Four Oath Keepers and an associate accused of seditious conspiracy on Jan. 6, 2021, filed an emergency motion for a change of trial venue, citing new research that nearly 70 percent of Washington respondents hold a negative view of the Oath Keepers, much higher than those in three other federal court districts.
Attorneys for Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, Thomas Caldwell, and Kelly Meggs filed the motion (pdf) on Sept. 23 before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. They renewed an earlier recommendation to move the trial to the Eastern District of Virginia.
