On Tuesday afternoon, when word came down that the jury in the Oath Keepers trial in Washington, D.C., had already come to a decision, the speed suggested that the defendants were doomed. So far, this has been the most complicated of all the criminal proceedings stemming from the insurrection that Donald Trump incited on Jan. 6, 2021. Most people charged with crimes after storming the Capitol on that fateful day have faced simple charges, such as obstructing government proceedings and trespassing. But for this case, the Department of Justice was asking the jury to convict the defendants on a range of criminal charges, with the most serious being seditious conspiracy, which is notoriously difficult to prove.
Under the circumstances, legal reporters repeatedly warned audiences not to assume that the five insurrectionists on trial in a D.C. federal court would actually face punishment for their crimes. But despite all the moving parts and complicating factors, the jury spent only three days deliberating, a relatively brief period under these charged circumstances. That suggests the jurors were not distracted by political pressures or the various imaginative deflections offered by defense attorney. Sure enough, both Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and his right hand man, Kelly Meggs, were found guilty of seditious conspiracy, and all five defendants were convicted for obstructing an official proceeding and destroying evidence. Meggs and two other defendants, Jessica Watkins and Kenneth Harrelson, were also convicted on various conspiracy charges.
