Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
DoJ Indicts 11 Oath Keepers for Seditious Conspiracy
The Department of Justice has received a great deal of criticism for the way in which it is handling the attempted coup of January 6, 2021. Low-level terrorists getting little jail time is not a deterrent to would be democracy killers. Yesterday, the DoJ silenced its critics with indictments of 11 members of the right-wing paramilitary group The Oath Keepers for seditious conspiracy, a charge that carries a 20-year prison sentence for those found guilty. The case looks solid and then some, and one expects this to lead to further indictments, potentially including members of the US government and military.
Led by Stewart Rhodes (a former US Army paratrooper, Yale Law grad and former aide to faux-libertarian Congressman Ron Paul), the Oath Keepers go back to 2009 and the inauguration of Barack Obama. They exist because they were upset that the president was black, and they feel their country is slipping away from them. They claim to be the guardians of the republic and will fight to protect it. They are more full of crap than a Christmas turkey. They are no better than the IRA or the Bader-Meinhof Gang.
"Rhodes and certain co-conspirators . . . planned to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power by January 20, 2021, which included multiple ways to deploy force," the indictment reads. "They coordinated travel across the country to enter Washington, D.C., equipped themselves with a variety of weapons, donned combat and tactical gear, and were prepared to answer Rhodes' call to take up arms at Rhodes' direction."
While the presumption of innocence applies here, the government has a very strong case. The Washington Post observes, "The most damaging evidence in the 48-page, 17-count indictment comes from the defendants' own words, often shared in the encrypted messaging app Signal. The indictment alleges that a core group of Rhodes's most strident adherents planned for and participated in obstructing Congress on the day lawmakers certified Biden's 2020 election victory."
The DoJ said in a statement, "While certain Oath Keepers members and affiliates breached the Capitol grounds and building, others remained stationed just outside of the city in quick reaction force (QRF) teams. According to the indictment, the QRF teams were prepared to rapidly transport firearms and other weapons into Washington, D.C., in support of operations aimed at using force to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power. The indictment alleges that the teams were coordinated, in part, by [Thomas] Caldwell and [Edward] Vallejo."
The Oath Keepers already have four members cooperating with the DoJ, so it was almost inevitable that these indictments were coming. The 11 indicted yesterday may fight the charges, but it will only take one or two to see the light and cut a deal that will sink the others and spread the guilty beyond their little clique.
What is emerging is not a conspiracy but several little conspiracies that seem to get in the way of one another. The Oath Keepers seem to have wanted a set piece battle with Antifa (a label for people who don't like Nazis and who were nowhere near the Capitol that day), while others wanted to hang Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi. Because they got in each other's way, they all failed.
The question that the DoJ and the January 6 Committee of the House both need to answer is whether any of these little conspiracies had any connection to the White House, the Pentagon or members of Congress. The worry has been that the Republicans will win the House in 2022 and shut down the committee's investigation, while the DoJ was not doing much to get the ringleaders. These indictments show that the DoJ is on top of matters, and the indictments and trials will continue through 2024 at least.
AG Merrick Garland has done his duty and continues to do so. This journal apologizes for doubting him.
© Copyright 2022 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
Kensington Review Home
|
|
|
