Sentencing The Insurrectionists -- Stewart Rhodes Gets 18 Years (UPDATED)

 

One of the leaders of the January 6 insurrection, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, gets his comeuppance:

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison Thursday in the first punishment to be handed down for seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The sentence is the longest given to any of the hundreds of people found guilty of involvement in the pro-Trump riot.

“You sir, present an ongoing threat and a peril to this country, to the republic and the very fabric of our democracy,” Judge Amit P. Mehta told Rhodes.

The judge said he had never before expressed such a belief about a defendant appearing in his court. He described Rhodes, who founded his far-right, anti-government group in 2009, as a disturbingly charismatic figure who manipulated dozens of his followers into coming to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

“They too are victims, victims of the lies, the propaganda, the rhetoric and ultimately the intention that you conveyed,” Mehta said.

Noting that Rhodes has continued to spread conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric in interviews from behind bars, Mehta predicted, “The moment you are released you will be prepared to take up arms against your government.”...

The seditious shit was unrepentant:

“I’m a political prisoner, and like President Trump, my only crime is opposing those who are destroying our country,” he told the court. Comparing himself to Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn, he promised that from prison he would “expose the criminality of this regime.”

That sure validated what the judge said, and the sentence Rhodes received. 

Next up for sentencing:  Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio. 

UPDATE:  Another Oath Keeper, Jessica Watkins, was sentenced on May 26 to 8 1/2 years for her actions on January 6.

(Photo:  Susan Walsh/AP)

Oath Keepers' Leaders Guilty Of Seditious Conspiracy

Developing story, but the heaviest charge of seditious conspiracy lands on the Oath Keepers' two fascist leaders, Elmer Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs:

BREAKING: Oath Keepers founder STEWART RHODES guilty of seditious conspiracy - plus codefendant Kelly Meggs.

Jessica Watkins, Thomas Caldwell, and Kenneth Harrelson NOT guilty on this count.

All guilty on obstructing official proceeding on Jan 6.

— Rob Legare (@RobLegare) November 29, 2020

All five noted in the tweet above were convicted of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, but the jury acquitted the three other "Oath Keepers" of seditious conspiracy. Other charges remaining are destruction of property, civil disorder and tampering with documents. 

Now, time to go up the prosecutorial "ladder" with the seditious conspiracy and other charges.

Lock them up!

(photo: Rhodes pointing the way to prison. Susan Walsh, AP)

 

Trump's "Civil War" Message To His Cult

 

Earlier today on CNN, Tasha Adams, the former wife of deranged far-right brownshirt "Oath Keepers" leader Stewart "Hidey Hole" Rhodes explained what message the Malignant Loser sent to his violent cult in his infamous speech on Saturday in Texas:

"Donald Trump is trying to weaponize his supporters and I think he is afraid. I don't know Donald Trump personally, obviously, but I lived under the Stewart Rhodes regime for a long time, so I certainly know the patterns and the behaviors of a grandiose narcissist who has a bit of a messiah complex. So I recognize an underlying threat immediately when I hear one and the threat is that he's afraid he's going to be indicted and wants to weaponize his supporters and it's an absolute threat."  (our emphasis)

Adams notes that Rhodes was a serial domestic abuser, which explains his violent acting out as an "Oath Keeper." Asked what Trump's violent cult members hear when he threatens mass protests if he's prosecuted for his multiple crimes (e.g., seditious conspiracy, bank/tax/insurance fraud, money laundering, obstruction, etc., etc.), Adams explained:

"They hear civil war. To them, this is the civil war they've been waiting for. A lot of these guys live for this, they have been waiting for this, they spend their lives preparing for it, they look forward to it. There's an air of disappointment when it doesn't turn violent with these guys, I think, a lot of them. These guys want a civil war."  (our emphasis)

The legal system, as well as the House Committee on the January 6 insurrection, must move with all deliberate speed in bringing civil actions and criminal indictments against the Malignant Loser and his enablers. Especially, indictments for criminal code violations must move forward, and protection afforded to prosecutors, grand jurors, and State and Federal law enforcement officials in light of physical threats from Trump cultists.

 

Oath Keeper Leader's Sad "Escape Tunnels"

Stewart Rhodes, the deranged leader of the far-right Sturmabteilung-like group the "Oath Keepers," was charged over a week ago with seditious conspiracy for his role in organizing his thuggish group to storm the Capitol on January 6. Yesterday, he was denied release on bond by a Federal judge in Texas. The judge's decision was based in part on evidence from Rhodes' estranged wife that he had dug "escape tunnels" in his rental house's back yard.

"Rental house?" Apparently Rhodes' landlord was sympathetic to him, according to tweets from Rhodes' estranged wife Tasha Adams. Adams also tweeted out pictures of the sadsack in his hidey hole, writing,

"Folks if you ever feel tempted to rent a backhoe and dig escape tunnels in the backyard of your rental house, keep in mind it may come back to haunt you if you later attempt to overthrow the US government."

Despite her poor judgement in marrying the loser, we credit Ms. Adams for siding against her former husband and all MAGA insurrectionist morons and with democracy and the law. Thanks in part to her, Rhodes will stay locked up pending his trial.

(photo: Rhodes peering from his hidey hole/ escape from reality tunnel. Tasha Adams/Twitter)

The Daily Sedition Watch

We continue to curate the seditious cranks among us.

Oath Keeper crackpot:

Stewart Rhodes, pro-Trump leader of the anti-government extremist group Oath Keepers, posted an open letter to President Donald Trump Monday urging Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act against “domestic traitors,” order “trusted military units” to “seize all databases of the CIA, FBI, NSA, DNI, etc and the records held by all state electoral systems and administrators,” and declassify evidence of treason by “corrupt and compromised elites” who he claimed had worked with the Chinese government to subvert the election.

The letter echoes comments Rhodes made at a Dec. 12 “prayer rally” on the National Mall, where he warned Trump that if he doesn’t take action, right-wing militias will have to do so in a “much more bloody war.”

Secessionist crackpot:

On Tuesday, Rep. Kyle Biedermann (R-Fredericksburg) said that he is committed to authoring legislation in the 2021 legislative session that will give Texans a vote to allow the state to secede from the U.S.

"The federal government is out of control and does not represent the values of Texans," he wrote on Facebook. "That is why I am committing to file legislation this session that will allow a referendum to give Texans a vote for the State of Texas to reassert its status as an independent nation."

Convicted felon and utter disgrace to the uniform he once wore (again):

Here's Michael Flynn on Newsmax saying that Trump could order "military capabilities" to swing states and "rerun an election in each of those states."

"People out there talk about martial law like it's something that we've never done. Martial law has been instituted 64 times." pic.twitter.com/KNmiAGGiPF

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 18, 2020

 

Offensive White (Supremacist) House Trade Advisor ("we" doing a lot of work here):

"We need to do something before inauguration day, otherwise we're gonna have an illegal and illegitimate president" -- Peter Navarro pic.twitter.com/5fc7KqCrQi

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 18, 2020