Messages, Recordings Show Oath Keepers Planned Armed Resistance To Biden
© AP Photo / John Minchillo
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A September data leak revealed that the Oath Keepers had over 3,300 members, spanning every state. Its membership included elected officials and members of law enforcement and the military.
Signal group messages and recordings revealed by prosecutors seem to indicate that the pro-Trump quasi-militia group was planning for an armed confrontation in an attempt to keep then President-elect Biden from taking power.
The five defendants, including Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, have pled not guilty to charges of seditious conspiracy, but the messages and recordings appear to show a group that was prepared to use violence to keep former President Donald Trump in the White House.
“Trump has one last chance right now to stand. But he will need us and our rifles too,” Stewart wrote in one of the two Signal group chats highlighted by prosecutors. “But will he finally act? So will you step up and push Trump to FINALLY take decisive action? That’s what we must do now. And then if he still refuses to do his duty, we will still have to do ours. And we will.”
The messages come from Signal group chats titled “Old-Leadership” and “Friends of Stone,” an apparent reference to Trump confidant Roger Stone. Prosecutors focused on messages that were sent in the days after Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election and before Trump and his allies attempted to overturn the election result.
Prosecutors also highlighted messages from one of Rhodes’ codefendants, Kelly Meggs, who laid out what kind of weapons the Oath Keepers could bring to Washington D.C.
“It will need to be all hand to hand. You can’t even have 9mm ammo in your pocket,” Meggs said in the “Old-Leadership” chat. “Less than lethal mace, pepper spray and stun guns are allowed so that’s probably the only legal option.” She later added, “and it doesn’t hurt to have a lead pipe with a flag on it.”
The other co-defendants are Jessica Watkins, Thomas Caldwell, and Kenneth Harrelson.
Defense attorneys contend that the actions by the Oath Keepers were legal, including stockpiling weapons in an Arlington, Virginia hotel. The Oath Keepers, defense attorneys say, were pressuring Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow the president to deploy military forces to quell civil unrest. However, prosecutors say that the Insurrection Act is in reference to the National Guard and not unofficial militia groups like the Oath Keepers.
At an Oath Keepers meeting that reportedly included 100 members, Stewart was recorded stating that a “fight” would be necessary to achieve their goals.
“We’re not getting out of this without a fight. There’s going to be a fight,” Rhodes said in a recording played in front of jurors. “But let’s just do it smart and let’s do it while President Trump is still commander in chief.”
The recording also appears to show that Trump invoking the insurrection act was always part of the plan, and if violence had broken out that would only have helped the president’s case for invoking the Insurrection Act.
“If things go kinetic, good. If they [Antifa] blow bombs up and shoot us, great. Because that brings the President reason and rationale,” Stewart said, referencing the Insurrection Act. “So our mission [is] going to be to go into DC, but I do want some Oath Keepers to stay on the outside and to stay fully armed and prepared to go in if they have to. So, if the s**t kicks off, then you rock and roll.”
The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks. If convicted, all five members face a maximum of 20 years in prison. Members of another far-right pro-Trump group, the Proud Boys, are also set to face seditious conspiracy charges in December.
