by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News April 15, 2026
The Department of Justice on Tuesday filed paperwork to dismiss the seditious conspiracy convictions of leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers related to the Jan. 6, 2021 protest at the U.S. Capitol.
The Justice Department asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to vacate the convictions, including of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, according to the Associated Press.
The dismissal requests include convictions of Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola and Oath Keepers Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, and Jessica Watkins.
The Justice Department’s filing to vacate the remaining convictions for key leaders also restores rights such as gun ownership.
“The government’s motion to vacate in this case is consistent with its practice of moving the Supreme Court to vacate convictions in cases where the government has decided in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of a criminal case is in the interests of justice — motions that the Supreme Court routinely grants,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Tuesday’s filings — which mark an attempt to clear some of the final charges still standing in the J6 investigation — also asked to dismiss the indictments “with prejudice,” meaning the charges would be permanently dismissed and could not be brought again by the government.
Hours after returning to office on January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump either pardoned or commuted the sentences of nearly all individuals convicted in connection with the J6 protest. More than 1,500 people were arrested in connection with the protest.
Rhodes, whom prosecutors previously said plotted to “oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power,” was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other charges. He was released from federal prison on January 21, 2025.
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