(CNN) — A federal judge slammed the Justice Department as he “reluctantly” dismissed the seditious conspiracy case against leaders and members of the Oath Keepers in the final January 6 US Capitol riot case.
“This is the last of the prosecutions seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the events of January 6,” Judge Amit Mehta wrote in his order dismissing cases against nine people in which he recounted the events of that day. “That book is now closed.”
“Today’s epilogue diminishes the gravity of that day, denigrates the work of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who secured these convictions, and excuses criminal acts that caused a centuries-long pillar of our democracy — the peaceful transfer of presidential power – to buckle,” Mehta wrote. “The court cannot write a different ending.”
The end was heralded first by President Donald Trump’s commutations and pardons of all those involved in the January 6, 2021, attack, one of the first acts of his second term, followed only by Trump’s Justice Department asking that the seditious conspiracy case be dismissed.
“The government thus asks to absolve these Defendants of crimes against the United States itself,” Mehta wrote. “In this court’s view, that is not in the public interest.”
Mehta oversaw the case against the Oath Keepers – the first that brought seditious conspiracy charges against members of the mob – including sentencing, when he gave the group’s leader, Stewart Rhodes, 18 years behind bars for his actions surrounding that day.
During his sentencing for seditious conspiracy and other charges, Mehta said Rhodes had organized Oath Keeper teams that day he had helped bring to Washington, DC, and gave orders to go into the Capitol.
Several members, in a distinct stack-formation which garnered attention as the attack unfolded, entered the building and engaged in several confrontations with police officers inside.
Members and leaders of the group had plotted out a quick-reaction-force in Virginia and had amassed a number of firearms and ammunition in Virginia for January 6. The group, however, was not used, organized or deployed that day.
In writing about the Justice Department’s motion to toss the case, Mehta wrote “this court does strongly disagree.”
“But that alone is not a valid basis to deny the motion,” he wrote, adding that “the court must give way to the primacy of the Executive Branch in making charging decisions.”
The-CNN-Wire
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