WASHINGTON — The founder of the far-right Oath Keepers was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol following his conviction for seditious conspiracy.
The sentence for Stewart Rhodes is the longest imposed on a defendant on January 6 to date. In a politically charged courtroom speech just before his sentencing, Rhodes called himself a «political prisoner» and said that when he spoke about «regime change» in a phone call with supporters earlier this week, he wanted to say that he expects former President Donald Trump to win in 2024.
The judge disagreed that Rhodes was locked up for politics, saying it was his actions that led to his criminal convictions.
«You, sir, present a constant threat and danger to this country, to the republic and to the very fabric of this democracy,» Judge Amit Mehta said before handing down the sentence.
Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy in November along with Kelly Meggs, a member of the Oath Keepers who will be sentenced Thursday afternoon.
“They will not fear us until we arrive with rifles in hand,” Rhodes wrote in a message before the January 6 attack. After the attack, in a recording shown in court during his trial, he said his only regret was that «they should have brought rifles.»
On Thursday, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, Rhodes said he believes the only crime he committed was opposing those who are «destroying our country.»
Mehta told Rhodes that he was convicted of seditious conspiracy «not because of his beliefs, not because he supported the other guy, not because Joe Biden is president right now,» but because of the facts of the case and his actions before, during, and after. of January 6.
«You are not a political prisoner, Mr. Rhodes,» Mehta said.
Rhodes and Meggs were brought to trial along with Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell, fellow Oath Keepers who were convicted of obstruction of official process and aiding and abetting, but not seditious conspiracy. Watkins and Harrelson will be sentenced on Friday.
Rhodes took the stand in his case, saying at trial that the other Oath Keepers members were «stupid» in storming the Capitol and that he disagreed with those who entered it; Rhodes did not enter the building. “I had no idea that any Oath Keeper was thinking of going in or would go in,” Rhodes said.
But the government also issued messages in which Rhodes said he thought Jan. 6 was the last chance to stop what he saw as a government takeover.
«On the 6th they are going to put the last nail in the coffin of this Republic, unless we fight our way out. With Trump (preferably) or without him, we have no choice,» Rhodes wrote in a message ahead of Jan. 6.
He also celebrated the Oath Keepers’ actions in the immediate aftermath of the attack, after meeting other members of the group at Olive Garden in Virginia that evening.
“Patriots, it was a long day, but a day when patriots started to rise up,” Rhodes wrote on the evening of January 6. “Stand up now or kneel down forever. Honor your oaths. Remember your legacy.»
Prior to Thursday’s sentencing, Peter Schwartz, who was armed with a wooden tire beater and participated in a series of assaults on officers during the attack on the Capitol, received the longest time behind bars for a defendant on Jan. 6. : little more than 14 years. Schwartz had 38 prior convictions.