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Jury deliberates for 2nd day in Oath Keepers sedition case

Michael Kunzelman

Associated Press

Tags: politics, Government, Donald Trump, Joe Biden
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Attorneys of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, James Lee Bright, left, and Phillip Linder, arrive at the Federal Courthouse during the Rhodes trial in Washington, Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. Jury deliberations are underway. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
FILE - Edward Tarpley the attorney of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, arrives at the Federal Courthouse during the Rhodes trial in Washington, Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. Jury deliberations are expected to begin soon. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
FILE - Stewart Rhodes, founder of the citizen militia group known as the Oath Keepers speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washington, on June 25, 2017. Rhodes is charged with seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Jury deliberations are expected to begin soon. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
FILE - Thomas Caldwell of Berryville, Va., a defendant charged with seditious conspiracy in one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, arrives at the Federal Courthouse in Washington, Oct. 6, 2022. Calwell, charged alongside members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol played down his messages about ferrying what he called heavy weapons across the Potomac River in testimony Tuesday, instead saying they were examples of "creative writing." ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
FILE - This artist sketch depicts the trial of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and four others charged with seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, in Washington, Oct. 6, 2022. Shown above are, witness John Zimmerman, who was part of the Oath Keepers' North Carolina Chapter, seated in the witness stand, defendant Thomas Caldwell, of Berryville, Va., seated front row left, Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, seated second left with an eye patch, defendant Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, seated third from right, Kelly Meggs, of Dunnellon, Fla., seated second from right, and defendant Kenneth Harrelson, of Titusville, Fla., seated at right. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakoczy is shown in blue standing at right before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. Watkins told jurors Wednesday, Nov. 16 that it was a "really stupid" decision, saying she got swept up in what seemed to be a "very American moment." (Dana Verkouteren via AP)
FILE - This artist sketch depicts the trial of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, left, as he testifies before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta on charges of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, Nov. 7, 2022. Jury deliberations are expected to begin soon. (Dana Verkouteren via A, File)

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Attorneys of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, James Lee Bright, left, and Phillip Linder, arrive at the Federal Courthouse during the Rhodes trial in Washington, Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. Jury deliberations are underway. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

WASHINGTON – A federal jury weighed seditious conspiracy charges against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four associates for a second day without reaching a verdict Monday in a high-stakes trial stemming from the U.S. Capitol attack.

Jurors are expected to resume their deliberations Tuesday. They started last Tuesday before taking a Thanksgiving break.

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Rhodes and his co-defendants are accused of a weekslong plot to stop the transfer of power from Republican Donald Trump to Democrat Joe Biden. Prosecutors say the plot came to a head on Jan. 6, 2021 when Rhodes' followers stormed the Capitol alongside hundreds of other angry Trump supporters.

Hundreds of people have been convicted in the Capitol attack that left dozens of officers injured and sent lawmakers running for their lives. Jurors in the Oath Keepers case will decide, for the first time, whether the actions of any Jan. 6 defendants amount to seditious conspiracy — a rarely used charge that carries both significant prison time and political weight.

Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, is on trial with Thomas Caldwell, of Berryville, Virginia; Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio; Kelly Meggs, of Dunnellon, Florida; and Kenneth Harrelson of Titusville, Florida.

They would be the first people convicted of seditious conspiracy at trial since the 1995 prosecution of Islamic militants who plotted to bomb New York City landmarks. The charge calls for up to 20 years behind bars. The five defendants also face several other charges.

Throughout the nearly two-month-long trial, defense attorneys argued there was never any plot, that prosecutors have twisted their admittedly bombastic words. Defense lawyers argued that the Oath Keepers who did enter the Capitol were swept up in a spontaneous outpouring of election-fueled rage rather than acting as part of a plot.

Rhodes took the witness stand to tell jurors that he had no idea that his followers were going to storm the Capitol and that he was upset after he found out that some did. Rhodes said he believed it was stupid for any Oath Keepers to go into the Capitol and insisted that was not their “mission.”

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For full coverage of the Capitol riot, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege

More on Donald Trump-related investigations: https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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