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The arrest – made public a day after prosecutors revealed they accused fellow Oath Keeper and Stone security guard Roberto Minuta of entering the Capitol – is the latest evidence prosecutors are looking to the extremist group with key ties to pro-Trump ‘Stop Theft’ organizers. About a dozen Oath Keepers were charged among the more than 250 rioters on Capitol Hill identified by authorities.
The documents also make no secret of the Oath Keepers’ connection to Stone, both linked to a New York Times article describing their connection to Trump’s ally in the days and hours leading up to the Capitol siege. Just before referring to this press article, affidavit used to obtain an arrest warrant for James describes it as part of “a security feature for a speaker at ‘Stop the Steal’ rallies and events.”
Stone has not been charged. He said he had no prior knowledge of the attack on the Capitol and had not left his Washington hotel at all on January 6 before he left for the airport.
The initial charges against James are modest. He faces a single charge of the felony of obstruction in Congress as well as felony charges related to entering the Capitol without permission.
Minuta was freed Monday by a federal magistrate judge in White Plains, NY While prosecutors have filed urgent appeals in other cases where magistrates have released defendants of the Capitol riot, there is no sign of such an effort in the case of Minuta.
A group of eight oath-observers have been separately accused of conspiring to storm the Capitol and disrupt the electoral college’s vote count. Prosecutors described the group as orchestrating a complex military-style plan to converge on Washington and infiltrate Capitol. Members of the alleged conspiracy spoke of a heavily armed “rapid reaction force” stationed outside the confines of DC, ready to provide weapons should the riot turn violent, but defense attorneys questioned which not their planning was just puff and hard talk.
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