Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who came unarmed to DC and didn't even enter the Capitol Building on January 6th, was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Thursday for "seditious conspiracy" by Obama-appointed US district judge Amit Mehta. Rhodes' crime was apparently mouthing off about revolution in private chats and lamenting after the event that "we should have brought rifles."
"You, sir, present an ongoing threat and a peril to this country and to the republic and to the very fabric of this democracy," Judge Amit Mehta, an Indian immigrant appointed to the DC district court by Obama in 2014, scolded Rhodes before handing down the longest sentence to date for any J6er.
Mehta's bio says he served on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (one of many groups which helps get convicted murderers like Shaurn Thomas out of prison).
Though Mehta is a big believer in "criminal justice reform" when it comes to releasing thugs onto our streets, he opted to apply an enhancement for terrorism in Rhodes' sentencing.
From NBC News, "Oath Keepers founder sentenced to 18 years in Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case":
The founder of the far-right Oath Keepers has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol following his conviction on seditious conspiracy.
The sentence for Stewart Rhodes is the longest imposed on a Jan. 6 defendant to date. In a politically-charged speech in the courtroom just before his sentencing, Rhodes called himself a "political prisoner" and said that when he talked about "regime change" in a phone call with supporters earlier this week, he meant he hopes that former President Donald Trump will win in 2024.
The judge disagreed that Rhodes had been locked up for politics, saying it was his actions that led to his criminal convictions.
"You, sir, present an ongoing threat and a peril to this country and 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 fellow Oath Keepers member who will be sentenced later Thursday afternoon.
"They won't fear us until we come with rifles in hand," Rhodes wrote in a message ahead of the Jan. 6 attack. After the attack, in a recording that was played in court during his trial, he said his only regret was that they "should have brought rifles."
That's called venting frustration.
They didn't bring rifles -- they were unarmed -- and they didn't take part in an "insurrection" -- everyone left the Capitol after just a few hours -- but apparently that's not relevant to the case.
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