The Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to throw out seditious conspiracy convictions against key Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders tied to the Jan. 6, 2020 attack, targeting defendants whose sentences had already been commuted but whose convictions remained in place.
Filings seek to permanently dismiss cases
Federal prosecutors are asking appeals courts to vacate those convictions with prejudice, which would prevent the charges from being brought again. The filings were submitted Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
In one filing, prosecutors wrote that continuing to pursue these cases “is not in the interests of justice to continue to prosecute this case or the cases of other, similarly situated defendants.”
Defendants include leaders convicted of seditious conspiracy
The group includes senior figures from both organizations, including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and members of the Proud Boys leadership. Several were convicted of seditious conspiracy and received sentences of more than a decade in prison.
Prosecutors had argued at trial that members of the two groups organized and directed key breaches of the Capitol, including confrontations with police and the destruction of property.
Move follows earlier clemency actions
The defendants named in the filings were part of a smaller group that did not receive full pardons and instead had their sentences reduced to time served. Those commutations allowed them to leave prison while leaving the convictions intact.
The new filings would remove those remaining convictions entirely and formally end the cases.
Focused effort on remaining group leaders
More than 1,500 people were charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. Most of those cases have already been resolved through guilty pleas, trial convictions or completed sentences.
The current filings focus on a limited group of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers defendants whose sentences have already been commuted.