6 more Oath Keepers, associates convicted in far-right militia's 3rd Jan. 6 trial
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Six people affiliated with the Oath Keepers militia group were convicted of federal crimes Monday for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Four of the defendants — Sandra Parker, Laura Steele, Connie Meggs, and William Isaacs — were convicted of conspiracy to obstruct the work of Congress, a felony offense that could land them in prison for years.
The other two defendants, Bennie Parker and Michael Greene, were convicted of lesser charges, though the jury is still deliberating on one felony charge for each man. The jurors convicted the six Oath Keeper members or affiliates on 27 of 34 charges, returned five not guilty verdicts, and are deadlocked on the final two felony charges. This was "the third and final trial examining the role that members of the far-right group played in the attack," The New York Times reports, though four more Oath Keepers or close allies still face trial on related charges.
Sandra Parker, Steele, Meggs, and Isaacs were convicted of entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 as part of military-style "stack" formations as part of dual efforts to stop the counting of electoral votes to seal Trump's defeat. Neither Bennie Parker nor Greene entered the Capitol, though Greene had been chosen by Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes as the group's "ground commander" on Jan. 6.
In the previous two trials, Rhodes, his top lieutenant Kelly Meggs — husband of Connie Meggs — and four lower-level Oath Keepers were convicted of seditious conspiracy, the most serious charge the Justice Department has brought in more than 1,000 Jan. 6 prosecutions. Four other Oath Keepers have pleaded guilty to sedition, while three other members were acquitted of that charge but convicted of lesser felonies.
In all, "the three Oath Keepers trials have now led to felony convictions against 15 members of the group, all but crippling an organization that at its height had tens of thousands of adherents and conducted self-appointed vigilante missions for more than a decade in cities across the country," the Times reports. The Proud Boys, whose leaders are facing sedition charges down the hall in the same Washington, D.C., courthouse, have "remained involved in far-right events and operations."
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