Supporters of right-wing extremist “Oath Keepers” convicted of storming US Capitol sunken ferry with 852 dead – no signs of explosion on 1994 “Estonia”

Several members of the far-right militia “Oath Keepers” have been convicted more than two years after the storming of the US Capitol. A jury in the capital Washington on Monday found four men guilty of “seditional conspiracy” – a crime rare in the country’s judicial history, as several US media outlets unanimously reported.

The suspects were charged with conspiracy to use force to prevent the democratic transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election. It was not until November that the leader of the militia, Stewart Rhodes, was also convicted of “seditious conspiracy”.

The sentence for the convicts will be determined at a later date – a date for this has not yet been set. A maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison can be imposed for “inciting conspiracy”.

The crime is not easy to prove. To do this, the prosecution must prove that two or more people conspired to overthrow the US government or to use force to defy its authority. The men’s lawyers had argued at trial that the defendants had not plotted a conspiracy and were following only the leader of the militia.

Supporters of President Donald Trump, who was voted out at the time, stormed the Houses of Parliament in Washington on January 6, 2021 to prevent Democrat Joe Biden’s November 2020 election victory from being confirmed – several people were killed. The attack on the heart of American democracy shocked the country. Trump had previously incited his supporters in a speech. (sda/dpa)