Oath Keepers founder barred Rhodes from entering Washington without court permission, rules judge

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday barred Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes from entering Washington, D.C., without court approval after President Donald Trump commuted his prison sentence. 18 years of the leader of the far-right extremist group for orchestrating an attack on the United States Capitol four years ago.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta issued the order two days after Rhodes visited the Capitol, where he met with at least one lawmaker, spoke with others and defended his actions during a mob attack on January 6, 2021. Rhodes was released from a Maryland prison a day early.

Mehta’s order applies to seven other people who were convicted of charges in the riot that interrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory over Trump. The order also prohibits them from entering the Capitol building or surrounding grounds without court permission.

Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy in one of the most serious cases brought by the Justice Department. He was convicted of orchestrating a weekslong plot that resulted in his followers attacking the U.S. Capitol in a desperate attempt to keep Trump, a Republican, in power.

Read more: After Jan. 6 pardons, judges who oversaw cases express frustrations

Rhodes did not enter the building on Jan. 6 and said it was “stupid” that members of the Oath Keepers did so.

“My guys made a mistake in the doors,” he insisted during his visit to Capitol Hill earlier this week.

Trump’s clemency order on Monday upended the largest prosecutions in Justice Department history, releasing jailers seen on camera viciously attacking police as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of having orchestrated violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after his election loss.

Trump defended the pardons, saying the defendants had already “served years in prison” under conditions he described as “disgusting” and “inhumane.”