Obama Judge Sentences Oath Keepers Founder To 18 Years Prison In J6 'Sedition' Case

[Off-Grid Organics]

Careful how you vent frustration.

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.
The fact they legally brought some weapons to Virginia and left them in a hotel was proof enough of their "seditious conspiracy," according to Mehta.

Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit Thursday, Rhodes said he believes the only crime he committed was opposing those who are "destroying our country."
Mehta told Rhodes that he was found guilty of seditious conspiracy "not because of your beliefs, not because you 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 Jan. 6.
"You are not a political prisoner, Mr. Rhodes," Mehta said.

Fact check: false.

Rhodes and Meggs were put on trial alongside Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell, fellow Oath Keepers who were convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding 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 members of the Oath Keepers were "stupid" to storm the Capitol and that he disagreed with those who went inside; Rhodes did not enter the building. "I had no idea that any Oath Keeper was even thinking about going inside or would go inside," Rhodes said.
But the government also produced messages in which Rhodes said he thought that Jan. 6 was the last opportunity to stop what he saw as a takeover of the government.
"On the 6th, they are going to put the final 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 Oath Keepers' actions in the immediate aftermath of the attack, after meeting with other members of the group at an Olive Garden in Virginia that night.
"Patriots, it was a long day but a day when patriots began to stand," Rhodes wrote the night of Jan. 6. "Stand now or kneel forever. Honor your oaths. Remember your legacy."

The Gateway Pundit has some longer excerpts from Stewart and Mehta.
In short, Rhodes -- along with his fellow Oath Keepers -- were convicted for mouthing off in their group chats.
If you say, "Give me liberty or give me death," that's essentially now evidence of a seditious conspiracy.
If you say, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants," that's essentially now evidence of a seditious conspiracy.
This is all it takes to convict in the comically biased kangaroo courts in DC. Just as we saw in the Proud Boys case, the feds don't need any hard evidence -- they just need a jury which doesn't like you.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/...-sedition-case

[dmatic]

The aroma of putrid injustice wafting into the nostrils of God. What will He do? I know for certain that I would not want to be that judge.

[Hoppalong]

The aroma of putrid injustice wafting into the nostrils of God. What will He do? I know for certain that I would not want to be that judge.

Good deal. Others that already in jail should have had long times as well. They are all a bunch of nut cases.

[Molon Labe]

Good deal. Others that already in jail should have had long times as well. They are all a bunch of nut cases.

so you believe in the old Soviet justice style do you?

You are the nut case. You should study communism. Sooner or later they will come for you too. Idiot.

[Hoppalong]

so you believe in the old Soviet justice style do you?

You are the nut case. You should study communism. Sooner or later they will come for you too. Idiot.

Ah you are full of bull feathers.

[dmatic]

Ah you are full of bull feathers.

Actually, Molon Labe has given you great advice! You should take it. Really. And, by the way, bulls don't have feathers. I know.

[BugoutBear]

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/202...tive-comments/
Gateway Pundit Exclusive: Stewart Rhodes Responds to 18 Year Sentence in His First Interview Since Sentencing – “Everything I Did was Honorable” – AUDIO
by Jim Hoft May. 26, 2023

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced on Thursday to 18 years in prison.

Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years by far-left Obama-appointed US District Judge Amit Mehta on Thursday morning who then lectured him on what a danger he was to society.

Mehta sentenced Stewart Rhodes to 18 years. Rhodes is currently 57. If the this unconstitutional conviction stands, Rhodes will be 75 when he is released.

In late November 2022, Washington DC jurors reached a guilty verdict of garbage “seditious conspiracy” charges against Stewart Rhodes in the Oath Keepers Trial.

The DC jury found EVERY SINGLE Trump supporter guilty in their disgusting and unconstitutional criminal proceedings against honest Americans who were caught up in the violence on January 6.

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes NEVER went inside the US Capitol. He never instructed anyone to go inside the US Capitol. He was unarmed as were all of his Oath Keepers associates that day. There was no plan to enter the US Capitol. There was no scheme to take over the government with their bare hands. The prosecution was a sham. The jury was a pool of DC Communists and unhinged left-wing activists who see themselves as victims.

The Oath Keepers were in DC in January 2021 to offer security for the several rallies planned by Trump supporters on January 5th and 6th. The Oath Keepers and Proud Boys have worked security at dozens of events by conservatives, patriots, Christian groups, and Trump supporters, to protect them from organized Antifa violence. Democrats hated them for this.

** Please donate to Stewart Rhode’s new GiveSendGo account here.

As reported earlier, conservatives were taken back on Thursday night after Rep. Matt Gaetz told a Twitter Space gathering that he was not “particularly aggrieved” after Oath Keepers founder and President Stewart Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison for alleged seditious conspiracy and “terrorism” on January 6, 2021.

Rep. Matt Gaetz said, “He stood before a jury. They had every Constitutional privilege afforded defendants. They were found guilty of seditious conspiracy and if they were trying seriously to overthrow the government, 1.) they’re idiots. 2.) They had no chance, and 3.) they probably deserve some punishment. I thought that the sentences would be less than they were, so I was a bit surprised by the duration but I wasn’t particularly aggrieved by them.”

On Friday, The Gateway Pundit spoke with Stewart Rhodes in his first interview since sentencing. We covered numerous topics

Here is what Stewart Rhodes had to say when he heard about Rep. Gaetz’s comments.


On comments by Matt Gaetz

Stewart’s first reaction was to bring up a prior comment by Gaetz, who was curious as to why Stewart had not yet been indicted following the Jan. 6 protests. Stewart was indicted on January 12, 2022, over a year after the January 6 protests.
“I think he’s probably got egg on his face now [Matt Gaetz] because obviously, turns out I was not a Fed,” said Stewart.

“It took them a year to cook up their fake evidence against me, coerced confessions and threatened people. A year in prison to coerce your plea bargains. It took them a long time to finally get around to indicting me because I didn’t go inside.”

“So now I think he has egg on his face. Now he wants to minimize that by saying, well, these people probably weren’t guilty. We are innocent. We are only guilty like I said in my sentencing statement, I’m only guilty, like President Trump, of opposing those who are destroying our country.”

“And I have been opposing them by free speech for 15 years now since our Oath Keepers. That’s what I’ve done. And everything I’ve done has been honorable. And everything that the Oath Keepers has done has been honorable.”

Stewart added, “I’m not sure why he said that, but he needs to take a good hard look at where we are and what has been done to, not just us, but other people. What’s going to be done – to stop the insurrection against the entire MAGA movement? To call us all insurrectionists, all racists, all fascists, all of us anti-democratic. When they say democracy, we are not a democracy, we’re a constitutional public. But what they really mean is our power. So when Biden says they are a threat to democracy, what it really means is they are a threat to our power.”

He added, “Matt Gates, he needs to either retract and fix that.”

Stewart also mentioned during our discussion that The New York Times hired an informant to infiltrate the Oath Keepers.

[BugoutBear]

https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/doj...urce=economics
DOJ Is Increasingly Working To Confiscate Funds Donated To January 6 Prisoners
By Cullen McCueMay 30, 2023

The U.S. Department of Justice is attempting to “claw back” donation funds from January 6 defendants and prisoners. According to a review of court records conducted by the Associated Press, prosecutors are increasingly asking judges to impose fines on top of harsh prison sentences in order to offset any donations.

Dozens of defendants have set up legal defense funds or other ventures in order to raise awareness on their cases. Conservatives have commonly referred to the January 6 defendants as “political prisoners” due to comparatively harsh sentences issued to them when compared to left-wing rioters from 2020. More than two years after the Capitol protests in 2021, U.S. prosecutors have brought charges against more than 1,000 January 6 defendants, resulting in more than 300 prison sentences extending up to 18 years.

In 2020, 95% of Black Lives Matter rioters had all charges against them dropped by prosecutors across the nation. Many accused of more serious offenses such as assaulting police officers, had their legal bill pays by defense funds endorsed by celebrities and the current vice president, Kamala Harris.

The Associated Press cited the case of Texas resident Daniel Goodwyn, who appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program and asked supporters to donate to legal defense funds of “political prisoners.” The Justice Department now wants Goodwyn to hand over $25,000 in order to prevent him from “profiting” off the “attack that shook the foundations of American democracy,” per the AP.

The outlet also referenced the case of Markus Maly, a Virginia man scheduled to be sentenced next month. Prosecutors have requested a $16,000+ fine in order to offset donations to a legal defense fund set up by his family. “He should not be able to use his own notoriety gained in the commission of his crimes to ‘capitalize’ on his participation in the Capitol breach in this way,” a prosecutor wrote in court papers.

To date this year, prosecutors have sought more than $390,000 in fines against at least 21 January 6 defendants, with amounts ranging from $450 to $71,000. Judges have imposed at least $124,127 in fines against 33 defendants this year. In the previous two years, judges ordered more than 100 defendants to collectively pay more than $240,000 in fines.

[BugoutBear]

I hope MTG enjoys her one term in office:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/202...echoes-regime/
J6ers Can Go Rot in Hell: MTG Echoes Regime Talking Points – Claims Releasing Security Video from Jan. 6 Will Threaten Security
by Jim Hoft Jun. 3, 2023