Jury deliberations begin in January 6 sedition trial of Oath Keepers founder

As angry supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol, ready to smash through windows and beat police officers, the Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes extolled them as patriots and harked back to the battle that kicked off the American revolutionary war.

Jurors will begin weighing his words and actions on Tuesday, after nearly two months of testimony and argument in the criminal trial of Rhodes and four co-defendants. Final defense arguments wrapped up late on Monday.

The others on trial are Kelly Meggs of Dunnellon, Florida, and Kenneth Harrelson of Titusville, Florida. Seditious conspiracy carries up to 20 years behind bars, and all five defendants also face other felony charges. 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.

But while authorities combed through thousands of messages sent by Rhodes and his co-defendants, none specifically spelled out a plan to attack the Capitol itself. Defense attorneys emphasized that fact throughout the trial in arguing that 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.

Jurors never heard from three other Oath Keepers who have pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy.

Prosecutors say the defense is only trying to muddy the waters in a clearcut case. The Oath Keepers are not accused of entering into an agreement ahead of January 6 to storm the Capitol.