Trial of leader of group that stormed Capitol on January 6 to begin

The US Department of Justice will present its arguments at this week’s trial. It is the first time in more than a decade that a group of Americans has conspired to violently oppose the US government.

The historic trial of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and four of his top lieutenants will provide a deep dive into a far-right militia and extremist movement. They reportedly planned to stop Joe Biden from becoming president in January 2021 by any means necessary – which resulted in the Capitol storming.

Federal prosecutors intend to prove that the plan included a reconnaissance trip to Washington, D.C., staging an armed “rapid reaction force” at a hotel across the Potomac River, using military formation to storm the US Capitol. The US Attorney’s Office still intends to prove that some defendants were instructed to look for legislators within the venue.

The historic indictment is the most aggressive and politically charged case prosecutors have opened against a group of alleged troublemakers to date and marked a dramatic shift in the department’s approach to prosecuting January 6 defendants.

This is the first of three chaos trials slated for this year.

The case also comes with heavy political ramifications. When it was revealed in January 2022, the indictment sparked protests from some Trump supporters and leading figures on the right who claimed the accusations were trumped up or politically motivated, and the Justice Department is investigating those who have shown themselves to be aligned with the former president. .

The trial against the Oath Keepers begins this Tuesday with jury selection in D.C. federal court. All five defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charge and face a maximum sentence of 20 years in a federal prison.

the defendants

Stewart Rhodes, 57, is a former US Army paratrooper and a graduate of Yale Law School. Rhodes, who is from Texas, founded the Oath Keepers in 2009 and has led the militia ever since.

Kelly Meggs, 53, is the leader of the Florida branch of the Oath Keepers. Meggs went by the nickname “Gator 1”. Jessica Watkins, 40, is an Army veteran and bar owner from Ohio. Watkins, who served in Afghanistan, was the “commander” of her own Ohio-based militia, using the nickname “Cap”.

Kenneth Harrelson, 41, is a former Army sergeant and leader of the Florida Oath Keepers. Harrelson used the nickname “Gator 6”.

Thomas Caldwell, 68, of Virginia, is a former Navy Lieutenant Commander and FBI employee. Caldwell went by the nicknames “CAG” and “Spy”. He has denied that he is a member of the Oath Keepers.

the case

To defend their case, prosecutors will present an extensive reconstruction of January 6 and the months leading up to the riot. The story will feature more than 40 witnesses, prosecutors at the court said, including FBI agents, Capitol Hill police, journalists and confidential sources.

They also plan to use recordings of the group’s planning meetings up until the day of the Capitol invasion, as well as walkie-talkie communications during the siege.

Taken together, prosecutors believe the evidence will present a sophisticated plan by the Oath Keepers that began to take shape just days after the 2020 election.

In a message on November 5, 2020, Rhodes reportedly warned the Oath Keepers that “we are not going through this without civil war. Too late for that. Prepare your mind, body and spirit.” Less than a week later, according to court documents, Caldwell traveled to Washington for a reconnaissance trip and reported his findings to Rhodes.

Rhodes, Meggs, Watkins, Harrelson and Caldwell organized for several weeks, prosecutors say, including attending paramilitary training camps and renting rooms in a Virginia hotel to store weapons in case they were needed in Washington.

On January 6, the Oath Keepers donned combat and tactical gear and reportedly took up positions around the nation’s capital – some on the Capitol, others providing security, and a third group waiting at a weapons cache in Virginia.

That afternoon, prosecutors allege that the group converged on the Capitol in the direction of Rhodes.

Meggs, Harrelson and Watkins, who were in a military formation “stacked” with other Oath Keepers, pushed officers into the building, court documents say. As Watkins tried to push back officers guarding one of the main corridors at the site, prosecutors say Meggs, Harrelson and other Oath Keepers split up in an unsuccessful search for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Rhodes directed the group out, prosecutors say. Caldwell is also not accused of having entered the building.

After the riot, Rhodes and others went to the Olive Garden restaurant to commemorate the attack and “discuss next steps,” according to court documents. On Inauguration Day, January 20, 2021, Rhodes reportedly told associates to organize local militias to oppose the Biden administration.

Lawyers for the five defendants argued that the Oath Keepers came to Washington to act as “peace keepers” if riots broke out between Trump and Antifa supporters. Some members entered the Capitol to help the officers, the defendants’ lawyers said.

extremism in america

While it’s unclear how the trial will affect the Oath Keepers’ future, experts say the prosecution itself has severely affected the organization.

“The media, the public, and then the legal responsibility that was dropped on the Oath Keepers had incredibly damaging effects on that organization and, frankly, nearly decimated it,” Rachel Carroll Rivas, Senior Research Analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center. who studies extremism, told CNN .

Because the organization lacked a robust leadership structure, Rivas said, the group’s fortunes went up and down with Rhodes. Rhodes has been in federal custody since his arrest in January, and Rivas said that “removing him from the capacity to be a leader in this organization has had a huge impact.”

Regardless of the outcome of the case, the threat of domestic extremism remains high in the United States, Jon Lewis, a researcher for the George Washington University extremism program, told reporters. CNN .

“The threat today has metastasized far beyond individual groups,” Lewis said. “The life or death of the Oath Keepers … does not change the contours of the threat today.”

“I think what is most worrying from our perspective is that the rhetoric that inspired them and the narratives they disseminate have not disappeared. The hate only got stronger,” Lewis said.