US judge grants DOJ request to dismiss Jan 6 cases against Oath Keepers

WASHINGTON – A US judge on Aug 4 granted the US Justice Department’s request to dismiss cases against members of the right-wing Oath Keepers militia who took part in the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, according to a court filing.The ruling from Washington-based US District Judge Amit Mehta tosses out convictions of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and other members of the group who were convicted of seditious conspiracy for plotting to stop the transfer of power after President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.All the defendants had already been freed from prison as part of Trump’s sweeping move to pardon nearly all 1,600 people charged in the attack and commute the prison sentences of the remaining defendants.Mehta, who presided over the two seditious conspiracy trials in 20