Oath Keepers Founder Visits Capitol Hill After Trump Clemency
Leader Defends Role in Assault on U.S. Capitol
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday, just days after being released from prison as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping clemency order for nearly 1,600 people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
Rhodes’ Visit
Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in one of the serious cases brought by the Justice Department, insisted that members of the Oath Keepers were not responsible for the violence that day.
“I didn’t lead anything. So why should I feel responsible for that?” Rhodes said.
Rhodes did not enter the building on Jan. 6 and said it was “stupid” that members of the Oath Keepers did.
“My guys blundered through doors,” he insisted.
Judges React to Pardons
Judges in Washington’s federal court spent Wednesday dismissing a slew of cases against Jan. 6 defendants that were still pending. Several judges took the opportunity in written orders to lament the abrupt end to the prosecutions, saying Trump’s mass pardons won’t change the truth about the mob’s attack on a bastion of American democracy.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said evidence of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol is preserved through the “neutral lens” of riot videos, trial transcripts, jury verdicts, and judicial opinions.
“Those records are immutable and represent the truth, no matter how the events of January 6 are described by those charged or their allies,” she wrote.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who presided over Trump’s election interference case before its dismissal, said the president’s pardons for hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters can’t change the “tragic truth” about the attack. Chutkan added that her order dismissing the case against an Illinois man who was charged with firing a gun into the air during the riot cannot “diminish the heroism of law enforcement officers” who defended the Capitol.
“It cannot whitewash the blood, feces, and terror that the mob left in its wake,” Chutkan wrote. “And it cannot repair the jagged breach in America’s sacred tradition of peacefully transitioning power.”
Conclusion
The visit by Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes to Capitol Hill comes as judges who handled the Jan. 6 riot cases expressed disappointment and frustration over the president’s mass pardons. The pardons have freed scores of rioters from prison, but judges say the truth about the attack on the U.S. Capitol will remain unchanged.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Oath Keepers?
A: The Oath Keepers is an extremist group founded by Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
Q: What was the purpose of the Jan. 6 riot?
A: The riot was an attempt to prevent the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Q: How many people were charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot?
A: Nearly 1,600 people were charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes.
Q: How many people were convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 riot?
A: Over 250 people were convicted by a judge or jury after trials. More than 1,100 were sentenced, with more than 700 receiving a term of imprisonment ranging from several days to 22 years.
Q: How many police officers were injured during the riot?
A: More than 130 police officers were injured during the riot.
