Oath Keeper suspects charged with conspiracy

WASHINGTON – In the days leading up to the January 6 riot, Thomas Edward Caldwell, an apparent far-right leader Oath Keepers, sent a message to the militiamen he had organized to mobilize against Congress: “This kettle is ready to boil. “

According to unsealed court documents Tuesday, Mr. Caldwell, a 66-year-old man from rural Virginia, advised others on Dec. 31: “It really starts on Jan. 5 and 6 in Washington DC when we mobilize in the streets. Let them try to certify crudités on Capitol Hill with a million or more patriots on the streets.

Mr. Caldwell and two Ohio associates – Donovan Crowl, 50, and Jessica Watkins, 38 – have been charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes. All three had admitted to invading the Capitol to reporters and were also identifiable in videos posted on social media.

The case revealed the first evidence of planning within a militia known before the day of chaotic mob violence. Investigators said they were increasingly focusing on far-right groups to determine whether aspects of the attack on the Capitol had been planned in advance, even as most rioters had it. spontaneously stormed.

Mr Caldwell had advised militia members to stay at a Comfort Inn especially in the suburbs of Washington, according to messages cited in court documents, indicating that it offered a good base for ‘night hunting’ – apparently meaning looking for the left antifa style protesters to fight. Ms Watkins apparently rented a room there under a false name, an FBI agent said.

Mr Caldwell practically appeared in federal court in Virginia on Tuesday, pledging to fight the charges against him. In pleading for bail, Mr Caldwell highlighted his age as well as the underlying medical issues and the threat of the coronavirus, noting that he relied on a machine at night to fight sleep apnea. A judge refused the request.

Federal investigators also recovered audio recordings of Ms Watkins’ voice during the riot from the Zello mobile phone app, which acts like a walkie-talkie, speaking to others considered Oaths. Keepers. “We have a good group,” she said at the start of the riot, according to the indictment document. “We have about 30 to 40 of them. We stay united and stick to the plan. An unknown man replied, “We’ll see you soon, Jess.” Airborne.”

An unidentified man later said: “You are carrying out the arrest of a citizen. Stop this assembly; we have probable reasons for acts of treason, electoral fraud. Ms Watkins replied that she and others were under the main dome of the Capitol, and another unknown male voice encouraged her to continue, saying that was what they were “training” for.

The group they are accused of being a part of, the Oath Keepers, is a far-right militia-style organization founded by military and law enforcement veterans who claim to believe a dark globalist cabal is plotting to take away the rights of Americans.

Prosecution documents against the trio noted that in the midst of the generally chaotic scene as crowds began to force their way into the Capitol, a group dressed in paramilitary gear and Oath Keepers paraphernalia stood out. through its coordination. In one video, about 10 Oath Keepers wearing helmets “move in an organized and practiced fashion and make their way past the crowd gathered around a door of the United States Capitol.”

The scenes of people with military training walking side by side have horrified Pentagon leaders, who fear that the weapons and tactics training once provided by the military has been co-opted. At least 12 members of the National Guard have been removed from their inauguration-related duties, two of them for possible links to far-right movements, Defense Ministry officials said on Tuesday.

Others arrested in the riots have been linked to the Oath Keepers, although they have not been charged with being part of an organized plot.

At a hearing in Texas last week for Larry Brock, who was pictured in the Senate with flexible handcuffs, a prosecutor cited a Facebook post linking him to the Oath Keepers. Mr Brock, a retired Air Force officer, told the New Yorker he found the flexible cuffs on the ground and did not intend to use them.

And a criminal complaint filed on Saturday against Jon Ryan Schaffer, a guitarist for heavy metal band Iced Earth, accused of being among the rioters who sprayed Capitol Police with “bear spray,” said he had long ago of “far-right extremist views” and suggested he is a member of the Oath Keepers.

The Oath Keepers – named after members’ stated intention to uphold their oaths to protect the Constitution – have no geographic center, with chapters scattered across Oregon, Montana, Florida, Texas, and Arizona, Ohio, New York and elsewhere. Part of its ideology intersects with the so-called Three Percenters, another paramilitary-style right-wing movement that seeks to attract veterans.

Oath observers have a more formal structure, including bylaws and dues. Although the organization claimed to have around 35,000 members, the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks extremist groups, estimated several years ago that its membership was in the thousands.

The organization was founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes, 55, a disqualified Montana lawyer who attended Yale Law School and previously worked as an assistant to former Representative Ron Paul, the Texas Libertarian. Its members tend to anticipate a new civil war to come.

“He was motivated by the perception that the federal government was tyrannical and that everyday Americans had to be prepared to stand up to this tyrannical government when it came to the door,” said Sam Jackson, who published a book on organization last year and is a professor at the University of Albany specializing in homeland security issues.

The Oath Keepers have been involved in clashes with the federal government over land issues in the West, including the Bundy family’s confrontation with the federal government in Oregon in 2014.

And during the unrest that year after police murdered a black man in Ferguson, Missouri, heavily armed Oath Keepers patrolled the streets and claimed to protect businesses, but arrested after criticism from local law enforcement.

The group is also among those who sent armed militiamen to patrol the border with Mexico or who encouraged such efforts by others.

In the weeks leading up to the Capitol Assault, Oath Keepers issued passionate calls to action. Shortly after the election, a long message attributed to Mr. Rhodes circulated on far-right websites urging volunteers to converge on Washington for a “Stop the Steal” rally. Oath Keepers, he said, would provide security, including “some of our most skilled Special Warfare veterans standing armed just outside of DC”

While attendees were urged to remain disciplined, the message also included what he described as advice from an unidentified “patriot of Serbia”, who said in a speech transcript that Americans must replicate the uprising. in his country 20 years ago who deposed Slobodan Milosevic:

“Millions of people gathered in our capital. There were no barricades strong enough to stop them, nor the police determined enough to stop them. The police and the army lined up with the people after a few hours of fighting. We have taken Parliament by storm. And burnt the fake state television! WE WON!”

By the time plans were announced for a large rally on January 6, the Oath Keepers’ pleas had taken on an urgent tone. A call for volunteers touted the event as a last chance to help “President Trump’s fight to defeat foreign and domestic enemies who attempt a coup.”

Followers were urged to “prepare for whatever may happen.” Prepare your mind, body and spirit for battle, and above all, prepare to STAY!

Mr. Rhodes was in Washington on January 6 – a distinctive character with his eye patch because he lost one eye in a gun accident. We do not think he entered the Capitol himself.

According to the impeachment documents, Mr. Caldwell “played a leadership role” in the group. While Mr. Crowl addressed him as “commander” in a message cited in court documents, his precise role remains unclear.

Mr. Caldwell, however, seemed to think Mr. Rhodes was doing too little to organize the day. “I don’t know if Stewie even got his call to arms, but it’s a bit late,” he wrote to Mr Crowl, according to court documents. “It’s the one we do on our own. We will connect with the North Carolina crew.

Other prosecution documents identified Ms Watkins, a bartender in Champaign County, Ohio, who was arrested Monday for being affiliated with the Oath Keepers. She said at the top of her account page on Speak, a social media network that drew a right-wing following, that she commanded “the regular Ohio State Militia,” whom the complaint identified as ” a local militia organization which is a subset of membership fee oath observers. “

The FBI identified Mr. Crowl, also from Champaign County, as a member of the same Ohio militia.

The FBI’s affidavit against the three described several sightings of them in a video of the Capitol riot and their own social media posts boasting of storming the building.

For example, according to the indictment document, Mr. Caldwell sent a photo of the riot that evening to someone on Facebook Messenger, adding, “We’re storming the castle” and “I’m such a instigator!” He also wrote: “We have to do this locally. Lets storm the capital of Ohio. Tell me when! “

A search of Ms Watkins’ home after the riot – she was not there, and investigators cited evidence that she and Mr Crowl had gone to live with Mr Caldwell – revealed paramilitary equipment like that used during of the riot and instructions for building a bomb using bleach as the main ingredient, according to the charge document.

Other well-known defendants in the attack on Capitol Hill were released on Tuesday awaiting trial in a series of five-hour hearings in Washington. Most have been charged with misdemeanors and federal prosecutors have not sought to keep them in detention.

Among those released were Adam Johnson, 36, of Florida, accused of stealing the lectern from President Nancy Pelosi, and Josiah Colt, 34, of Idaho, who was filmed in a viral image hanging from a balcony of the Senate chamber.

Two Virginia police officers accused of breaking and entering the Capitol, Jacob Fracker and Thomas Robertson, have been released pending trial.

Reporting was provided by Alan Feuer, Mike McIntire, Rebecca Ruiz, Ben Protess and William K. Rashbaum.