The "Heat is On": Oath Keeper Leader and Others Nailed for Seditious Conspiracy

What's wrong with Democracy? Ask these morons

(They profess they can preserve it)

Major Update on the Following Post (this update from AOL.news of January 16, 2022) with this subject line:

“For Oath Keepers and founder, January 6 was weeks in the making”

Original Post from Here:

From the official DOJ indictment – details below with this headline at this DOJ link (edited to fit the blog):

“Leader of Oath Keepers and 10 Other Individuals Indicted in Federal Court for Seditious Conspiracy and Other Offenses Related to U.S. Capitol Breach”

In serious legal jeopardy: 1 LEADER & 10 OTHERS; PLUS 7 OTHERS WITH RELATED OTHER CHARGES = 18 TOTAL PERSONS.

Those indicted and their home states: AL 2; AZ 1; FL 6; GA 1; NC 1; OH 4; TX 2; and VA 1 = again, a total of 18 persons.

One other person with a related charge in that total of 18 persons.

According to court documents, Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, 56, of Granbury, Texas (the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers), and Edward Vallejo, 63, of Phoenix, Arizona, are being charged for the first time in connection with events leading up to and including January 6. In addition to Rhodes and Vallejo, those named in the indictment include nine previously charged defendants:

1. Thomas Caldwell, 67, of Berryville, VA

2. Joseph Hackett, 51, of Sarasota, FL

3. Kenneth Harrelson, 41, of Titusville, FL

4. Joshua James, 34, of Arab, AL  

5. Kelly Meggs, 52, of Dunnellon, FL

6. Roberto Minuta, 37, of Prosper, TX

7. David Moerschel, 44, of Punta Gorda, FL

8. Brian Ulrich, 44, of Guyton, GA

9. Jessica Watkins, 39, of Woodstock, OH

In addition to the earlier charges filed against them, they now face additional counts for seditious conspiracy and other offenses. The superseding indictment has now effectively been split into three parts:

1. The 11-defendant seditious conspiracy case,

2. A seven-defendant original case, and

3. A third case against one of the previously charged defendants.

In one of the related cases, the original superseding indictment, charges remain pending against:

1. James Beeks, 49, of Orlando, FL

2. Donovan Crowl, 51, of Cable, OH

3. William Isaacs, 22, of Kissimmee, FL

4. Connie Meggs, 60, of Dunnellon, FL

5. Sandra Parker, 63, of Morrow, OH

6. Bernie Parker, 71, of Morrow, OH

7. Laura Steele, 53, of Thomasville, NC

The other charges are against Jonathan Walden, 57, of Birmingham, AL.

Eleven of the 18 defendants are charged with seditious conspiracy. Some of the defendants are also facing other related charges. 

The seditious conspiracy indictment alleges that, following the November 3, 2020, presidential election, Rhodes conspired with his co-defendants and others to oppose by force the execution of the laws governing the transfer of presidential power by January 20, 2021.

Beginning in late December 2020, via encrypted and private communications applications, Rhodes and various co-conspirators coordinated and planned to travel to Washington, D.C. in early January 2021 – as January 6, 2021 was the date of the certification of the Electoral College vote.

The indictment alleges, Rhodes and several co-conspirators made plans to bring weapons to the area to support the operation. The co-conspirators then traveled across the country to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area in early January 2021.

According to the seditious conspiracy indictment, the defendants conspired through a variety of manners and means, including:

1. To organize into teams that were prepared and willing to use force;

2. To transport firearms and ammunition into Washington, D.C.;

3. To recruit members and affiliates to participate in the conspiracy;

4. To organize the trainings to teach and learn paramilitary combat tactics; bringing and contributing paramilitary gear, weapons and supplies – including knives, batons, camouflaged combat uniforms, tactical vests with plates, helmets, eye protection and radio equipment – to the Capitol grounds; ‘

5. To breach and attempt to take control of the Capitol grounds and building on Jan. 6, 2021, all in an effort to:

6. To prevent, hinder, and delay the certification of the 2020 Electoral College vote;

7. To use force against law enforcement officers while inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021;

8. To continue to plot after January 6, 2021 and oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power, and using websites, social media, text messaging, and encrypted messaging applications to communicate with co-conspirators and others.

Events unfolded this way: On January 6, 2021, a large crowd began to gather outside the Capitol perimeter as the Joint Session of Congress got under way at 1 p.m. Crowd members eventually forced their way through, up and over U.S. Capitol Police barricades and advanced to the building’s exterior façade. 

Shortly after 2 p.m., crowd members forced entry into the Capitol by breaking windows, ramming open doors, and assaulting Capitol police and other law enforcement officers.

At about this same time, according to the indictment, Leader Elmer Rhodes entered the restricted area of the Capitol grounds and directed his followers to meet him at the Capitol.

At approximately 2:30 p.m., as detailed in the indictment, Hackett, Harrelson, Meggs, Moerschel, Watkins, and other Oath Keepers and affiliates – many wearing paramilitary clothing and patches with the Oath Keepers name, logo, and insignia – marched in a “stack” formation up the east steps of the Capitol, joined a mob, and made their way into the Capitol.

Later, another group of Oath Keepers and associates, including James, Minuta, and Ulrich, formed a second “stack” and breached the Capitol grounds, marching from the west side to the east side of the Capitol building and up the east stairs and into the building.

While certain Oath Keepers members and affiliates breached the Capitol grounds and building, others remained stationed just outside of the city in quick reaction force (QRF) teams.

According to the indictment, the QRF teams were prepared to rapidly transport firearms and other weapons into Washington, D.C., in support of operations aimed at using force to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power. The indictment alleges that the teams were coordinated, in part, by Caldwell and Vallejo.

The charge of seditious conspiracy carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. 

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the DOJ's National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Northern District of Texas and the District of Arizona.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office with valuable assistance provided by the FBI’s Dallas and Phoenix Field Offices. These charges are the result of significant cooperation between agents and staff across numerous FBI Field Offices, including those in these seven states: FL, NC, OH, TX, AZ, AL, and GA, and among other locations. In the one year since January. 6, more than 725 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 225 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. 

The investigation remains ongoing. Note: Anyone with tips can still call 1-800-225-5324 – the FBI tip line or on-line at tips.fbi.gov.

My 2 Cents: Yes, there are several historical cases on this same charge – albeit not used a lot – but have before – to wit:

Some notable treason and sedition cases from years past:

HUTAREE MILITIA: The last time U.S. prosecutors brought such a case was in 2010 in an alleged Michigan plot by members of the Hutaree militia to incite an uprising against the government. But a judge ordered acquittals on the sedition conspiracy charges at a 2012 trial, saying prosecutors relied too much on hateful diatribes protected by the First Amendment and didn’t, as required, prove the accused ever had detailed plans for a rebellion. Three members of the militia pleaded guilty to weapons charges.

PUERTO RICAN NATIONALISTS: Among the last successful convictions for seditious conspiracy charges were in another, now largely forgotten storming of the Capitol building in 1954. Four pro-independence Puerto Rican activists rushed the building and opened fire on the House floor, wounding several representatives. They and more than a dozen others who assisted in the attack were convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Oscar Lopez Rivera, leader of a Puerto Rican independence group that orchestrated a bombing campaign that left dozens of people dead or maimed in the 1970s and 1980s, spent 35 years in prison for seditious conspiracy before President Barack Obama commuted his sentence in 2017.

SHEIKH OMAR ABDEL-RAHMAN: Seditious conspiracy law was last successfully used in the 1990s in the prosecution of Islamic militants who plotted to bomb New York City landmarks.

An Egyptian cleric, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, and nine followers were convicted in 1995 of seditious conspiracy and other charges in a plot to blow up the United Nations, the FBI’s building, and two tunnels and a bridge linking New York and New Jersey. Abdel-Rahman, known as the “Blind Sheikh,” argued on appeal that he was never involved in planning actual attacks against the U.S. and his hostile rhetoric was protected free speech. He died in federal prison in 2017.

TOKYO ROSE: Among the last convictions for treason was American-born Iva Toguri D’Aquino, known as Tokyo Rose during World War II for her anti-American broadcasts. She was convicted in 1949 of “giving aid and comfort to Japan.” She served more than six years of a 10-year sentence before her release. 

President Gerald Ford pardoned her after reports U.S. authorities pressured some witnesses to lie. Some former prisoners of war in Japan also came forward to confirm that D’Aquino had smuggled food and medicine to them during their capture. Several other Americans of Japanese and German descent were convicted of treason for giving aid and comfort to Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany. Some also later received pardons or had their sentences commuted.

ADAM GADAHN: The only American charged with treason against the U.S. since the World II era was Adam Gadahn, also known as “Azzam the American.” His 2006 federal indictment said he gave al-Qaeda “aid and comfort ... with intent to betray the United States.”

Before he could be put on trial, Gadahn was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan.

NOTE ON THE OATH KEEPERS’ INDICTMENT: The indictment is merely an allegation. All named defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Related articles here from The Guardian, and here, and also from here.

That is how our judicial system is set up and supposed to work for all of us, and how DOJ investigations for - bottom to top and very extensive and thorough. Stay tuned for many more - then the very top: the planners, funders, and such - like Trump and those very close to him.

Thanks for stopping by.