Oath Keepers founder Rhodes is barred from entering Washington or Capitol without court’s permission

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday barred Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes from entering Washington, D.C., without the court’s approval after President Donald Trump commuted the extremist group leader’s 18-year prison sentence in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who oversaw the seditious conspiracy trial of Rhodes and other Oath Keepers, issued the order two days after Rhodes visited Capitol Hill, where he met with at least one lawmaker, chatted with others and defended his actions the day of the riot.

Mehta’s order applies to seven other defendants who were charged in one of the most serious conspiracy cases brought by the Justice Department over the riot. The order also prohibits them from entering the Capitol building or surrounding grounds without the court’s permission.

Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, was released from prison hours after the Republican president’s sweeping clemency action Monday benefiting the more than 1,500 people charged in the attack that halted the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory over Trump.

While Trump pardoned most of the defendants, he only commuted the prison sentences of Rhodes and 13 others. That means they remain on supervised release and have to follow certain restrictions set by the court under the supervision of a probation officer.

Rhodes did not enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, but was accused of orchestrating a weekslong plot to forcibly stop the transfer of power. He was convicted of seditious conspiracy in 2022, and he received one of the longest sentences in the Justice Department’s massive prosecution.

Rhodes said during his visit to the Capitol earlier this week that he’s now urging Trump for a full pardon. Rhodes stopped in at a Dunkin’ Donuts inside the House office building in the Capitol complex before delivering a lengthy defense of himself and his actions.

“I didn’t lead anything. So why should I feel responsible for that?” Rhodes said.

James Lee Bright, an attorney who defended Rhodes at trial, told The Associated Press on Friday that he’s concerned that criticism of the pardons from judges on Washington’s federal court means his client and others on supervised release will be monitored “with a very heavy hand.”