Tag Archives: Oath Keepers

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 …

Law & Crime reports: An alleged group of “Oath Keepers” charged with storming the U.S. Capitol Complex on Jan. 6, 2021, want an upcoming trial moved away from Washington, D.C. due to “prejudgment bias” among a local jury venire, according to their attorneys. Defendants Thomas Caldwell, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson and Jessica Watkins, and Stewart Rhodes filed a joint motion …

The Associated Press reports: Despite nearly 900 arrests and hundreds of convictions in the riot, Stewart Rhodes and four Oath Keeper associates — Kelly Meggs, Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell — are the first to stand trial on the rare and difficult-to-prove charge of seditious conspiracy. Prosecutors will try to show that the insurrection for the Oath Keepers …

The Anchorage Daily News reports: An Anchorage judge said Thursday that based on the limited evidence presented, Wasilla Republican Rep. David Eastman is likely ineligible to hold public office, but his name will stay on the general election ballot until a trial scheduled for December can be held. Former Mat-Su Assembly member Randall Kowalke, who filed the lawsuit, has argued …

The Texas Tribune reports: More than 3,000 Texans — including four police chiefs, two county sheriffs, two constables and two county commissioners — have been members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group that played a prominent role in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, according to an analysis of leaked membership rolls. At least six law …

The Associated Press reports: The names of hundreds of U.S. law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group that’s accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to a report released Wednesday. The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism pored over …

Politico reports: The founder of the far-right Oath Keepers fired his attorneys on Tuesday, just a few weeks before he’s slated to go on trial for seditious conspiracy over his group’s alleged involvement in the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In a 20-page filing, Stewart Rhodes complained that his previous attorneys, Phil Linder and Lee Bright, had …

The Washington Post reports: An attorney for the Oath Keepers who was with the group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was arrested Thursday in Texas on charges related to the attack on Congress, federal prosecutors announced. Kellye SoRelle, 43, was arrested in Junction, Tex., and is scheduled to make an initial appearance Thursday afternoon before …

Politico reports: The first trial on seditious conspiracy charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol is on track to begin in Washington next month for nine members of the Oath Keepers’ militia, after a federal judge on Tuesday turned down a request by nearly all defendants to put off the courtroom showdown until next year. Defense …

The Insider reports: While searching alleged Oath Keeper Thomas Caldwell’s home following the attack on the US Capitol just three days prior, police found a “death list” that included the name of a Georgia election official and their family member. But in court documents, Caldwell’s lawyer, David Fischer, argued the list is a “doodle pad.” “From the search, law enforcement …

The Associated Press reports: The Jan. 6 committee is set to highlight the way violent far-right extremists answered Donald Trump’s “siren call” to come to Washington for a big rally, as some now face rare sedition charges over the deadly U.S. Capitol attack and effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol siege …

CNN reports: The Justice Department released new details Friday evening of the alleged extensive planning by the Oath Keepers to prepare for violence in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021, including lessons to conduct “hasty ambushes,” a “death list” of Georgia election officials and attempts to acquire homemade firearms. The details, many of which have not been alleged publicly before, …

Politico reports: Federal prosecutors indicated Friday they intend to present evidence that a member of the Oath Keepers likely carried grenades in an RV that he drove to the Washington, D.C., area ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. In court papers previewing evidence to be presented in the upcoming seditious conspiracy trial of Oath Keepers leaders, the …