Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and a top deputy of the extremist group have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy for leading a months-long plot that ended in the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The jury handed down their verdict Tuesday. Experts have said this case is the most significant DOJ prosecution in the entire tranche of Capitol Breach Cases.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer insight, commentary and analysis on the months-long trial and verdict. If you would like to speak with a GW faculty member, please contact GW Media Relations at [email protected].
Stephen Saltzburg is a professor of law and a former Justice Department official. He is available to comment on the legal aspects of the trial’s verdicts.
Jon Lewis is a research fellow at GW’s Program on Extremism. He studies domestic violent extremism and homegrown violent extremism, with a specialization in the evolution of white supremacist and anti-government movements in the U.S. and federal responses to the threat. Lewis can speak to the future implications of this case, including what this verdict could mean for the Oath Keepers as an organization, and more importantly, and what the future holds for the anti-government/patriot-militia space and the domestic violent extremist landscape as a whole.
“The life or death of the Oath Keepers as an entity does little to stem the rising tide of an increasingly mainstreamed threat,” Lewis says. “Movements, narratives, and grievances have become far more central to the radicalization and mobilization of violent extremists than formal, organized groups.”
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