Sedition case against Oath Keepers one of few in US history

[Valin]

AP

LINDSAY WHITEHURST and MICHAEL TARM

Jan. 13 2021

Prosecutors filed seditious conspiracy charges Thursday against the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group and 10 suspected associates, marking the first such case in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot and one of just a few in the nation's history.

Seditious conspiracy occurs when two or more people in the U.S. conspire to “overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force” the U.S. government, or to levy war against it, or to oppose by force and try to prevent the execution of any law. If convicted, it's 20 years behind bars.

But charges under that Civil War-era law are rarely ever used, because they're hard to prove and harder to win.

The last seditious conspiracy case was filed in 2010 against members of a Michigan militia, but two years later they were acquitted by a judge who said their hateful diatribes didn't prove they ever had detailed plans for a rebellion.

Some legal scholars say prosecutors have sometimes been reluctant to file sedition charges because of their legal complexity and the difficulty historically in securing convictions. Overzealousness in applying them going back centuries has also discredited their use.

(Snip)

 

[Valin]

 

[Valin]

DU

Many of these defendants were already facing 20+ years for Obstruction

Quote

These leaders have links to Alex Jones and Roger Stone, who have direct links to Trump and the coup architects.

Somebody is going to flip. There are 8-10 lower level militia members who already have cooperation agreements with DOJ.

The vice is tightening…

 

[Valin]