The Justice Department presented court documents on Thursday disclosing new details about the extremist group’s plot Oath Keepers and the role played by one of its leaders, Jessica Watkins, in the attack on the Capitol, who said she was “awaiting instructions” from former President Donald Trump on what to do with the results of the 2020 election process.
‘I’m afraid this is a complicated trap. Unless POTUS activates us itself, it is not legit. POTUS also has the right to activate units. If Trump asks me to go, I will. If not, I can’t trust him, ”Watkins, 38, a bar owner, wrote in a text message to another member of the group on Nov. 9, with which he agreed. The New York Times.
In January, shortly after the three defendants were arrested, prosecutors said they planned their involvement in the riots earlier than spontaneously.
In court documents, prosecutors showed text messages like the one from Nov. 16 when Crowl told Caldwell that “war is on the horizon,” and a week later Watkins expressed concern about the future of the United States. “I think we have to get violent to stop this,” he wrote.
They also described Caldwell as “ a key figure who instigated the violence that overwhelmed the Capitol, ” recalling that in his text messages, he did not limit himself to expressing his views on the killing and maiming of people who opposed his way of acting. thinking. to which he refers as “socialists”, “worms” and “cockroaches”.
During a search of Caldwell’s home last January, officers found a gun “purposely built to look like a cell phone,” prosecutors said.
They investigate whether there was coordination with other groups
In addition, prosecutors believe that the Oath Keepers group collaborated with other extremist groups prior to the attack. According to court documents, Caldwell sent a message assuring him that he expected “a large participation of the Proud guysThe far-right nationalist organization, of which more than a dozen members have been charged with involvement in the riots.
During the presentation, prosecutors also described Watkins as a military veteran wearing camouflage uniform and combat gear, as she played a key role in the riots, while also communicating via radio with other members in the Capitol.
“Unlike the vast majority, Watkins had trained and planned a time like this,” the prosecutors wrote.
They added that Watkins had “a firm commitment to obstructing Joe Biden’s certification of the presidency by force,” so that “crimes of this magnitude, committed with such diligence, deny any condition of release that could reasonably be expected to protect the community. guarantees. or that Watkins can be trusted to deliver. “
During the past month, when searching Watkins’ house, agents found several firearms and a recipe for creating “a destructive device” because he believed that if Biden became president, his way of life as he knew would simply end. . In a text message, he voiced this concern, noting that if that were to happen, “it is our duty as Americans to fight, kill, and die for our rights.”
Prosecutors in the report allege that Watkins is being held in prison pending trial. “We plan to go to Washington DC on Dec. 6” because “Trump wants all sane patriots to come,” Watkins wrote to Donovan Crowl of the same militia Dec. 29.
