Eleven members of the Oath Keepers, including the group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, were indicted on Jan. 12 by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia for an alleged “seditious conspiracy” to attack the U.S. Capitol and prevent the certification of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election.
The indictment, which was unsealed on Jan. 13, brings the first Jan. 6, 2021-related charges against Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, 56, of Granbury, Texas; and Edward Vallejo, 63, of Phoenix. Rhodes faces a count of seditious conspiracy and four other charges; Vallejo is charged with seditious conspiracy and three other counts.
It’s the first federal indictment alleging seditious conspiracy on Jan. 6, a charge that, upon conviction, carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.
Rhodes is the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers, a nationwide group of current and former military, law enforcement, and first responders who seek to defend and preserve constitutional rights, based on the oath they took to defend the United States from “all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
The indictment includes new charges against nine previously charged Jan. 6 defendants: Thomas Caldwell, 67, of Berryville, Virginia; Joseph Hackett, 51, of Sarasota, Florida; Kenneth Harrelson, 41, of Titusville, Florida; Joshua James, 34, of Arab, Alabama; Kelly Meggs, 52, of Dunnellon, Florida; Roberto Minuta, 37, of Prosper, Texas; David Moerschel, 44, of Punta Gorda, Florida; Brian Ulrich, 44, of Guyton, Georgia; and Jessica Watkins, 39, of Woodstock, Ohio.
In addition to their previous charges, the defendants are charged with seditious conspiracy and other Jan. 6 offenses. Among the other charges are destruction of government property, civil disorder, tampering with documents or proceedings, and conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties, according to the indictment.
Jonathon Moseley, a Washington-based attorney who represents Meggs in his criminal case and Rhodes in his upcoming appearance before the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol, blasted the indictment as a publicity ploy.
“This is just a public relations gloss on the existing facts,” Moseley told The Epoch Times in a statement. “Faced with criticism from leading Democrats for not supporting their leftist narrative, the prosecutors have just slapped a new label on the false allegations already made. But I see no facts that would support the new charges.
“Furthermore, the U.S. Attorney and his prosecutors know that they are lying. They have known since March to May 2021 that every allegation they are making is a lie,” he said. “We have the documents. We have the proof. They know that we know that this prosecution is a total lie. And yet they are forging ahead with prosecutorial misconduct.”
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18 U.S. Code § 2384 – Seditious conspiracy
If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
