WASHINGTON — Elmer Stewart Rhodes, the Yale Law School graduate who founded the right-wing Oath Keepers militia group, pleaded not guilty to seditious conspiracy for his role in the assault on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters.
Rhodes, who lives in Texas, entered the plea Tuesday during a virtual hearing before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington. Half a dozen other Oath Keepers members also entered not-guilty pleas, signaling a drawn out fight over the most serious charges brought so far by the U.S. Justice Department over January 2021 insurrection.
One of the militia members who pleaded not guilty was former Broadway actor James Beeks, who played Judas in a touring production of the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar," according to prosecutors. Beeks, who joined the Oath Keepers a few weeks before the insurrection, was arrested in Milwaukee in November.
