Judge removes ban from DC for Oath Keepers founder, members after Trump's commutation

ISTANBUL

A judge lifted a ban on Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and his co-defendants from entering Washington DC, following a request by the Justice Department to revise their long sentences for crimes related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The order applies to members of the far-right extremist group including Rhodes and seven others.

"The Department argues that Defendants are no longer subject to the terms of supervised release and probation' following President Trump's commutation of their sentences,' a district court judge's order said.

"The unconditional quality of President Trump's Proclamation thus can reasonably be read to extinguish enforcement of Defendants' terms of supervised release," it said.

Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy and other charges in 2022 for his role in the attack on the Capitol. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, with the sentencing judge calling him a threat to the country and democracy.

More than 200 individuals who took part in the riot were among those released after Donald Trump issued pardons for more than 1,500 people involved.

The pardons, announced days into Trump's new term, have sparked widespread discussion about accountability and justice for events surrounding the riot.