Federal conspiracy charges have been filed against three members of a right-wing paramilitary group that joined the invasion of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
One is Thomas Caldwell, 65, a Virginia man said to be a leader of the group, the “Oath Keepers.” He was arrested Monday on four charges, including conspiracy to commit an offense and obstruction of an official proceeding at the Capitol, according to court documents.
“During the breach, one of the members allegedly communicated: ‘We have a good group. We have about 30-40 of us. We are sticking together and sticking to the plan,’” reports the Wall Street Journal, which suggests they were not undisciplined rioters but an organized raiding party.
Caldwell is accused of helping organize eight to 10 people “wearing helmets, reinforced vests and clothing with paraphernalia identifying themselves” as Oath Keepers, who “moved in a tactical fashion and forced their way to the front of the crowd” on the day of the insurrection, the Journal says.
“Proud boys scuffled with cops and drove them inside to hide,” Caldwell wrote on Facebook from inside the Capitol during the riot, the Journal says, citing the court documents. “Breached the doors. One guy made it all the way to the house floor, another to Pelosi’s office. A good time.”
Another member of Caldwell’s group was allegedly Jessica Watkins, who identifies herself as the commanding officer of the “Ohio State Regular Militia,” which the court documents call a “dues-paying subset of the Oath Keepers.”
When FBI agents searched Watkins’ home in Woodstock OH, they found a document titled “Making Plastic Explosives From Bleach.”
The FBI’s investigation of Watkins led agents to Caldwell.
The third person charged with conspiracy is Donovan Crowl, an ex-Marine and a member of Watkins’ group.
“Federal authorities have arrested more than 100 people in the two weeks after the deadly pro-President Trump riots that resulted in the deaths of five people, including a Capitol Police officer,” says The Hill.
Other recent arrests have included people with alleged links to groups like the Proud Boys and the Three Percenters as well as the Oath Keepers. Such groups, the court documents suggest, “were among the more prepared, organized and determined groups in the larger mass of rioters,” reports the Washington Post.
The FBI describes the Oath Keepers as a “large but loosely organized collection of militia” whose members think the federal government has been overtaken by a ‘shadow conspiracy,’” The Hill says, adding that the group has an “explicit focus recruiting current and former military, law enforcement and first responder personnel.”
