-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Oath Keepers planned an armed rebellion, prosecutor1 tells jury in sedition2 case
Oath Keepers founder4 Stewart Rhodes and four other members of the far-right group tried to change history and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler told jurors hearing the first seditious conspiracy5 trial to result from the assault on the U.S. Capitol last year.
"They concocted6 a plan for an armed rebellion to shatter a bedrock of American democracy," Nestler said.
Using text messages, video and recorded calls, the Justice Department is trying to persuade the jury at a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., that the defendants8 set out to overturn the results of the 2020 election by storming the Capitol and interrupting the count of electoral votes.
Prosecutors9 said Rhodes, a graduate of the Yale Law School and known for his distinctive10 cowboy hat and eye patch, chose his words carefully, speaking in code and in shorthand in the weeks before the assault on the Capitol.
Rhodes never entered the building on Jan. 6, 2021, but he was photographed on the Capitol grounds "surveying" his troops like a battlefield general, the government said. A couple of minutes before 14 people wearing military-style gear marched toward the building's doors and pushed past the police, Rhodes spoke11 with his fellow defendant7 Kelly Meggs, Nestler said in remarks that lasted more than an hour.
Lawyers for Rhodes asked the jury to keep an open mind and hold the government to its burden of proof. Attorney Phillip Linder said the Oath Keepers had traveled to Washington to provide security for events in early January 2021.
"Stewart Rhodes meant no harm to the Capitol that day," Linder said.
Describing his client as a "constitutional expert," Linder said Rhodes is "extremely patriotic12" and "he loves this country."
As for the volume of texts and video, Linder said the prosecutors are introducing that evidence to alarm and anger the jury.
"My client did nothing illegal that day, even though it may look inflammatory," Linder said, describing Rhodes' hot-tempered statements before and after Jan. 6 as "nothing more than free speech and bravado13."
Sponsor Message
Prosecutors had presented messages in which Rhodes wrote before Jan. 6: "We aren't getting through this without a civil war." And after Jan. 6, Rhodes allegedly said, "my only regret is that they should have brought rifles....we could have fixed14 it right then and there."
Linder also pledged in his 22-minute opening statement that Rhodes would take the witness stand in his own defense15 before this trial ends.
The case is closely watched as a rare use of the seditious conspiracy statute16, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison
After defense lawyer Linder mentioned to the jury that most of the defendants are incarcerated17 and face hefty prison terms, the judge cautioned him to avoid those topics.
The indictment18 describes conduct weeks before the Capitol siege, when Rhodes and others allegedly stockpiled weapons and equipment for a quick reaction force at a Comfort Inn hotel in Northern Virginia, across the Potomac River from D.C. And it continues through the sometimes violent events of that day.
After the assault, the defendants felt "elated," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nestler said, citing messages they shared boasting about their actions. Rhodes allegedly wrote, "you ain't seen nothing yet." Meggs, who ran the Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers, allegedly wrote, "we aren't quitting!! We are reloading!!"
Defendant Jessica Watkins wrote, "we were in the thick of it and stormed the Capitol ... forced our way into the senate and the house." Defendant Thomas Caldwell wrote "I rolled with the Oath Keepers..... I said, let's storm the place and hang the traitors19."
Within a couple of days, the mood had turned, and Rhodes allegedly directed people to "delete your self incriminating comments or those that incriminate others."
In pretrial filings and arguments, defense lawyers had argued Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers had been preparing to assist in the event that former President Trump21 invoked22 the Insurrection Act, which gives the president wide authority to call for support in the event of an emergency. Trump never took that action. But Rhodes is expected to make it a key part of his defense. Prosecutors say that's just a cover story.
Defense lawyer David Fischer, who represents defendant Thomas Caldwell, used his opening statement to blast the FBI for conducting what he considered a questionable23 investigation24 and misunderstanding military terms used by Caldwell, a disabled U.S. Navy veteran. In another instance, Fischer said, the FBI used statements to support its search of Caldwell's farm that actually came from the cult25 classic movie, The Princess Bride.
Fischer also said the quick reaction force was a "break the glass in case of emergency" option the Oath Keepers had used at previous rallies in Ferguson, Mo., and in D.C., when Congress was not in session.
"This is the biggest bait and switch in the history of the American justice system here," Fischer said.
A lawyer for Watkins told jurors she is a transgender woman and "she's never felt like she's fit in." Attorney Jonathan Crisp said that dynamic explained some of what Watkins did on Jan. 6 and in other interactions with the Oath Keepers.
Watkins is a "protest junkie" and a former EMT who was there "to help people," Crisp said. Watkins turned herself in voluntarily and spoke with the FBI four times, not what someone trying to overthrow26 the government would do, Crisp said.
Earlier Monday morning, Judge Amit Mehta denied a request by the defense to move the trial out of D.C., saying the three-day voir dire20 process had produced a 16-member jury with no bias27 against the defendants.
The trial is expected to last between four and six weeks.
1 prosecutor | |
n.起诉人;检察官,公诉人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 sedition | |
n.煽动叛乱 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 Founder | |
n.创始者,缔造者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 conspiracy | |
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 concocted | |
v.将(尤指通常不相配合的)成分混合成某物( concoct的过去式和过去分词 );调制;编造;捏造 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 defendant | |
n.被告;adj.处于被告地位的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 defendants | |
被告( defendant的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 prosecutors | |
检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 ); 告发人; 起诉人; 公诉人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 distinctive | |
adj.特别的,有特色的,与众不同的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 patriotic | |
adj.爱国的,有爱国心的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 bravado | |
n.虚张声势,故作勇敢,逞能 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 statute | |
n.成文法,法令,法规;章程,规则,条例 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 incarcerated | |
钳闭的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 indictment | |
n.起诉;诉状 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 traitors | |
卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 ); 叛徒; 背叛者; 背信弃义的人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 dire | |
adj.可怕的,悲惨的,阴惨的,极端的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 trump | |
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 invoked | |
v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 );行使(权利等);祈求救助;恳求 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 questionable | |
adj.可疑的,有问题的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 investigation | |
n.调查,调查研究 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 cult | |
n.异教,邪教;时尚,狂热的崇拜 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 overthrow | |
v.推翻,打倒,颠覆;n.推翻,瓦解,颠覆 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 bias | |
n.偏见,偏心,偏袒;vt.使有偏见 | |
参考例句: |
|
|