What Is Seditious Conspiracy, Which Is Among the Most Serious Crimes Trump Pardoned?

had been “stolen,” as Trump continues to falsely claim, and which was used as justification by militia members for their attack. Trump himself said publicly he thought the defendants were unjustly persecuted and promised to pardon them if and when he returned to power.

The full effect that the pardons will have on militia actors and related groups in coming years is uncertain: Will the pardons send the message to all Americans that political violence is acceptable, or at least that it can be overlooked or forgiven if the right political figures are in power?

Table: 18 People Were Charged with Seditious Conspiracy for Jan. 6
Of those, four pleaded guilty, 10 were convicted at trial and four were found not guilty of seditious conspiracy, but were convicted of other related crimes. All 18 were affiliated with right-wing extremist groups –either the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers.

Table: The Conversation, CC-BY-NDSource: US Department of Justice and other sources Get the dataEmbed Download image Created with Datawrapper

Amy Cooter is Director of Research, Academic Development and Innovation at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism, Middlebury. This article is published courtesy of The Conversation.