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The Oath Keeper case could be a model for more complex cases. The criminal complaint shows that investigators use various techniques to locate and charge the defendants: Thomas E. Caldwell, Donovan Crowl and Jessica Watkins. Mr Caldwell said he intends to fight the charges at a hearing this week. Mr Crowl and Ms Watkins have yet to appear in court to respond to the complaint.
Officers in their case scanned video footage on Capitol Hill looking for badges or insignia suggesting that the three accused militia members were part of the same group. They trolled through social media accounts on platforms like Speak for any clue that the three were not only in the building, but had planned in advance to be there. And they got audio recordings of Ms Watkins chatting with others suspected of being Oath Keepers on Zello, a mobile phone app that works like a walkie-talkie.
Investigators also analyzed the location data of a cell phone registered with Mr Caldwell’s wife, determining it was near the Capitol at the time of the assault. Since Mr. Caldwell had no obvious connection to the others, officers followed the trail using an older method.
While ransacking Ms Watkins’ Ohio home, they persuaded a friend of her to tell them Ms Watkins had provided a phone number to another Oath Keeper she stayed with after the attack . The FBI was able to determine that the number was connected to the cell phone registered with Mr. Caldwell’s wife.
On Thursday, the FBI said it was actively pursuing those most serious in the attack on the Capitol, announcing a reward of up to $ 75,000 for information on anyone linked to devices believed to be homemade bombs that have been placed at the headquarters of the Republican and Democrat. National committees. The bulletin showed a grainy photo of a person wearing a white mask, black gloves and a hooded sweatshirt, walking down a street and carrying a backpack.
The Capitol Inquiry is, by everyone’s opinion, a huge undertaking, drawing on the efforts of hundreds of officers and prosecutors from across the country. This promises to become even more onerous and drastic as the investigation moves into more complex charges and investigators begin to use techniques such as warrant writing to search people’s email accounts or possibly infiltrate rooms. online chat rooms frequented by extremists.
At this point, the only other conspiracy case arising from the riot has been brought against Eric Munchel, a Nashville bartender who broke into the Capitol with his mother, with the intention, according to court documents, of creating a “Civil disturbance” and hamper the business of Congress. In new court documents filed Wednesday evening, prosecutors noted that Mr Munchel had met several members of the Oath Keepers on Capitol Hill and one of them told him: “There are 65 more to come.
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