Oathkeeper trial: Rhodes attacked ‘the bedrock of democracy’ on January 1. 6. Prosecutor says

Members of the extremist group Oath Keepers, led by Stewart Rhodes, planned an armed rebellion “to shatter the bedrock of American democracy” — a peaceful transfer of presidential power — that eventually led them to attack the U.S., a prosecutor told a jury Capitol to play first Monday inciting conspiracy trial Spread in January. 6 Survey.

Rhodes and four co-defendants staged a gun “arsenal” in nearby Virginia that day, several of whom forced their way into the Capitol with thugs to prevent Congress from confirming President Biden’s 2020 election victory, thwarting the U.S. The will of voters and elected representatives, U.S. Assistant Attorney Jeffrey Nestler said in his opening statement in federal court.

“That’s their goal – to prevent the legitimate transfer of presidential power in any way necessary, including taking up arms against the U.S. government,” Nestler said. Down to Washington “to attack not just the Capitol, not just Congress, not just our government — but our country itself.”

During the Oathkeeper’s sedition trial in October. On March 3, a U.S. prosecutor told a jury that the extremists planned to “shatter the bedrock of American democracy.” (Video: Reuters)

Rhodes’ defense denounced the indictment as “government mischaracterization and government overreach.” Oath Keepers came to Washington as “peacekeeping” security guards who “were not involved in most of the violence that occurred on January 6,” attorney Philip Lind said, believing President Donald Trump could invoke the Insurrection Act to mobilize private individuals The militias, who were put to quell the unrest, remained in power.

“That’s why he did what he did,” Lind said, adding that Rhodes would testify in his own defense. “You’ll hear from Stuart Rhodes himself who he is, about the Oathkeepers, what their roles are, and their roles on January 6.”

During the transition from Trump to Biden, the clash of views on democracy, patriotism and violence in the seat of the US government played out in the most anticipated trial on Jan. 1. 6. 2021, the Capitol Siege. Held in federal court near the Capitol where the incident occurred 21 months ago, the trial of Rhodes – a former Army paratrooper and Yale Law graduate who has become the most high-profile figure in the far-right anti-government movement One – constitutes a major legal and political test of the Biden administration’s commitment to fighting domestic terrorism and the law and courts.

Prosecutors in court and lawmakers in a parallel House investigation have described the Oath Keepers as an anti-government group that played a huge role in organizing individuals to come to the Capitol to prepare for violence. The group’s leaders worked with Trump’s post-election “Stop the Stealing” advisers who spent weeks making unfounded allegations of election fraud, including former national security aide Michael Flynn and longtime political confidant Rogers Pass.

November 11, the day the network announced its bid for Biden. On July 7, Rhodes shared a text message with Stone and others asking, “What’s the plan?” The prosecution’s first witness, an FBI agent, was certified.Rhodes at the time Shared action plan for Serbia’s anti-government uprising, which included an attack on parliament.

Four days after January. On June 6, Nestler told jurors that Rhodes urged an intermediary to tell Trump, “It’s not too late to act.” But that man secretly recorded Rhodes. “My only regret is that they should have brought rifles” into the city, Rhodes said in an audio Nestler played to jurors.

Nine of at least 33 alleged Oathkeeper members or associates were arrested on charges related to January. Six thugs have pleaded guilty, including seven to conspiracy charges, and several of them are expected to testify against Rhodes for the government.

Rhodes and 10 others were charged in January with three related conspiracy charges to conspire to use force against federal authorities and laws related to Biden’s swearing-in; obstruct formal Congressional proceedings; and prevent lawmakers from performing their duties. The first two charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Nine remaining defendants face trial this week And in early November for these and other charges of vandalizing federal property, destroying evidence and obstructing police during riots.

Four others are on trial in Rhodes, three of whom served in the military. Kelly Meggs, 53, is a car dealer in Dunnellon, Florida. Kenneth Harrison, 42, of Titusville, Florida, and Ohio militia leader and bar owner Jessica Watkins, 39, of Woodstock, are both veterans. Thomas Caldwell, 68, of Berryville, Virginia, is a retired naval intelligence officer.

In a 75-minute opening statement, prosecutors recounted a 48-page, 17-count indictment and claimed dramatic new details.

What you need to know about the Oathkeeper trial

Nestler told jurors in January. On June 6, just as 14 oath-keeper accomplices allegedly walked up the steps in military formation and equipment, pushed open police and passed through the gates of the Capitol’s East Rotunda, Rhodes “looked like a general overseeing the battlefield. The same” stepped back and didn’t enter the building. Rhodes recorded the lawmakers inside on video: “They need to take their pants off. Sic semper tyrannis!”

“It is always the case with tyrants,” Nestler translated from Latin after playing the video for jurors.

“This is what John Wilkes Booth shouted when he assassinated President Lincoln,” Nestler said.

Nestler presented the jury of nine men and seven women with a panorama of the action, which began on Nov. 18. March 3, 2020, elections, through the Capitol Raid, until January 1, when the first co-defendants were arrested. January 17, 2021.

While Rhodes named his group an oath of members of the U.S. military to “defend the Constitution from all enemies,” Nestler argued that the idea “undermined the constitutional order.”

“He preached to his followers that they should disobey orders Have It’s unconstitutional to say,” Nestler said.

Prosecutors said Rhodes’ order began in November. 4 And he told an invitation-only Oathwatch leadership message group to ignore the election results: “We can’t get through this without a civil war. It’s too late. Prepare your mind, body, and spirit,” Nov. . On October 10, after contacting Stone and Oath Keepers leaders, he publicly issued a “step-by-step” call to action to the Oath Keepers, mimicking the Serbian plot, which included crowding the streets and seeking police and military support. rushed into parliament.

The released video shows Proud Boys leader Enrique Tario meeting Oath Keepers leader Stuart Rhodes the day before the attack on the Capitol. (Video: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia)

On Nov. 9, Rhodes noted that in describing their plans, they should use “codes or shorthands” to prevent a shift of power through violence if necessary, comparing it to Trump’s response to the Insurrection Act. The use of the “magic word” gave them “plausible denial” of any action,” Nestler claimed. Another “panicked follower” recorded Rhodes’ 15 November Speaking on a Sept. 9 conference call, it was mentioned that the law would provide “legal cover” for the group to bring firearms to Washington as part of a “Rapid Response Force” team for use if needed.

In an open letter in December 2020, Rhodes elaborated on his call for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, saying “millions” of American gun owners stand ready to answer his “call to arms.” Rhodes said in January. On June 6, if Congress denies his false claims about election theft, “tens of thousands of patriotic Americans … will already be in Washington, D.C., and many of us will have our mission-critical gear Stored near the outskirts of Washington, D.C., and we’ll answer the call immediately.”

As officials including Trump’s own Attorney General William P. Barr and White House lawyers have said, there is no evidence of anything that would cast doubt on a Biden victory, Rhodes on Christmas Day wrote that day, “Our/his only chance is that we fear the s— [Congress] And convince them it’s going to be torch and pitchfork time,” Nestler said.

Rhodes purchased tens of thousands of dollars worth of guns and related equipment in the days around January 1. On June 6, seven co-conspirators, including co-defendants Megs, Harrison and Caldwell, were found hiding gun boxes at a Comfort hotel near Ballston in Arlington, across the Potomac River. And packs, “heavy duty” QRF teams from Florida, Arizona and North Carolina have room there, Nestler said.

Megs and Caldwell allegedly planned to ship the guns while the bridge to Washington was closed, Nestler said. Meggs and Harrison and others in Florida engaged in firearms and “irregular warfare” training, including a man who Meggs allegedly told a cooperating witness he drove with a grenade in his recreational vehicle Headed to Washington, where the FBI later recovered the man.

On Jan. 6, Megs searched House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) inside the Capitol, while Watkins allegedly prevented police from guarding the Senate, Nestler said. Entrance.

“We’re in the main dome right now. We’re rocking it. They’re throwing grenades, they’re shooting people with paintballs. But here we are,” Watkins said on a push-to-talk wireless phone app, according to a recording played by Nestler. Shout out procedurally.

“Got it, Jesse,” an Illinois Oathkeeper leader who wasn’t in the Capitol responded, “that’s…all we train for!” Nestler said.

In his defense, Lind said the government and the media were wrong and that the prosecution did little to reveal new content not listed in the charging documents, promising a “surprise” when it was the defense’s turn to present evidence.

Lind said the defendants faced “massive incarceration” and were portrayed as “paramilitary, racist, violent.” His statement drew a warning from U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta, who said the administration did not charge the latter’s claims and jurors were not sentenced so they would not be able to judge the defendants’ guilt.

Lind advises government collaborators to lie for leniency. He singled out Oathkeeper member William Todd Wilson, who in his inflammatory conspiracy plea, said he heard Rhodes “repeatedly plead” with someone on the night of January 9. 6 Tell Trump to call for swearers.

“That call doesn’t exist,” Lind told jurors in his 22-minute opening statement. “You’re going to get a different picture of the case than the one the government sold you in the opening statement.”

The Rapid Response Force “is just reactive and defensive,” and could be used “if Trump calls them,” Lind said.

Caldwell attorney David W. Fischer Sr. slammed the FBI for calling him incompetent and overextended in its pursuit of his client, saying it initially described him as a “person of the attack”. mastermind,” falsely believing he entered the building and misidentifying him. Age and eye color, not knowing he used to work for the FBI.

“It was definitely an outrage,” Fischer said. “I beg you to clear his name.”

Watkins’ attorney, Jonathan W. Crisp, said his client, a former firefighter and “protest addict,” joined the Oath Keepers in 2019 to protect people as police officers after the police killing of Breonna Taylor. Medical workers take part in demonstrations, such as the one in Louisville. Crisp said Watkins was not involved in planning any attack on the Capitol and did not meet or speak with Rhodes before Jan. 1. 6, and took other actions, such as recruiting and training members, ahead of Trump’s Jan. 1 announcement. 6 rallies.

Who will stand trial for incitement to conspiracy?

“You will learn that her desire to ultimately serve and protect is why she is in Washington today,” Crisp said. “You’ll also learn that Jessica is a trans woman, and that affects her identity and her relationship with the Oathkeepers around her. A lot of what she did that day was because she was trying to fit in.”

Lawyers for Meggs and Harrelson have delayed issuing opening statements until the government closes its case, which is expected to take about four weeks.

Nestler urged jurors to weigh what the defendants said to each other about “rushing into the Capitol” rather than what they claimed to outsiders about helping the police or “anyone but themselves.”

It’s “an afterthought by those who claim to be pro-law and order, pro-military, pro-police, to fabricate the story that they were on the side of justice that day. They were not,” Nestler said.

He repeated: “In the narrative of these conspirators, they are patriots. They are not.”

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