Leader of Oath Keepers & 10 Others Charged with ‘Seditious Conspiracy’ in US Capitol Attack
The Justice Department has charged 11 defendants with seditious conspiracy related to the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, including the leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes.
Leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes. Source SPLC.
A new grand jury indictment was handed was made public Thursday, alleging that Rhodes and his co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to “oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power by force, by preventing, hindering, or delaying by force execution of laws governing the transfer of power.”
The indictment sites that Rhodes allegedly wrote in a November 5, 2020 Signal message, “We aren’t going through this without civil war. Too late for that. Prepare your mind, body and spirit. “. In December, the indictment alleges Rhodes wrote of the electoral college certification that “There is no standard political or legal way out of this.”
On January 6th Rhodes allegedly said on Signal at 1:38 p.m., shortly after the siege had begun.”All I see Trump doing is complaining. I see no intent by him to do anything,” Rhodes allegedly also wrote. “So the patriots are taking it into their own hands. They’ve had enough.”
‘Signal’ is a messaging app that uses end-to-end encryption.
US Capital Building, January 6th, 2020.
The latest court filings show that Oath Keeper Thomas Caldwell, who was arrested in January, claimed to take a reconnaissance trip to Washington, DC, before January 6. The indictment also surfaces previously unknown communications Rhodes is alleged to have sent that prosecutors say encouraged the use of force to oppose the lawful transfer of power.
These indictments are important because they will help solidify the facts of what occurred on January 6th and who was responsible. Especially sinc some conservatives are doing their best to spread misinformation about the insurrection.
Spurred on by Tucker Carlson, Senator Ted Cruz joined far-right Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, and others in claiming the federal government, with the help of a man named ‘Ray Epps’, was behind the Jan. 6 attack. They are actually trying to convince people that the FBI was behind the January 6th insurrection on the capital. Which would essentially mean that the federal government attacked itself on January 6th, to make Trump supporters look bad…
Spreading this kind of conspiracy nonsense is unconscionable. The entire capital insurrection is on video, and these Trumpian pundits and politicians are still trying to convince their followers that they did not see, what they saw. That Trump and his followers were somehow not doing what they were doing.
The indictment also states that Oath Keepers from three different states, including newly charged Edward Vallejo, stashed weapons in a Virginia hotel as part of a quick reaction force.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a speech last week said that the department was “committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.”
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