Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Reuters
Moments before being sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol riot, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes went on an unhinged, politically charged rant—and continued to pledge fealty to the former president whose rhetoric landed him in prison in the first place.
“I’m a political prisoner,” Rhodes, clad in an orange prison uniform, said from the podium in D.C. federal court on Thursday. “I feel like I’m the lead character in Kafka’s The Trial.”
Rhodes was found guilty in November of seditious conspiracy and evidence tampering in connection with an insurrection that forced dozens of elected officials into hiding for hours and left several people dead. The far-right leader was convicted of the rare Civil War-era charge alongside Florida Oath Keeper leader Kelly Meggs, who is set to be sentenced on Thursday afternoon.