On Tuesday, the Justice Department urged a federal appeals court to annul the seditious conspiracy convictions of key figures from the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. These leaders, from extremist factions, had been handed prison sentences for spearheading an assault on the US Capitol with the aim of keeping President Donald Trump in office over five years ago.
In a significant clemency decision last January, Trump had already commuted the prison terms of several leaders from both the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. This act extended to all 1,500-plus individuals charged in connection with the January 6, 2021, Capitol breach.
The Justice Department’s recent move seeks to not only dismiss these sentences but also completely annul the convictions, affecting leaders such as Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers.
Prosecutors submitted a request to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, advocating for the annulment of these convictions to facilitate the permanent dismissal of the charges.
In their filing, prosecutors stated, “The government’s motion to vacate aligns with its usual practice of petitioning the Supreme Court to overturn convictions when the dismissal of a case is deemed justifiable. The Supreme Court frequently approves such motions.” This was articulated in a court document endorsed by US Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
Previously, juries in Washington, DC, had found the leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers guilty of orchestrating violent schemes aimed at disrupting the peaceful transition of power following Trump’s defeat by Democratic President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
The move to abandon the convictions represented a stunning reversal from the Biden administration, which hailed the guilty verdicts as a crucial victory in its bid to hold accountable those responsible for what prosecutors described as an attack on the heart of American democracy.
It’s part of the Trump administration’s continued efforts to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 attack and downplay the violence carried out by the mob of Trump supporters that left more than 100 police officers injured.
The department’s dismissal request also includes the convictions of Oath Keepers members Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson and Jessica Watkins and Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola.
Other extremist group members, including former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio, received pardons from Trump on the first day of his second term in the White House.
Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison after he and several lieutenants were convicted in one of the most consequential cases arising from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters.
Prosecutors said Rhodes and his followers stockpiled guns for possible use by “quick reaction force” teams at a Virginia hotel, but they never deployed the weapons.
