Justice Department Seeks Dismissal of Seditious Conspiracy Charges Against Oath Keepers and Proud Boys

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, the Justice Department made a significant move by requesting a federal appeals court to overturn the seditious conspiracy convictions of key figures from the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. These leaders had been sentenced to prison for orchestrating the attack on the U.S. Capitol, aimed at keeping former President Donald Trump in power over five years ago.

In a sweeping act of clemency last January, Trump had already commuted the sentences of numerous leaders from these far-right extremist groups. This pardon was part of a broader gesture towards the over 1,500 individuals charged in connection with the January 6, 2021, incident.

The Justice Department’s recent appeal seeks to completely nullify the convictions of these extremist group leaders, including Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, who was not included in Trump’s earlier pardons.

This unexpected move marks a stark reversal from the Biden administration’s previous stance. Initially, the administration had championed the convictions as a pivotal triumph in its quest to hold those accountable for what was described as an assault on the core of American democracy. The latest development appears to align with the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to reshape the narrative of January 6, downplaying the violence that resulted in injuries to over 100 police officers.

In their court documents, prosecutors urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to overturn these convictions, allowing the government to permanently dismiss the indictments.

“The government’s motion to vacate in this case is consistent with its practice of moving the Supreme Court to vacate convictions in cases where the government has decided in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of a criminal case is in the interests of justice — motions that the Supreme Court routinely grants,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing signed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

Juries in Washington, D.C., convicted the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders of orchestrating violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after Trump’s 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.

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.

Nordean’s attorney, Nicholas Smith, said they are grateful to the Justice Department for its “wise decision” in seeking dismissal of the convictions.

“We don’t want a precedent that says that any physical confrontation between protesters and law enforcement means a crime akin to treason, such as seditious conspiracy,” Smith said.

Former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who was dragged into the mob and suffered a heart attack after a rioter shocked him with a stun gun, was disappointed but not surprised by the latest milestone in the dismantling of Capitol riot prosecutions.

“I would remind Americans that these were traitors to this country,” Fanone said. “They planned, incited and carried out an insurrection.”