Military.com reports that Joshua James, a military vet and a former leader in the right-wing Oath Keepers militia group, was part of the brutal assault on police that day, facing off with a line of officers inside the Rotunda, where he shouted, “This is my Capitol,” and demanded that officers leave as he pushed and shoved per court records.
Joshua James, who led the Alabama chapter of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group, also pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding. He faced up to nine years in prison and up to a $300,000 fine.
The veteran was sentenced on Friday to probation instead of prison for his milestone conviction — and his leadership role — in a violent plot by members of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group to keep Donald Trump in the White House after he lost the 2020 presidential election.
Joshua James was the first person charged in the U.S. Capitol riot to plead guilty to seditious conspiracy — the most serious crime arising from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Trump supporters.