Oath Keepers’ Rhodes guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy
A judge has acquitted two Oklahoma City Oath Keepers members of the conspiracy they were indicted for in January 2016.
Rhodes and his wife were both convicted on charges they created a private Facebook group to use for anti-government information and rhetoric. The two were acquitted of the more serious charge of creating an “organizing” group.
The judge said the jury’s guilty verdict had “no basis in fact” and dismissed the jury.
Oath Keepers President Bill Johnson released the following statement:
“The members of Oath Keepers who have been charged with conspiring to create a private Facebook group were acquitted on March 25. We are pleased that the jury took all of the government documents seriously and ultimately found that their case did not have any evidence to support their charges.
“The charges have no basis in fact and the judge dismissed the jury. That means the jury was not even asked to consider the case. They were simply asked to find the defendants guilty based on the fact that they had a private Facebook group. The government has charged other defendants with more serious crimes, charges that have a factual basis. Those charges have already been dropped.
“The government needs to stop prosecuting Oath Keepers for their activities. This case was a total sham designed to destroy this important organization.
“We look forward to a final dismissal of the charges against the defendants, and a resolution that restores the public’s trust in the organization.”
OATH KEEPERS — The jury found Rhodes, who also went by the name Rick Sasser, guilty of one count of first degree criminal conspiracy in one of the two cases where he was indicted for creating a private Facebook group to use for anti-government information and rhetoric.
The jury acquitted him of conspiracy to do the same thing on the second case.
Rhodes and his wife, Lori Rhodes, who is the co-owner of Rhodes’ Tulsa law firm, were both charged in January 2016 after Oath Keepers members posted to a private Facebook group urging them to take certain measures to prevent Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt from taking office.
The group, which has since been deactivated, was created on Feb. 13, 2015 as a private