloody and unbridled fight” in the days leading up to the attack, as supporters of then-President Donald Trump tried to stop Congress from certifying his election defeat.
This is the first time that alleged participants in the attack have been charged with a seditious conspiracy, which is defined as an attempt to “depose, overthrow or forcibly destroy the government of the United States”.
“Let’s go to the fight,” Rhodes told his allies on the Signal messaging app, according to prosecutors. “This cannot be avoided.”
The Oath Keepers are a loosely organized group of activists who believe the federal government is usurping their rights and focus on recruiting former or active members of the police, emergency services and military.
Nine of the eleven accused of seditious conspiracy were already facing other charges related to the Capitol attack. Members of the far-right Proud Boys and Three Percenters were also accused of participating in the attack.
The indictment says Rhodes began messaging his followers in November 2020, the month of Trump’s electoral defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, encouraging them to “oppose by force the legal transfer of presidential power.”
After losing the election, Trump repeatedly made false claims that his defeat was the result of widespread fraud. He echoed those claims in an impassioned speech near the White House before thousands of his followers stormed the Capitol in the worst attack on Congressional headquarters since the War of 1812.
Prosecutors said that starting in late December 2020, Rhodes used encrypted private communications to arrange travel to Washington on January 6. He and others planned to bring weapons to help support the operation, prosecutors said.
While some of the Oath Keeper members rushed inside the building using tactical gear, others remained outside in what they considered “rapid response force” teams, which were prepared to quickly transport weapons into the city, prosecutors said.
Jon Moseley, an attorney for Rhodes, told Reuters he was on the phone with Rhodes to discuss his planned appearance before the House Select Committee on Jan. 6, when the FBI called.
Seditious conspiracy is a felony punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
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