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Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, established authority. Sedition may include any commotion, though not aimed at direct and open violence against the laws. Seditious words in writing are seditious libel. A seditionist is one who engages in or promotes the interest of sedition.
Oath Keepers is an American far-right anti-government militia whose leaders have been convicted of violently opposing the government of the United States, including the transfer of presidential power as prescribed by the United States constitution. It was incorporated in 2009 by founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes, a lawyer and former paratrooper. In 2023, Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, and another Oath Keepers leader, Kelly Meggs, was sentenced to 12 years for the same crime. Three other members have pleaded guilty to this crime, and four other members have been convicted of it.
Seditious conspiracy is a crime in various jurisdictions of conspiring against the authority or legitimacy of the state. As a form of sedition, it has been described as a serious but lesser counterpart to treason, targeting activities that undermine the state without directly attacking it.
Amit Priyavadan Mehta is an American lawyer who has served as United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia since 2014. In 2021, Mehta became a judge on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
The Proud Boys is an American far-right, neo-fascist militant organization that promotes and engages in political violence. The group's leaders have been convicted of violently opposing the federal government of the United States, including its constitutionally prescribed transfer of presidential power. It has been called a street gang and was designated as a terrorist group in Canada and New Zealand. The Proud Boys are opposed to left-wing and progressive groups and support President Donald Trump. While Proud Boys leadership has denied being a white supremacist organization, the group and some of its members have been connected to white supremacist events, ideologies, and other white-power groups throughout its existence.
The Three Percenters are an American and Canadian far-right anti-government militia.
Henry "Enrique" Tarrio is a convicted American seditionist and far-right activist. From 2018 to 2021, he was the chairman of the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist organization that promotes and engages in political violence in the United States. Along with three other Proud Boys leaders, Tarrio was convicted in May 2023 of seditious conspiracy for his role in the 2021 United States Capitol attack. In September 2023, Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison, before being pardoned by U.S. president Donald Trump following his return to office on January 20, 2025.
Joseph Randall Biggs is an American veteran, media personality, organizer of the Proud Boys, and convicted felon who participated in the January 6 United States Capitol attack.
Elmer Stewart Rhodes III is an American former attorney and founder of the Oath Keepers, an American far-right anti-government militia. In November 2022, he was convicted of seditious conspiracy and evidence tampering related to his participation in the January 6 United States Capitol attack culminating at the main campus of the United States Capitol complex. On May 23, 2023, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison before having his sentence commuted to time served by President Donald Trump following his return to office on January 20, 2025. Rhodes was released from federal prison on January 21, 2025.
On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of then-president Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup, two months after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. They sought to keep him in power by preventing a joint session of Congress from counting the Electoral College votes to formalize the victory of the president-elect Joe Biden. The attack was unsuccessful in preventing the certification of the election results. According to the bipartisan House select committee that investigated the incident, the attack was the culmination of a seven-part plan by Trump to overturn the election. Within 36 hours, five people died: one was shot by the Capitol Police, another died of a drug overdose, and three died of natural causes, including a police officer who died of natural causes a day after being assaulted by rioters. Many people were injured, including 174 police officers. Four officers who responded to the attack killed themselves within seven months. Damage caused by attackers exceeded $2.7 million.
Dominic Pezzola is an American convicted felon and member of the Proud Boys who participated in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, a violent attack at the U.S. Capitol. On January 20, 2025, President Trump commuted his sentence to time served. He is best known for stealing a police riot shield and using it to break a Capitol window on January 6, 2021, making him the first rioter to breach the building. Indicted in 2021, on federal charges, he was tried in 2023 alongside Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and his key lieutenants, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, and Zachary Rehl. In May 2023, following a five-month jury trial, Pezzola was convicted of obstructing a congressional proceeding, assaulting a police officer, and other crimes. He was acquitted of seditious conspiracy, the most serious charge. The jury deadlocked on other charges against Pezzola, including conspiring to obstruct the counting of the electoral votes.
The investigation of the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol building was the largest criminal probe in U.S. history. Over 5,000 FBI employees worked on the investigation. Four years after the attack, everyone who had been federally charged related to the riot received clemency from President Donald Trump.
Corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding is a felony under U.S. federal law. It was enacted as part of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 in reaction to the Enron scandal, and closed a legal loophole on who could be charged with evidence tampering by defining the new crime very broadly.
The United States Justice Department investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election began in early 2021 with investigations and prosecutions of hundreds of individuals who participated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol. By early 2022, the investigation had expanded to examine Donald Trump's inner circle, with the Justice Department impaneling several federal grand juries to investigate the attempts to overturn the election. Later in 2022, a special counsel was appointed.
Kelly Meggs is an American convicted felon who previously led the Oath Keepers' Florida chapter. He was found guilty of seditious conspiracy following his forced entry into the United States Capitol during the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Meggs was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Hours after his inauguration on 20 January 2025, Donald Trump commuted his sentence to time served. On January 24, 2025, he and seven others Oath Keepers were forbidden by the D.C. District Court from entering Washington D.C or the grounds of the Capitol without the permission of the court order.
Jeremy Bertino is an American former member of the Proud Boys who testified against Enrique Tarrio during his trial for seditious conspiracy for his role in the 2021 United States Capitol attack. Bertino was the first Proud Boys member to plead guilty to the same charge. On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump commuted his sentence to "time served".
Jessica Marie Watkins is a transgender American militia founder and former Oath Keeper leader, Army veteran and bar owner who took part in the January 6 United States Capitol attack. She was convicted of multiple felonies relating to her participation and in May 2023 was sentenced to 8.5 years in federal prison. On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump commuted her sentence to "time served".
After Donald Trump lost the 2020 United States presidential election, multiple individuals plotted to use force to stop the peaceful transition of power; this was one aspect of what eventually led to the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol.
On January 20, 2025, during the first day of his second term, United States president Donald Trump issued a proclamation that granted clemency to about 1,500 people convicted of offenses related to the January 6 United States Capitol attack that occurred near the end of his first presidential term.
References
- ↑ "GRANTING PARDONS AND COMMUTATION OF SENTENCES FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES RELATING TO THE EVENTS AT OR NEAR THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6, 2021". The White House . January 20, 2025. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
commute the sentences of the following individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, to time served as of January 20, 2025: Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Thomas Caldwell, Jessica Watkins, Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, David Moerschel, Joseph Hackett, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, Dominic Pezzola, Jeremy Bertino
- ↑ McKenna, Chris (December 2, 2022). "Newburgh tattoo shop owner faces trial for seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 riot case". Times Herald-Record. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- 1 2 Rabinowitz, Hannah (January 23, 2023). "Oath Keepers members found guilty of seditious conspiracy | CNN Politics". CNN. Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ↑ Woyton, Michael (January 24, 2023). "Newburgh Tattoo Parlor Owner Convicted Of Seditious Conspiracy". Mid Hudson Valley, NY Patch. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- 1 2 Woyton, Michael (May 29, 2020). "Tattoo Parlor To Open In Defiance Of Cuomo's Order". Mid Hudson Valley, NY Patch. Archived from the original on January 6, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ↑ KUNZELMAN, MICHAEL; DURKIN RICHER, ALANNA (January 23, 2023). "Four Oath Keepers convicted of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy". AP NEWS. Archived from the original on May 27, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- 1 2 Rabinowitz, Hannah (June 1, 2023). "Oath Keepers member who sped to Capitol on a golf cart gets more than four years in prison | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- 1 2 "Jury deliberates in Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial". Al Jazeera. January 20, 2023. Archived from the original on May 26, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- 1 2 Owen, Tess; Walters, Greg (March 8, 2021). "Oath Keeper Who Guarded Roger Stone in DC on January 6 Was Just Arrested". Vice. Archived from the original on May 26, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ↑ Griffin, Curt Devine,Mark Morales,Drew (February 10, 2021). "Man in far-right militant group joined Capitol mob after appearing with Trump ally Roger Stone | CNN Politics". CNN. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - 1 2 Dienst, Jonathan; Valiquette, Joe (March 8, 2021). "Roger Stone Associate With Oath Keepers Ties Arrested on Capitol Riot Charges". NBC New York. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.