'Trump is the face of January 6': Attorney for Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes says his client has been scapegoated as he is jailed for 18 years for riot at the Capitol
Daily Mail
May 25, 2023
Rhodes, who wears an eye patch after accidentally shooting himself in the face with his own gun, founded the Oath Keepers in 2009
Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, was today jailed for 18
years for leading a mob to storm the Capitol on January 6. The
58-year-old's sentence is the longest handed down to the hundreds of
Donald Trump supporters who ransacked the seat of US democracy on
January 6, 20
Rhodes was found guilty of seditious conspiracy in
November.
Judge Amit P. Mehta told Rhodes: 'You sir, present an ongoing
threat and a peril to this country, to the republic and the very fabric
of our democracy ... The moment you are released you will be prepared to
take up arms against your government.'
Mehta described Rhodes, a
Yale-graduate who founded the Oath Keepers in 2009, as a disturbingly
charismatic figure who convinced dozens of members of the far-right
group to travel to Washington with the deliberate intention of stoking
unrest. 'They too are victims, victims of the lies, the propaganda, the
rhetoric and ultimately the intention that you conveyed,' Mehta said.
Rhodes remained defiant as he stood before the judge claiming he was,
like Trump, a 'political prisoner' and pledging 'to expose the
criminality of this regime'.
The attorney for Rhodes tried to claim that his client is being scapegoated for the Capitol riots.
'If you want to put a face on J6, you put it on Trump, right-wing media, politicians, all the people who spun that narrative,' Philip Linder argued as Rhodes was sentenced for leading a mob to storm the Capitol on January 6.
Linder said he will appeal the conviction.ADDENDUM:
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