The plight of the Oath Keepers stands in stark contrast to that of the Proud Boys, another far-right group whose leaders and members have faced charges in connection with Jan. 6. Even though five Proud Boys — including the group’s former chairman, Enrique Tarrio — are now on trial in the same federal courthouse facing sedition charges, the organization has remained involved in far-right events and operations.
In the latest Oath Keepers trial, Mr. Parker and Mr. Greene, a former soldier appointed by Mr. Rhodes to serve as his handpicked “ground commander” on Jan. 6, fared better with the jury than the rest of the defendants. Neither man went inside the Capitol that day, and the jurors acquitted each of some of the charges they faced while failing to return a verdict on others.
Much like the other two trials, statements made by Mr. Rhodes played a central role in this one. Prosecutors showed the jury reams of encrypted messages that Mr. Rhodes had sent to his compatriots in the run-up to the Capitol attack, many of them calling for civil war.
“On the 6th, they are going to put the final nail in the coffin of this republic, unless we fight our way out with Trump preferably or without him,” one of the messages read. “We have no choice.”
In building its case, the government explained how each of the defendants had supported Mr. Trump after his loss in the election and believed his lies that the results of the vote had been marred by widespread fraud.
Prosecutors also called Caleb Berry, a former Oath Keeper, to the stand and had him tell the jury how he and the defendants took part in “a huddle” with Kelly Meggs outside the Capitol just before storming into the building. Mr. Berry testified that Mr. Meggs told the group, “We are going to go and try and stop the vote count” — a reference to the election certification process.
Prosecutors then showed how after the huddle, Ms. Parker, Ms. Meggs, Mr. Isaacs and Ms. Steele, a former police officer, went into the Capitol, with half of the group moving toward the Senate and the other half moving toward the House.
