SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — On Monday, four members of the Oath Keepers were convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
It was also the second major trial for those accused of storming into the building to keep former President Donald Trump in office.
In the Tampa Bay area, at least 20 people were charged relating to the Capitol attack, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, and two out of the four Oath Keepers members convicted are men from Florida. But who exactly are they and what did they do on Jan. 6, 2021?
Joseph Hackett: The Sarasota man and reported Oath Keepers member was arrested for interfering with the certification of the 2020 election and allegedly conspiring to storm the nation's Capitol. He was reportedly the first group of Oath Keepers that pushed into the building in a military-style stack formation.
David Moerschel: The Punta Gorda man was charged with federal offenses that include conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding. The Department of Justice says Moerschel used the Internet and social media to recruit other people before he traveled to Washington D.C. He was also reportedly captured on surveillance footage with other Oath Keepers walking towards the building in a military-stack formation and making his way inside of the Capitol.
The recent conviction of the four Oath Keepers members comes weeks after a different jury convicted the group’s leader, Stewart Rhodes, in the mob’s attack that halted the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
It’s another major victory for the Justice Department, which is also trying to secure sedition convictions against the former leader of the Proud Boys and four associates. The trial against Enrique Tarrio and his lieutenants opened earlier this month in Washington and is expected to last several weeks.
They are some of the most serious cases brought so far in the sweeping Jan. 6 investigation, which continues to grow two years after the riot. The Justice Department has brought nearly 1,000 cases and the tally increases by the week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
