DOJ Seeks to Toss Jan. 6 Convictions of Florida-Linked Proud Boys, Oath Keepers Leaders

The Justice Department on Tuesday asked a federal appeals court to throw out the seditious conspiracy convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders — men whom Washington, D.C., juries found guilty of orchestrating violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power following Donald Trump's 2020 election loss.

The request, filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, would go further than Trump's sweeping clemency action of January, which commuted the prison sentences of several group leaders along with more than 1,500 other defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Vacating the convictions would erase those jury verdicts entirely and allow prosecutors to permanently dismiss the underlying indictments — a legal step with no parallel in modern domestic terrorism prosecutions.

Among those whose convictions the government now seeks to wipe from the record is Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.

"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.

For Treasure Coast residents, the action carries particular weight: the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys maintained documented chapters and active recruitment networks in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties in the years surrounding Jan. 6, and the seditious conspiracy convictions had been widely cited by local law enforcement officials as a legal benchmark for prosecuting organized extremist violence at the state level.

The D.C. Circuit has not yet ruled on the motion. If the court grants the request, the indictments would be permanently dismissed, meaning the leaders could not be retried on the same charges.

The court's response and any dissenting opinions from sitting judges on the D.C. Circuit panel are expected in the coming weeks.

This article was generated with AI assistance using publicly available information. It was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. TC Sentinel uses AI writing tools in accordance with FTC guidelines.