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How Oath Keepers Are Accused of Plotting to Storm the CapitolSkip to CommentsHow Oath Keepers Are Accused of Plotting to Storm the Capitol
In laying out the sedition charge against Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the far-right Oath Keeper militia, and 10 others, federal prosecutors have built a timeline of events as evidence of a conspiracy to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6 last year.
The 11 Charged With Sedition
Founder and leader of
the Oath Keepers
Stewart Rhodes
Accused of participating in the first Oath Keeper group to enter the Capitol
Joseph
Hackett
David
Moerschel
Kenneth
Harrelson
Kelly
Meggs
Jessica
Watkins
Accused of participating in a second Oath Keeper group to enter the Capitol
Accused of coordinating a weapons arsenal
Joshua
James
Roberto
Minuta
Brian
Ulrich
Thomas
Caldwell
Edward
Vallejo
Founder and leader of
the Oath Keepers
Stewart Rhodes
Accused of participating in the first Oath Keeper group to enter the Capitol
Accused of participating in a second Oath Keeper group to enter the Capitol
Accused of coordinating a weapons arsenal
Joshua
James
Roberto
Minuta
Brian
Ulrich
Thomas
Caldwell
Edward
Vallejo
Kenneth
Harrelson
Joseph
Hackett
David
Moerschel
Kelly
Meggs
Jessica
Watkins
Founder and leader of
the Oath Keepers
Stewart Rhodes
Accused of participating in the first Oath Keeper group to enter the Capitol
Kenneth
Harrelson
Kelly
Meggs
Jessica
Watkins
Joseph
Hackett
David
Moerschel
Accused of participating in a second Oath Keeper group to enter the Capitol
Joshua
James
Roberto
Minuta
Brian
Ulrich
Accused of coordinating a weapons arsenal
Thomas
Caldwell
Edward
Vallejo
Seditious conspiracy can be a difficult charge to prove, and it requires prosecutors to show that at least two people conspired to overthrow the government or delay the execution of a U.S. law. The charge is the most serious yet to be filed in connection with the riot. So far, more than 700 people have been accused of crimes related to the Jan. 6 assault.
The case is ongoing, but the charging documents released last week provide a detailed look at activities of Mr. Rhodes and other Oath Keepers, beginning as early as two days after Election Day in 2020.
Mr. Rhodes and 10 other Oath Keepers and affiliates are accused of recruiting participants, organizing trainings in paramilitary combat, coordinating travel, teams and logistics and bringing weapons to the Washington, D.C., area in order to carry out the conspiracy.
Activities of Oath Keepers and Affiliates Detailed in the Charging Documents
rhodes
meggs
harrelson
watkins
hackett
moerschel
james
minuta
ulrich
caldwell
vallejo
62 days before Jan. 6
recruitment
Two days after the 2020 presidential election, Mr. Rhodes sent a message to an invitation-only, encrypted chat group called “Leadership intel sharing secured.”
In his message, Mr. Rhodes urged his followers to refuse to accept the election results. The chat group included Kelly Meggs — the head of the Florida chapter of Oath Keepers — and others.
rhodes
We aren't getting through this without a civil war. Too late for that. Prepare your mind, body, spirit.
60 days before Jan. 6
recruitment
On the day that President Donald J. Trump was projected to have lost the election, Mr. Rhodes outlined plans in the group chat to stop the transfer of presidential power. He later published the plan of action on the Oath Keepers’ website.
rhodes
[W]e must now do what the people of Serbia did when Milosevic stole their election. - Refuse to accept it and march en-mass on the nation's Capitol.
58 days before Jan. 6
recruitment
Mr. Rhodes hosted a private online meeting in which he urged attendees to participate in a plan to stop the transfer of the presidency. He told his followers to be prepared to fight Antifa.
After Mr. Rhodes’s speech, other members of the group discussed the types of weapons that were legal in Washington.
rhodes
[...] I do want some Oath Keepers to stay on the outside, and to stay fully armed and prepared to go in armed, if they have to [...] We hope [the President] will give us the orders. We want him to declare an insurrection, and to call us up as the militia.
recruitment
Immediately following Mr. Rhodes’s call to action, Mr. Meggs contacted a different group chat to pass along Mr. Rhodes’s message. The group chat included Kenneth Harrelson, a former Army sergeant, and others.
meggs
Anybody not on the call tonight. We have been issued a call to action for DC. This is the moment we signed up for [...]
training
Jessica Watkins, a bartender and former Army infantry soldier who deployed to Afghanistan, contacted several people she called “recruits” to organize their “military style” training in Ohio.
watkins
I need you fighting fit by innaugeration.
coordination
Thomas Caldwell, a retired Navy lieutenant commander and former F.B.I. section chief, contacted Mr. Rhodes to coordinate on an upcoming “op” and to provide details of a reconnaissance trip he took to Washington.
45 days before Jan. 6
training
The Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers held a training on “unconventional warfare.”
26 days before Jan. 6
recruitment
Mr. Rhodes sent a message to an invitation-only chat group and described potential violence if President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. assumed the presidency.
The group chat included Joshua James, who earned a Purple Heart in the Army; Roberto Minuta, an owner of a New York tattoo parlor; and others.
rhodes
It will be a bloody and desperate fight. We are going to have a fight. That can't be avoided.
25 days before Jan. 6
training
Unspecified members of the North Carolina Oath Keepers held a training session on skills including “setting up hasty ambushes” and “convoy operations.” Ms. Watkins had planned to but did not attend the training.
23 days before Jan. 6
Mr. Rhodes published an open letter to Mr. Trump on the Oath Keeper website calling for forceful action.
rhodes
[...] If you fail to act while you are still in office, we the people will have to fight a bloody civil war and revolution [...]
recruitment
Mr. Rhodes sent a similar message to an invitation-only chat group titled “Oath Keepers of Georgia,” which included Brian Ulrich, a resident of Guyton, Ga.
18 days before Jan. 6
coordination
Joseph Hackett, a resident of Sarasota, Fla., sent an email to another group member, outlining efforts to secure their communication and avoid digital detection of “important info” like locations, identities and operations planning.
15 days before Jan. 6
recruitment
In an interview with a regional Oath Keepers leader, Mr. Rhodes said that violence would be inevitable if Mr. Biden assumed the presidency. He also urged Mr. Trump to use military force.
rhodes
We will have to do a bloody, massively bloody revolution against them. That’s what’s going to have to happen.
14 days before Jan. 6
Mr. Rhodes published another open letter to Mr. Trump on the Oath Keeper website calling for forceful action.
rhodes
[...] If you fail to do your duty, you will leave We the People no choice but to walk in the Founders footsteps [...] And, like the Founding generation, we will take to arms in defense of our God given liberty [...]
7 days before Jan. 6
coordination
Mr. Rhodes invited several of his followers to an encrypted group chat called “DC OP: Jan 6 21.” Many also joined another chat group for the Florida chapter for which Mr. Meggs and Mr. Harrelson were administrators.
The group members used these chat groups throughout the next days to plan for Jan. 6.
rhodes
There is no standard political or legal way out of this.
weapons
Mr. Rhodes purchased about $7,000 worth of firearm-related equipment and night-vision devices and shipped the items to Virginia.
6 days before Jan. 6
coordination
Members coordinated plans to supply and store weapons in the Washington area.
The plan included arranging a “Quick Reaction Force” of members with weapons, stationed just outside the city “on standby with an arsenal.”
Late December
coordination
Mr. Caldwell identified a hotel in Arlington, Va., as the base of operations for the “Quick Reaction Force” weapons arsenal. Group members reserved rooms at the hotel and used the rooms to store and guard firearms.
5 days before Jan. 6
weapons
In the five days leading up to the riot, members transported firearms, ammunition, and related supplies to the Washington area.
weapons
In the first two days of January, Mr. Rhodes purchased approximately $5,000 worth of firearm equipment, including a shotgun, scope, magazine, sights and a case of ammunition.
4 days before Jan. 6
coordination
Mr. Caldwell sent a message to his contacts seeking boats to support the Quick Reaction Force in transporting weapons.
caldwell
[...] If we had someone standing by at a dock ramp (one near the Pentagon for sure) we could have our Quick Response Team with the heavy weapons standing by, quickly load them and ferry them across the river to our waiting arms [...]
3 days before Jan. 6
coordination
Ms. Watkins exchanged messages with her team about uniforms and weapons.
watkins
Pack Khaki/Tan pants. Weapons are ok now as well. Sorry for the confusion. We are packing the car and heading your way shortly
coordination
Mr. Meggs added Mr. Harrelson to the encrypted group chat, writing that Mr. Harrelson would be the “Ground Team lead.”
weapons
Mr. Rhodes left Texas and began traveling to the Washington area. During two days of travel, he spent about $6,000 in Texas on an AR-platform rifle and firearms equipment and $4,500 in Mississippi on additional firearms equipment.
2 days before Jan. 6
coordination
Mr. Caldwell emailed several maps to a member of the Quick Reaction Force.
caldwell
These maps walk you from the hotel into D.C. and east toward the target area on multiple roads [...]
weapons
In the two days before Jan. 6, as members of the group arrived in the Washington area, they coordinated with each other to drop off weapons and ammunition with the Quick Reaction Force. The members coordinating together included Edward Vallejo, who previously served in the United States Army.
watkins
Where can we drop off weapons to the QRF team? I'd like to have the weapons secured prior to the Op tomorrow.
1 day before Jan. 6
coordination
Mr. Caldwell and others drove into Washington on a reconnaissance mission, traveling around the Capitol building and returning to their hotel in Virginia.
Jan. 6
Most defendants entered the restricted Capitol grounds or the Capitol itself, actions that were later included as part of their sedition charges. Mr. Vallejo and others remained at the hotel, awaiting a call to bring the weapons.
As part of their sedition charge, the documents also accuse the Oath Keepers and affiliates of bringing paramilitary equipment, such as tactical gear and chemical spray into the Capitol; assaulting police officers; and trying to take control of the Capitol building. All of the defendants are charged with several other crimes in addition to sedition.
The members are also accused of continuing to plot after the Jan. 6 attack with actions like continuing to purchase firearm parts and equipment and spreading messages against the Biden presidency.
Several other people associated with the Oath Keepers have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the investigation, but those charged with sedition are not among them. Lawyers for several of the defendants have said that their clients deny having planned to storm the Capitol or overthrow the government.
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