The Justice Department leveled new accusations in opposition to suspected customers of the considerably-suitable Oath Keepers on Friday relating to their involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
A co-defendant of Oath Continue to keep leader, Stewart Rhodes, had a “loss of life list” with the identify of a Ga election official, and a further co-conspirator came to Washington with explosives, they claimed.
Nine Oath Keepers, like leader Stewart Rhodes, have been charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol riot. All 9 have pleaded not responsible.
The new accusations are laid out in a 28-webpage filing, seen by Insider, which includes proof prosecutors plan to introduce versus the Oath Keepers throughout their trial in September.
Prosecutors will goal to verify that the group extensively well prepared for violence and plotted to cease Joe Biden from rightfully assuming the presidency.
The new submitting states that during a research of charged co-defendant Thomas Caldwell’s Virginia house months following the riot, a doc was uncovered with the text “Dying Record” handwritten throughout the prime.
The checklist provided the title of a Ga election official and a purported family member of the formal, the two of whom experienced turn out to be targets of unfounded accusations of staying concerned in voter fraud in the 2020 election.
In a assertion by his legal professional, Caldwell, a retired Navy intelligence officer, denied the allegations to The Washington Article: “The DOJ’s declare that I meant to assassinate election staff is an absolute, 100% disgusting lie.”
Prosecutors have formerly accused the Oath Keepers of placing up a so-named “quick response force,” or QRF, outdoors of Washington, DC, which integrated firearms stashed at a Virginia lodge.
In the new filing, prosecutors even more mentioned that there was evidence that at least one particular alleged Oath Keeper, Jeremy Brown, transported explosives to the Washington DC region on the day of the Capitol attack.
The federal government previous September also seized two illegal small barrel firearms from Brown’s residence and military ordinance grenades from his RV, which was the exact auto he used to travel to Washington DC on the working day of the riot, the filing explained.
Brown has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor counts relating to the riot and is not a single of the nine Oath Keepers to have been billed in the seditious conspiracy indictment.
Aaron C. Davis/The Washington Write-up by means of Getty Illustrations or photos
Prosecutors also allege in the filing that co-conspirators, including Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, and Jessica Watkins, reviewed and geared up for violent conflict with govt actors concerning January 6 and Inauguration working day on January 20.
Prosecutors also say two bomb-building recipes in suspected Oath Keeper Jessica Watkins’ home after a look for months soon after the riot, which they say is evidence of her planning to use force towards the federal government.
Watkins’ indictment alleges that she recruited several folks for a “armed forces-fashion basic” schooling class the group structured for the beginning of 2021.
A law firm for Rhodes, Phillip Linder, advised CNN that Rhodes had no knowledge of any designs for violence and did not take part in the violence at the Capitol.
Rhodes reported on Friday that he would testify in front of the January 6 committee and waive his 5th Amendment legal rights under the issue that his testimony is broadcast live.
The Oath Keepers, a militia-styled vigilante team, recruits latest and previous customers of the military services and regulation enforcement and sees the existing US government as illegitimate.
The group’s additional mainstream members fled the team in droves right after January 6, Rachel Carroll Rivas, a senior exploration analyst for the Southern Poverty Legislation Heart, explained to Insider’s Laura Italiano.
The Oath Keepers experienced 88 chapters at the finish of 2020, Carroll Rivas mentioned. One particular calendar year after the insurrection, the amount of chapters has dropped by additional than 50 %, to 39.
