Oath Keepers members convicted of seditious conspiracy

A jury on Monday convicted four members of the extremist group the Oath Keepers of seditious conspiracy. The jury started deliberations Thursday morning after a trial

that spanned five weeks. Prosecutors said the four defendants — Roberto Minuta, Joseph Hackett, David Moerschel and Edward Vallejo — used a “perverted version of American

history” to justify their actions on Jan. 6, 2021. “Attacking the Capitol was a means to an end,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis Manzo told jurors during closing arguments

Wednesday. He said the group took advantage of the riot and seized the opportunity to fulfill their goal of preventing Congress from counting the electoral votes and confirming

Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. “January 6 was just a battle. The full conspiracy was to stop the transfer of power,” Manzo

said. Prosecutors said Vallejo was staged at a Virginia hotel with a stockpile of rifles — which they have called a "Quick Reaction Force" — while Hackett, Moerschel and

Minuta led groups to breach the Capitol building. The trial, which started Dec. 12, included testimony from Brian Ulrich, a member of the Oath Keepers’ Georgia chapter who

had pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding. Ulrich testified that he took part in the storming of the Capitol because he wanted to stop

the counting of the Electoral College votes.