Judge acquits Broadway actor on all counts in Capitol riot case

WASHINGTON — A federal judge acquitted an Oath Keepers member and former Broadway actor on all counts Wednesday — finding he was not aware of the militia's plans at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta said prosecutors had presented almost no evidence to support charges of conspiracy and civil disorder against James Beeks, a 51-year-old Florida resident who had joined the Oath Keepers just weeks before the Capitol riot. Beeks appeared this week in federal court in D.C. alongside his co-defendant Donovan Crowl for a stipulated bench trial on two felony counts. 

Beeks was accused of joining other Oath Keepers in a conspiracy to obstruct the certification of Electoral College votes on Jan. 6. Unlike other members of the militia who have been convicted in previous trials, however, Mehta said there was no evidence Beeks had participated in online planning chats with the group or had even been aware of militia leader Stewart Rhodes' open letters calling for former President Donald Trump to deputize militia members with the Insurrection Act. Mehta said video provided by the government showed Beeks appeared to "aimlessly" walk past a huddle where Florida Oath Keepers leader Kelly Meggs, who was convicted alongside Rhodes last year of seditious conspiracy, is accused of laying out the plan to obstruct the joint session of Congress.

"Whatever was said during that huddle, I'm not convinced Mr. Beeks heard it," Mehta said.

Beeks, who represented himself for most of his case but allowed standby counsel Greg Hunter to deliver his closing argument Tuesday, is the first member of the Oath Keepers to be acquitted on all counts and only the second Jan. 6 defendant to be acquitted on all counts. Another Oath Keeper, Michael "Whip" Greene, was acquitted of conspiracy counts and received a hung jury on a count of obstruction of an official proceeding earlier this year. The jury did convict him on a single misdemeanor count of entering a restricted area. Prosecutors later said they wouldn't retry him on the obstruction count.

"It feels good. It feels great," Beeks said after Mehta delivered his verdict Wednesday afternoon. "I feel like a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders."

Beeks was playing the role of Judas in an off-Broadway production of the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" when he was arrested in November 2021. He said he hopes he will be able to return to his career — and noted he has disaffiliated himself from the Oath Keepers.

"I was duped, you know," he said. "I didn't know anything about them."

Unlike Beeks, his co-defendant, Crowl, was convicted on both counts. Mehta said his pre-Jan. 6 communications with Oath Keeper Jessica Watkins, who Crowl referred to as his "boss" and "captain," and another defendant, Thomas Caldwell, about the planned quick reaction force and the possibility of needing to "go heavy" suggested he came to D.C. prepared for violence. Mehta said Crowl and Watkins were "joined at the hip" all day, and noted he was right behind her in a crowd that pushed a police line back inside the Capitol.

"In the most basic terms, he knowingly joined with a group of other Oath Keepers, including Ms. Watkins, to, in Mr. Meggs' words, try to stop the vote count, and then took actions toward that goal," Mehta said.

Crowls' attorney, Carmend Hernandez, said he was found "guilty by association" with Watkins and Meggs. Mehta sentenced Watkins in May to 8.5 years in prison and Meggs, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy, to 12 years. Rhodes, the militia's founder and leader, was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

A sentencing hearing for Crowl was scheduled for Nov. 17.