鈥極ath Keepers own words proved their guilt鈥�
Lawyer says encrypted chats showed members thought 鈥榯hey had the right to fashion government as they saw and to use force to do so鈥�
The leader of a far-right militia has been found guilty of plotting to stop US President Joe Biden from taking office after the 2020 election.
A jury found Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and one other member guilty of the rare charge of seditious conspiracy following a two-month trial. He plotted an armed rebellion to stop the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Mr Biden, prosecutors said.
Gil Soffer is former federal prosecutor and senior Department of Justice official. He is currently a managing partner with Chicago-based law firm, Katten Muchin Rosenman. He told Newsday: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very difficult thing to prove. It requires proof of an agreement to accomplish that unlawful end and it has to be on concrete plans. It鈥檚 not enough just to talk the talk鈥he key evidence鈥ere the defendants鈥� own words. The government took some 800 plus chats and here we could see鈥he defendants themselves talking about essentially overthrowing the government and being prepared to use force, that is devastating evidence.鈥�
(Picture: Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes uses a radio as he departs from a rally held by former U.S. President Donald Trump in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S on October 10th 2019. Credit: Jim Urquhart/ Reuters.)
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