Far-Right Leader Faces Unprecedented Charge Over Jan. 6

ACROSS AMERICA — Good morning! It’s Friday, Jan. 14. The leader of the far-right group Oath Keepers is facing serious charges in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. So far, his arrest marks the highest-profile charge involving the attack.

Here are some other headlines you may have missed:

• The Supreme Court blocked a vaccine mandate for large private companies.
• High-quality masks will soon be available to all Americans, U.S. officials say.
• Attention, salad lovers: French dressing is losing its identity.
• After four members were killed, the show must go on for Milwaukee’s Dancing Grannies.

Federal authorities on Thursday indicted and arrested Stewart Rhodes, leader and founder of the far-right extremist group Oath Keepers, in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Rhodes was charged with seditious conspiracy for what authorities said was his role in the attack.

Rhodes is the highest-ranking member of an extremist group to be arrested in the attack. It's also the first time the Justice Department has brought a seditious conspiracy charge against someone accused of attacking the Capitol.

Rhodes is charged along with more than a dozen other members and associates of the Oath Keepers, who authorities say came to Washington intent on stopping the Electoral College certification of Joe Biden's presidential election victory.

In an online interview Wednesday with NorthWest Liberty News, Rhodes said federal agents would “love to put me behind bars.” But he insisted he had not committed crimes.

“I don’t do illegal activities. I always stay on this side of the line,” he said. “I know where the lines are, and it drives them crazy.” »Oath Keepers Leader Arrested, Charged In Jan. 6 Conspiracy, via Across America Patch

• RELATED: Phoenix Suspected 'Oath Keeper' Indicted In Jan. 6 Capitol Riot

Supreme Court Blocks Vaccine Mandate

The Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job. At the same time, the court is allowing the administration to proceed with a vaccine mandate for most health care workers in the U.S. »Supreme Court Blocks COVID Vaccine Mandate For Large Businesses, via Across America Patch

Masks Coming To Americans

High-quality masks will soon be available to all Americans as the omicron coronavirus variant continues to push U.S. daily case counts to unprecedented highs, officials say. President Joe Biden on Thursday said the White House will soon announce a plan to ensure masks are available and free to everyone in the United States. Details should be released next week, Biden said in a tweet. »White House To Make High-Quality Masks Available To All Americans, via Across America Patch

French Dressing Loses Identity

A decision Wednesday by the Food and Drug Administration stripping French dressing of its identity solves a big, ahem, "condi-nundrum" for the nation's unofficial salad dressing czars. They're the folks at the Association for Dressings and Sauces who have been fighting a mostly invisible war over French dressing with the Food and Drug Administration since 1998. Truth in labeling was at stake. »French Dressing ‘Condi-nundrum’: FDA Revokes Salad Sauce Identity, via Across America Patch

More national headlines on Patch, other news websites:

• Biden All But Concedes Defeat On Voting, Election Bills
• 'Unintentional Mistakes' By PD In Gabby Petito Utah Fight: Report
• Cannabis Compounds Prevented Coronavirus Spread In Lab Study
• Ronnie Spector, '60s Icon Who Sang 'Be My Baby,' Dies At 78
• Kanye West Accused Of Striking Fan Outside LA Club
• Federal Investigation Launched Into Transgender Student's Title IX Complaint, via The Hill
• Prince Andrew Stripped Of Royal Titles Amid U.S. Sex Assault Case, via Politico
• House Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenas Twitter, Alphabet, Meta And Reddit, via The Washington Post
• ‘Rust' Armorer Suing Film's Ammo Supplier Over On-Set Shooting, via NPR

Around ‘The Patch’

Two women accused of repeatedly throwing containers of glitter at a man following an early-morning argument at a Florida apartment are now facing felony charges. »2 Women Charged Following 'Glitter Attack' In Clearwater, via Clearwater Patch

The Milwaukee Dancing Grannies are still healing after four members were killed when a driver plowed through the Waukesha Christmas Parade. Still, the Dancing Grannies will continue to perform in 2022. "We have been through a lot, but we did not break," the group said. »'We Did Not Break', Dancing Grannies To Perform In 2022 Parades, via Waukesha Patch

More local news:

• Funerals Await For Most Victims Of Bronx Fire That Killed 17, via Harlem Patch
• Georgia Dad's Appeal In Toddler Son's Hot Car Death Heads To Georgia Supreme Court, via Smyrna-Vinings, Georgia, Patch
• Teen's Tweets Identify Mother, Relatives As Capitol Protesters, via Across Massachusetts Patch
• Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby Indicted, via Baltimore Patch
• Texans Fire Head Coach David Culley, via Houston Patch
• Drug Used To Facilitate Sexual Assaults Found In Parcel By Dulles Airport Customs Officers, via Herndon, Virginia, Patch
• Georgia Has The Lowest Smoking Costs In Nation, New Report Finds, via Alpharetta-Milton Patch
• 4 Injured In Maryland Medical Helicopter Crash, via Baltimore Patch
• Stirred, With A Swab: New Jersey Bar Offers Cocktail And COVID Test, via Wykhoff, New Jersey, Patch
• COVID-Hit NY Hospitals Will Get Military Medical Teams, via New York City Patch
• New Jersey Abortion Law Sees Fierce Controversy; Here’s What It Will Do, via Montclair, New Jersey, Patch

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This Day In History

In 1954, baseball player Joe DiMaggio and actress Marilyn Monroe married at City Hall in San Francisco.

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