Tag Archives: Oath Keepers

Reuters reports: A jury reached a verdict on Tuesday in the criminal trial of Stewart Rhodes, founder of the right-wing Oath Keepers militia group, and four associates, all facing seditious conspiracy charges arising from last year’s U.S. Capitol attack by then-President Donald Trump’s supporters, a lawyer for Rhodes said. The four co-defendants of Rhodes in the trial are Kelly Meggs, …

Law & Crime reports: Surprising a federal judge with her 11th hour decision to testify, transgender Oath Keeper Jessica Watkins told jurors about the bullying and abandonment she faced over her identity. When her secret got out, Watkins said, she was shunned by her parents, went “AWOL” from the Army, and ultimately found a homecoming both with her family and …

Law & Crimes reports: Over the course of the Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial, attorneys for one of the oldest members from the group to be prosecuted have tried to recast him as an elderly bystander to the Jan. 6-related upheaval. The wife of that defendant, Thomas Caldwell, colorfully expanded upon that theme on Monday, when she told a jury …

The Associated Press reports: Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes told jurors on Monday there was no plan for his band of extremists to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as he tries to clear his name in his seditious conspiracy trial. Taking the stand in his defense for a second day, Rhodes testified that he had no idea …

CBS News reports: Federal prosecutors played a recording of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes meeting with members of his far-right militia on Jan. 10, 2021, days after he and other Oath Keepers allegedly participated in an attack on the U.S. Capitol building. “My only regret is they should have brought rifles,” Rhodes says in the recording, which was obtained by …

Law & Crime reports: A government witness in the seditious conspiracy trial of Stewart Rhodes claims the Oath Keepers leader asked him to deliver a message telling then-President Donald Trump to seize power by force. “You must use the insurrection act and use the power of the Presidency to stop him,” Rhodes allegedly told Trump in a typewritten message entered …

The Daily Beast reports: One of the most hardcore conspiracy theorists and election deniers on the ballot this November thanked Elon Musk for “fixing” his Twitter ban just hours after the tech billionaire promised he was “looking into” it Monday. Mark Finchem, the GOP candidate for Arizona’s Secretary of State, wrote on his Facebook page on Monday afternoon that Twitter …

NBC News reports: “I felt it was like a Bastille-type moment in history,” Graydon Young told jurors in the seditious conspiracy trial of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four other members of the organization. “I thought that I participated in something that was potentially a historically significant event.” Young, who previously pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy and obstruction of …

Law & Crime reports: On the west side of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes appeared to gloat on tape about the prospect of lawmakers quaking in fear about the breach of Congress by the pro-Trump mob. “They need to shit their fucking pants,” Rhodes could be heard saying in footage entered into evidence on …

The Associated Press reports: A member of the far-right Oath Keepers who stormed the U.S. Capitol testified that he was ready to fight to keep former President Donald Trump in office and was preparing himself in the weeks before Jan. 6 to say goodbye to his family, he testified in a seditious conspiracy trial on Tuesday. Jason Dolan, a 46-year-old …

The New York Times reports: In the days before a pro-Trump mob — including members of his own organization — broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia, went on a cross-country weapon-buying spree. Setting out for Washington from Texas, his home state, Mr. Rhodes stopped at least six times, bank …

Politico reports: A member of the Oath Keepers who traveled with the group to Washington D.C. ahead of the Jan. 6 riot described a massive stockpile of firearms and other weaponry that allies had stashed in an Arlington, Va. hotel. “I had not seen that many weapons in one location since I was in the military,” recalled Terry Cummings, a …

Vice News reports: A “patriot group” in Arizona called Lions of Liberty—which is closely tied to the Oath Keepers—is organizing their supporters to go out and conduct round-the-clock surveillance of ballot dropboxes during the midterm elections. It’s the latest sign that groups with clear ties to extremists, galvanized by conspiracy theories, are seeking to take matters into their own hands …

CNN reports: Federal prosecutors played audio recording in court on Tuesday of an alleged November 2020 Oath Keepers planning meeting that discussed plans to bring weapons to Washington, DC, and prepare to “fight” on behalf of former President Donald Trump. The meeting lasted about two hours and was secretly recorded by an attendee, FBI agent Michael Palian told jurors during …

NPR reports: Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four other members of the far-right group tried to change history and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler told jurors hearing the first seditious conspiracy trial. Rhodes never entered the building on Jan. 6, 2021, but he was photographed on the Capitol grounds “surveying” his …

The Associated Press reports: The defense team in the Capitol riot trial of the Oath Keepers leader is relying on an unusual strategy with Donald Trump at the center. Lawyers for Stewart Rhodes, founder of the extremist group, are poised to argue that jurors cannot find him guilty of seditious conspiracy because all the actions he took before the siege …

CBS News reports: Twelve Washington, D.C. residents have been selected out of a pool of dozens to serve as jurors on the highest-profile trial to date in the Justice Department’s sprawling investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The jury was selected by prosecutors and defense attorneys for the five defendants on trial; members of the …

Courthouse News reports: A judge presiding over the biggest trial to date to stem from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection agreed Thursday to dismiss a potential juror who said he would be concerned for his family’s safety if chosen to serve. “I worry about how anonymous I actually would be,” the juror explained to U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler after the …

The Associated Press reports: Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of the founder of the Oath Keepers extremist group and four associates charged with seditious conspiracy, one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Stewart Rhodes and the others are the first Jan. 6 defendants charged with the the …

NBC News reports: A high-ranking member of the far-right Oath Keepers organization who has been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot exchanged messages in November 2020 with former Trump White House aide Andrew Giuliani about election issues. That same Oath Keeper member, Kellye SoRelle, also tried to text a White House number on Dec. 20, according …