Three people associated with the right-wing Oath Keepers militia group, who sought recruits in the months leading up to the Jan. 6 siege of Congress, were indicted in connection to the attack, U.S. authorities said.
Jessica Marie Watkins, 38, and Donovan Ray Crowl, 50, both of Woodstock, Ohio, and Thomas E. Caldwell, 66, of Berryville, Virginia, were indicted Wednesday in federal court in the District of Columbia on charges of conspiring to obstruct Congress, obstructing an official proceeding, destruction of government property, and accessing a restricted building or grounds.
U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin, the top federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital, says the Oath Keepers “are a large but loosely organized collection of militia who believe that the federal government has been co-opted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights.” An FBI special agent noted that “what differentiates them from other anti-government groups is their explicit focus on recruiting current and former military, law enforcement, and first responder personnel.”
The Justice Department said Watkins and Crowl were arrested on Jan. 18, and Caldwell was arrested on Jan.19. All three people, who are all U.S. military veterans, face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison for obstructing an official proceeding charge alone.
On Nov. 9, days after media outlets projected President Biden to be the winner of the election, Watkins sent texts to a “number of individuals” who had shown interest in joining the Ohio State Regular Militia, which she and Crowl are a part of, and mentioned they were planning a weeklong “Basic Training class coming up in the beginning of January,” according to the indictment. It also alleges that Watkins told one recruit that she needed them to be “fighting fit by inauguration,” and told another that “It’s a military style basic, here in Ohio, with a Marine Drill sergeant running it. An hour north of Columbus, Ohio.”
The indictment explains that the “conspiracy” charge comes from the allegation that they “knowingly combine[d], conspire[d], confederate[d], and agree[d] with each other and others known and unknown, to commit an offense against the United States, namely, to corruptly obstruct, influence, and impede an official proceeding, that is, Congress’s certification of the Electoral College vote.”
Watkins, in another message in late November, said, “If Biden get the steal, none of us have a chance in my mind. We already have our neck in the noose. They just haven’t kicked the chair yet,” according to U.S. authorities. “Trump wants all able bodied Patriots to come [to D.C.],” Watkins told Crowl, who attended a “training camp” in North Carolina on Dec. 29. “I’m sure Tom would love to see us as well. If Trump activates the insurrection Act, I’d hate to miss it.”
Watkins talked about checking in on the “NC boys,” prosecutors alleged, to which Caldwell said, “At least one full bus 40+ people coming from N.C.” Court documents show Caldwell also said at the time that he expected someone to “have the goodies in case things go bad and we need to get heavy.”
A criminal complaint said a Facebook message from Caldwell on Jan. 1 referenced a “Stewie,” whom the FBI believes to be Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes.
The indictment also lays out communications with each other in the lead-up to the deadly riot and throughout that day. The group used Zello, an app that emulates push-to-talk walkie-talkies on a phone, to communicate with one another while they were inside the Capitol building, authorities said, and were communicating on a channel named “Stop the Steal J6,” with J6 likely being a reference to the date of the riot.
Caldwell’s attorney Thomas Plofchan said his client is “a highly decorated veteran,” and Caldwell “expects to have the charges dismissed or to be acquitted at trial.” He also said the indictment is “a deliberate attempt to find a scapegoat for activities on Jan. 6,” before claiming that his client is “not a member of the Oath Keepers and never entered the Capitol that day.”
The bureau affidavit noted Crowl is “among Watkins’ known conspirators.” In an interview last week, Crowl said he went to the nation’s capital to “do security” for unnamed “V.I.P.s” and said that “we protected the f—ing Capitol Hill police.”
The FBI said Tuesday that investigators have identified more than 400 suspects from the siege of the Capitol and 135 arrests. Sherwin told reporters that he believes sedition charges against rioters who partook in the Capitol siege “will bear fruit very soon.” The federal criminal statute of such a charge relates to efforts to conspire to overthrow the U.S. government, to oppose its authority by force, to use force to hinder the execution of any U.S. law, or to use force to seize U.S. government property.
The riot led to the deaths of five people, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer. Two other officers have committed suicide in the aftermath of the attack.
