Oath Keepers militia trial tests prosecutors in U.S. Capitol riot cases

FILE PHOTO: Oath Keepers militia founder Stewart Rhodes poses during an interview session in Eureka, Montana, U.S. June 20, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The trial of Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, is set to begin next week in what could be the biggest test for the U.S. Justice Department in its quest to hold former President Donald Trump's supporters accountable for their Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Rhodes and four other Oath Keepers associates are the first defendants in more than 10 years to face federal charges of seditious conspiracy under a Civil War-era statute that is rarely prosecuted in the United States and carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.The Oath Keepers is an anti-government militia whose membership includes current and former U.S. military and law enforcement personnel. Rhodes, a former Army paratrooper and Yale University-educated lawyer, founded the group in 2009.