An alleged leader of militia group the Oath Keepers who was arrested for his suspected role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has held a top-secret security clearance for 50 years and worked for the FBI, his defense team said on Monday.
Thomas Caldwell, 65, who was arrested on Jan. 19, was a section chief for the FBI from 2009 to 2010, and the Navy veteran held top-secret security authorization since 1979, said his lawyer, Thomas Plofchan, according to court filings. Caldwell, who denied being part of the Oath Keepers, “has been vetted and found numerous times as a person worthy of the trust and confidence of the United States government,” Plofchan added.
Caldwell was arrested after investigators determined he “knowingly and willfully entered into a conspiracy” during the unrest that saw thousands of pro-Trump supporters clash with law enforcement and breach the Capitol in a violent event that led to five deaths, including one police officer.
Authorities identified Caldwell as a possible leader of the Oath Keepers group and pinned him alongside “8 to 10 individuals in paramilitary equipment aggressively approaching an entrance to the Capitol building.”
Caldwell denied breaching the Rotunda because he’s a “100% disabled veteran” with service-related physical limitations, including knee, shoulder, and back issues that would have prevented him from sparring with law enforcement, Plofchan said.
“Records obtained from Facebook indicate that Caldwell was involved in planning and coordinating the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol,” the FBI noted. Caldwell is a member of the Ohio State Regular Militia, a member-group of the Oath Keepers, investigators said.
Two other individuals allegedly associated with the same paramilitary organization, Jessica Watkins and Donovan Crowl, were arrested the day prior to Caldwell and charged with unlawful entry into the Capitol, violent entry or disorderly conduct, and attempted obstruction of Congress.
Caldwell was said to have communicated with Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes on hotel accommodations prior to the breach. Caldwell was quoted in court documents as saying, “This is a good location and would allow us to hunt at night if we wanted to.”
The Jan. 6 riot forced much of the Washington, D.C., area into lockdown, and 26,000 National Guard troops swarmed the Capitol ahead of President Biden’s inauguration, an event preceded by numerous threats to interrupt the process. In the aftermath of the breach, investigators identified upward of 400 riot suspects, and at least 150 have been arrested.
More than 200,000 tips were submitted to FBI offices across the country, some of which served to implicate suspects alleged to have been involved in the violence.
