Four members of the far-right Oath Keepers were found guilty on Monday of attempting to derail the transfer of power from President Donald Trump to Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021.
A jury found that the four men — Roberto Minuta, David Moerschel, Joseph Hackett and Ed Vallejo — joined a conspiracy with other Oath Keepers to forcibly prevent Biden from taking office.
It’s the second trial of Oath Keepers leaders to result in seditious conspiracy convictions stemming from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, and ally Kelly Meggs were convicted of the rare charge in November, while three others were acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other felony offenses.
Seditious conspiracy, which requires prosecutors to prove that defendants planned to forcibly prevent the execution of a U.S. law, is the gravest charge to emerge from the Jan. 6 attack. The government has secured 10 convictions for seditious conspiracy since last year, including three other Oath Keepers and a member of the far-right Proud Boys who pleaded guilty to the charge. Five Proud Boys leaders, including the group’s national chair Enrique Tarrio, are currently on trial on seditious conspiracy charges, as well.