The way Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes III sees it, in today’s political environment, Thomas Jefferson could easily be convicted of seditious conspiracy to oppose the authority of the U.S. government.
In a 1787 letter to William Stephens Smith, Jefferson famously said, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta cited that quote during the May 24–26 sentencing hearings for four members of the Oath Keepers in Washington.
