DOJ charges 11 Oath Keepers, including leader, with seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 Capitol attack
seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol for allegedly trying to overthrow the government, the harshest charges yet filed in cases against more than 700 people.
The charges are the first against Rhodes, 56, of Granbury, Texas, who founded the Oath Keepers; and Edward Vallejo, 63, of Phoenix. Rhodes was arrested in Little Elm, Texas and Vallejo in Phoenix, the Justice Department announced.
“Rhodes and certain co-conspirators, to include selected regional leaders, planned to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power by Jan. 20, 2021, which included multiple ways to deploy force,” the indictment said. “They coordinated travel across the country to enter Washington, D.C., and equipped themselves with a variety of weapons, donned combat and tactical gear, and were prepared to answer Rhodes’s call to take up arms at Rhodes’s direction.”
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The indictment comes after lawmakers had begun questioning the pace of prosecutions and whether Attorney General Merrick Garland was pursuing the organizers and fundraisers behind the attack. He vowed the day before the anniversary of the attack to pursue the participants at all levels.
More than 725 people have been charged and 150 have pled guilty in the Jan. 6 attack. About 140 police officers were injured and four people died that day, as a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol and temporarily halted the counting of Electoral College votes.
The House impeached Trump for inciting the insurrection, but the Senate acquitted him. Some lawmakers have argued Trump should be charged because of how he urged supporters at a rally near the White House to march to the Capitol and fight to save their country. But prosecutors haven’t yet charged that his comments incited the violence.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, said the evidence hasn’t emerged yet to charge Trump and the case would have to be air tight.
“To prosecute former President Trump, the Department of Justice needs smoking gun evidence that will leave absolutely no doubt that he is guilty of sedition,” Rahmani said. “Prosecutors would need Trump’s own words, either in writing, recorded, or multiple independent and credible witnesses, advocating a coup or the overthrow of President-elect Biden’s administration. I don’t think we have that. Or at least not yet.”
The Oath Keepers is an extremist group that recruits former members of the military and law enforcement. The indictment charged that beginning in December 2020, members coordinated and planned travel to Washington for Jan. 6 through encrypted and private communications.
In November, Rhodes was subpoenaed to testify and provide documents to the special House committee investigating the Capitol attacks. At the time, lawmakers referred to the Oath Keeper leader’s 2020 Election Day statements, urging followers to “stock up on ammo” and prepare for a “full-on war in the streets,” if Trump failed to secure a second term.
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The nine others charged Thursday with seditious conspiracy are all defendants who already faced conspiracy and other charges for allegedly organizing their portion of the attack. Members of the Oath Keepers allegedly planned their participation ahead of time, wore military gear and forced their way into the Capitol in a stack formation with one person’s hand on the shoulder of the person ahead.
The nine other defendants are Thomas Caldwell, 67, of Berryville, Virginia; Joseph Hackett, 51, of Sarasota, Florida; Kenneth Harrelson, 41, of Titusville, Florida; Joshua James, 34, of Arab, Alabama; Kelly Meggs, 52, of Dunnellon, Florida; Roberto Minuta, 37, of Prosper, Texas; David Moerschel, 44, of Punta Gorda, Florida; Brian Ulrich, 44, of Guyton, Georgia; and Jessica Watkins, 39, of Woodstock, Ohio.
Oath Keepers allegedly organized into teams that were prepared and willing to use force, according to the department. Training sessions were organized to teach and learn paramilitary combat tactics, according to the department. And participants wore paramilitary gear such as tactical vests with protective plates, helmets and eye protection. The goal was to hinder the Electoral College vote by force, according to the department.
Rhodes allegedly outlined a plan to stop the peaceful transfer of power during a national Oath Keepers online meeting Nov. 9, 2020, according to the indictment. Rhodes sent another meeting on the encrypted Signal app Nov. 11, 2020, that said if Biden assumed the presidency, “It will be a bloody and desperate fight. We are going to have a fight. That can’t be avoided,” according to the indictment. Rhodes also published a letter Dec. 14, 2020, on an Oath Keepers website advocating for the use of force to stop the lawful transfer of power, according to the indictment.