Headline from the Guardian – a lot critical info for the January 6
committee to tell the public the real story:
“Guns, ammo … even a
boat: How Oath Keepers plotted an armed coup”
Unsealed court
documents provide the most detailed account to date of the alleged level of
planning by far-right militia and a member’s confession.
The seditious conspiracy charges against the leader
of the Oath Keepers militia, Stewart Rhodes and 10 others, related to
the January 6 Capitol attack have revealed an armed plot against American
democracy that involved tactical planning and a formidable arsenal of weapons.
Court documents unsealed on Thursday provide the most detailed account to date of the level of planning by the far-right militia in the assault on the Capitol that was aimed at scuppering (Brit. word) the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election win over Donald Trump.
The documents
further describe the creation of rapid-response teams (QRF) of armed militia
members, the deployment of tactical gear, and the stockpiling of weapons in a
deliberate attempt to overturn the election.
On January 6 thousands of pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol
building injuring police officers and sending lawmakers fleeing. Five people
died around the events, including a Capitol police officer and a Trump
supporter shot by law enforcement. The attempt to stop Biden from becoming
president failed.
The group stationed armed members on the outskirts of Washington
to serve as so-called “Quick Reaction Force (QRF)” teams.
Rhodes has pleaded not guilty to the seditious conspiracy
charges.
The Oath Keepers even discussed a naval operation to ferry
in guns to the militia from across the Potomac River from VA into DC.
The court documents quoted one Oath Keeper, Thomas Caldwell,
asking fellow members if anyone had a boat that could handle crossing the river
telling them: “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.”
As far as Rhodes, he went on a buying spree in the days
leading up to the January 6 attack, spending more than $22,000 on guns and
equipment for the attack records show this:
· In December, he bought two pairs of night-vision
goggles and a weapons sight for about $7,000, and he shipped them to Virginia.
· In January, he spent another $5,000 on a
shotgun, scope, magazine, sights, optics, a bipod, a mount, a case of ammunition,
and gun cleaning supplies.
· Two days later he spent $6,000.
· Then the very next day he spent $4,500.
In group chats the Oath Keepers discussed how their quick
reaction force (QRF) teams would set up at the Comfort Inn in Ballston
Arlington, VA to “use as its base of operations for January 6, 2021.”
They reserved three rooms: One occupied by the so-called NC “QRF”
team while QRF’s from AZ and FL stayed in the two other rooms. They used the
hotel rooms to store firearms and ammunition.
Devin Burghart, executive director of Institute for Research
& Education on Human Rights, a group that monitors far-right extremist
groups, said: “It’s easy to dismiss a lot of what is in the indictment as
fantasy, as projection of what the Oath Keepers would like to see, but the
events of January 6 remind us that these things can become reality very quickly.
The dangers are there irrespective of their ability to bring all of their fantasies
to fruition.”
The Rhodes planning for
some kind of operation appeared to begin right after the 2020 election just as
Trump baselessly disputed the results of the election.
Two days after the
election Rhodes invited some members of the Oath Keepers to a group chat on
Signal, an encrypted messaging app that was titled “Leadership intel sharing
secured.”
He texted the group
saying: “We aren’t getting through this without a civil war. Too late for that.
Prepare your mind, body and spirit.”
On November 7, 2020, when Trump was finally projected to have
lost the election, Rhodes began plotting, texting the group chat saying: “We
must now do what the people of Serbia did when Milosevic stole their election.
Refuse to accept it and march en masse on the nation’s Capitol.”
Rhodes then shared a video
on “Bitchute,” an alt-tech video platform, of a step-by-step procedure of how
to overthrow a government based on the Serbian example.
Two days later Rhodes held an online conference with Oath
Keepers members outlining a plan to overturn the election. Two days later after
that a member of the group, Caldwell, reached out to Rhodes to share the
results of a “recce” – a military colloquialism for reconnaissance operation –
to Washington and begin planning for an upcoming “Op” to the Capitol.
From there members began working together. In late November,
the Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers held a training on “unconventional
warfare.”
Rhodes wrote in a group chat with members in December: “It
will be a bloody and desperate fight. We are going to have a fight. That can’t
be avoided.”
On December 21, 2020, Oath Keepers mentioned January 6 for
the first time. James Wakins, one of the 11 Oath Keepers charged in the case,
texted the signal chat about a “National call to action for DC Jan 6th
adding: “Oath Keepers from three states were mobilizing. Everyone in this
channel should understand the magnitude of what I just said.”
Rhodes told a regional Oath Keeper leader that if Biden
assumed the presidency: “We will have to do a bloody, massively bloody
revolution against them. That’s what is going to have to happen.”
At 6:27am on the morning of January 6 Rhodes texted the
group chat: “We will have several well equipped QRF’s outside D.C.”
At about 8:30 am Rhodes and other Oath Keepers left from
their hotel and drove to the Capitol in Washington DC.
The teams that stayed behind in a hotel in Virginia
discussed the possibility of “armed conflict and guerrilla war.”
At the Capitol, Oath Keepers marched in formation wearing tactical gear (photo above) including protective vests, helmets, and eye goggles as they carried radios, chemical spray, and hard-knuckle gloves.
In the group chat one member shared the rumor
that it was leftwing groups that had breached the Capitol: Rhodes replied:
“Nope I’m right here, these are Patriots.”
Rhodes never entered the Capitol, but other members of the
Oath Keepers did, but Jessica Watkins texted in one of the Oath Keepers group
chats: “We are in the main dome right now. We are rocking it. They are throwing
grenades, they are freaking shooting people with paint balls. But we are in
here.”
Another member replied with enthusiastic expletives that
this what they “trained for.”
The indictment reads that Watkins and other Oath Keepers in
one formation joined a mob pushing against a line of law enforcement officers
in a hallway containing the Rotunda to the Senate chamber, Watkins commanded
those around her to: “Push, push, push … get in there, get in there.”
My 2 Cents: This is a hard evidence story of the detailed plan that
the Oath Keepers started and then put in motion which began only a few days
after the 2020 election when Trump initiated his “Big Lie.” Everything went
downhill from that point until now according to the excellent reporting and
story above.
Oath Keepers ring leader Rhodes was #1 in charge and his group later was joined by the Proud Boys (documented meeting between the two groups seen here).
But, the chief planner and
executioner who gave the orders and approval was Donald J. Trump – there is no
doubt about that.
More to come in the next few
days and weeks from the January 6 committee and then DOJ will hopefully issue orders the
FBI, who will in turn approach Trump saying: “Sir, please stand up and turn around
and put your hands behind your back – we taking you into custody – please do
not resist.”
Thanks for stopping by.
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