This is the highest sentence to date related to the storming of the Capitol. One of the figures of the American far right, Stewart Rhodes, was sentenced on Thursday to 18 years in prison for "sedition", because of his active role on the day of the attack. "You represent a persistent threat and a danger to this country," federal judge Amit Mehta said in justifying the severity of the sentence against the founder of the "Oath Keepers" militia.
On January 6, 2021, a crowd of supporters of former US President Donald Trump wreaked havoc in the temple of American democracy, judging that Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election was rigged. Since the attack, nearly 1,000 supporters of former Republican President Donald Trump have been arrested and charged. Nearly 300 received prison sentences, the heaviest of which was 14 years so far.
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Stewart Rhodes and another member of the Oath Keepers were the first to be convicted of sedition in the case last November. Prosecutors had managed to prove that he had started early to join the "Oath Keepers" after the defeat of the billionaire. "We will not get by without civil war," he wrote to them two days after the presidential election on an encrypted messaging service.
In the following weeks, they say, he spent thousands of dollars buying night vision devices, weapons and ammunition, and a stock of that arsenal at a suburban Washington hotel. On January 6, helmets and dressed in combat gear, several members of the "Oath Keepers" marched on the Capitol, some entering the compound of the building in military formation. 58-year-old former soldier Stewart Rhodes had stayed outside, but prosecutors said he had directed his troops with a radio.
"I am a political prisoner"
During his trial, the tribune had denied "having planned" the attack and maintained that the "mission" of the Oath Keepers was to ensure the security of the demonstration called by Donald Trump to denounce alleged "electoral fraud". The founder of the militia adopted until the end of his trial a posture of defiance: "I am a political prisoner", "my only crime is to oppose those who destroy our country", he launched just before being fixed on his sentence.
Federal Judge Amit Mehta curtly put him in his place: "You are NOT a political prisoner, Mr. Rhodes ... you are here because twelve jurors ... found you guilty of sedition, one of the most serious crimes an American can commit." The charge, which involves planning the use of force against the government, carries a 20-year prison sentence. But prosecutors had requested 25 years against Stewart Rhodes, relying on a mechanism that allows for increased sentences for acts of a "terrorist" nature.
Six members of the Oath Keepers have been convicted of "sedition" as part of the investigation into the storming of the Capitol. In early May, four members of another far-right group, the Proud Boys, also implicated in the attack, were also convicted of "sedition". Jurors are also trying to determine the degree of responsibility of Donald Trump in this attack that shocked America. Last December, the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the storming of the Capitol recommended criminal proceedings against the former president, including one for calling for insurrection.