Jury delivers truth about Jan. 6. It was seditious conspiracy

Tuesday’s verdicts in federal court in Washington will go a long way toward defining the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol melee, once and for all, as a heinous, purposeful crime orchestrated by enemies of democracy.

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Editorials

December 1, 2022 - 5:03 PM

The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th hearing in the Cannon House Office Building on Thursday, June 9, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

The conviction of Oath Keepers leaders Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs on charges of seditious conspiracy is a historic legal victory for the Department of Justice, but it is much more than that as well.

Tuesday’s verdicts in federal court in Washington will go a long way toward defining the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol melee, once and for all, as a heinous, purposeful crime orchestrated by enemies of democracy.

The Justice Department richly deserves a victory lap for its efforts. Seditious conspiracy is a notoriously difficult charge to prove — the last successful prosecution was in 1995 — and it has a checkered history in the department.

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