WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday petitioned an appeals court to dismiss seditious conspiracy convictions against leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys extremist organizations who had been imprisoned for orchestrating the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol in an effort to maintain Donald Trump’s presidency more than five years ago.
Trump reduced the prison terms of multiple Oath Keepers and Proud Boys leaders this past January through broad clemency actions affecting all defendants charged in connection with the January 6, 2021 incident — more than 1,500 individuals total.
The Justice Department’s petition would extend beyond sentence reductions to completely eliminate convictions for extremist organization leaders, including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who did not receive clemency in January.
This decision to abandon the convictions marks a dramatic policy shift from the previous Biden administration, which celebrated these guilty verdicts as essential wins in efforts to prosecute individuals responsible for what government lawyers characterized as an assault on America’s democratic foundation. The action continues the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign to reshape January 6 narratives and minimize the severity of violence perpetrated by Trump supporters that resulted in injuries to over 100 law enforcement officers.
Through legal documents, government attorneys requested the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturn the convictions to allow permanent case dismissals.
“The government’s motion to vacate in this case is consistent with its practice of moving the Supreme Court to vacate convictions in cases where the government has decided in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of a criminal case is in the interests of justice — motions that the Supreme Court routinely grants,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing signed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
Washington D.C. juries found Oath Keepers and Proud Boys leadership guilty of planning violent schemes to prevent the orderly transition of power following Trump’s 2020 electoral defeat to Democratic President Joe Biden.
The department’s dismissal motion encompasses convictions of Oath Keepers members Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson and Jessica Watkins, along with Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola.
Additional extremist group participants, including former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio, obtained presidential pardons from Trump during his second term’s opening day.
Rhodes received an 18-year prison sentence after his conviction alongside several associates in one of the most significant prosecutions stemming from the January 6 Capitol breach by Trump supporters.
Government attorneys stated that Rhodes and his associates accumulated firearms for potential deployment by “quick reaction force” units stationed at a Virginia hotel, though these weapons were never used.
Nicholas Smith, representing Nordean, expressed appreciation for the Justice Department’s “wise decision” in pursuing conviction dismissals.
“We don’t want a precedent that says that any physical confrontation between protesters and law enforcement means a crime akin to treason, such as seditious conspiracy,” Smith said.
