Rioters take to the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. An NPR evaluation discovered extra Capitol riot defendants might have ties to the Oath Keepers, a far-right group, than was beforehand recognized.
Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Instances through Getty Pictures
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Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Instances through Getty Pictures
Rioters take to the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. An NPR evaluation discovered extra Capitol riot defendants might have ties to the Oath Keepers, a far-right group, than was beforehand recognized.
Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Instances through Getty Pictures
Prosecutors have introduced a number of the most critical costs stemming from the Jan. 6 riot on the U.S. Capitol towards alleged members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right group that targets legislation enforcement and army veterans for recruitment. Greater than 20 suspected members of the Oath Keepers have been arrested, and a few are dealing with costs of conspiracy. Now, an examination of hacked data – purportedly taken from Oath Keeper net servers – reveals extra defendants might have ties to the group than has been beforehand recognized.
The Oath Keeper data have been obtained from the nonprofit group Distributed Denial of Secrets and techniques. The group describes itself as a “transparency collective” and has publicized a wide range of leaked materials. Included within the Oath Keepers leak have been chat logs, emails and an inventory of practically 40,000 names and make contact with data for members. Most of the individuals whose data seems within the Oath Keepers leak have confirmed to NPR and different information organizations that they did, in truth, enroll with the group.
Some defendants that seem within the leaked information have already been described as Oath Keepers by federal prosecutors. For instance, Mark Grods signed up for an annual membership with the group in October 2016, in accordance with the info. Grods has since pleaded guilty to costs of conspiracy and obstruction of an official continuing associated to the storming of the Capitol, and has agreed to cooperate with the federal government.
At the least 5 defendants charged within the Jan. 6 assault, nevertheless, have figuring out data that seems within the leaked data, however haven’t been tied to the Oath Keepers as a part of their Jan. 6 felony circumstances. The information group ProPublica first reported on three of these defendants. By evaluating the Oath Keepers membership information to NPR’s ongoing database of all Capitol riot felony circumstances, NPR was in a position to establish one other two.
NPR contacted all 5 defendants in addition to their attorneys by cellphone and e mail. Just one responded: Kevin Loftus of Chippewa Falls, Wisc.
Loftus entered the Capitol constructing on Jan. 6 and posted pictures of himself contained in the constructing on Fb with the message, “That’s proper people a few of us are in it to win it,” in accordance with courtroom paperwork. He pleaded responsible to Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Constructing, a misdemeanor, and is about to be sentenced on the finish of January 2022. He has not been accused of committing any violence or property injury. Not one of the courtroom paperwork in his case allege a connection to the Oath Keepers.
The Oath Keeper data, in the meantime, point out that Loftus signed up for an annual membership with the group in November 2016. Loftus confirmed these particulars. He instructed NPR by cellphone that he first heard in regards to the Oath Keepers from podcasts and net reveals like Infowars, the conspiratorial media group led by Alex Jones. Infowars has commonly featured the Oath Keepers on podcasts, movies, and articles going again a few decade.
Loftus stated he served within the U.S. Military within the Nineties, and he was interested in the group’s pro-Trump stance and their motto – taken from the army’s oath of enlistment – that they “defend the Structure towards all enemies, overseas and home.” So Loftus paid for an annual membership with the group, which value $40 at the time. (The membership price is now $50 per yr.)
Loftus stated he in the end solely participated in a single occasion with the Oath Keepers. In October 2019, the group called on volunteers to supply “safety escorts for rally attendees” at a Trump occasion in Minneapolis, Minn. Oath Keepers have ceaselessly been seen at comparable occasions brazenly carrying rifles, however Loftus stated he went to Minneapolis unarmed, and simply helped escort rally-goers again to their automobiles. He stated he additionally briefly met the eyepatch-wearing founder and chief of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes.
Loftus stated he determined to cease paying dues to the group only a few months later. He stated he was involved with how the Oath Keepers spent the cash acquired from members’ dues. “I do not know the place the cash goes,” stated Loftus. “There was no transparency.”
Round that point, Loftus stated, he additionally began turning away from a number of the media that launched him to the Oath Keepers within the first place. “Again in these days, I might take heed to Alex Jones,” Loftus stated. “I do not take heed to that nutbag anymore.”
By the point of the Capitol riot, Loftus stated he had misplaced observe of the group, and wasn’t conscious that members of the group have been in Washington, DC that day. When he heard the Oath Keepers have been beneath federal investigation for his or her alleged involvement within the assault, Loftus stated he thought to himself, “I am glad I finished paying dues.” He condemned the rioters who dedicated violence on Jan. 6, and stated he accepted duty for his personal actions. “I perceive I did one thing flawed,” Loftus stated, “and I will pay the piper.”
It is unclear to what extent any of the remaining 4 defendants might have been concerned within the Oath Keepers. The leaked data that seem to match these defendants state that all of them signed up for memberships with the group lengthy earlier than the Capitol riot, and way back to 2012. This is what courtroom papers and these data state:
Daybreak Frankowski of Naperville, Sick., allegedly breached the Capitol and might be seen on video contained in the constructing. She has pleaded not responsible to all costs. Courtroom data reference the final 4 digits of Frankowski’s cellphone quantity. The leaked Oath Keeper data embrace a membership entry for Daybreak Frankowski and a cellphone quantity with the identical final 4 digits. The data state that Frankowski signed up for an annual membership with the group in February 2012.
Andrew Alan Hernandez of Riverside, Calif. additionally allegedly breached the Capitol on Jan. 6. In courtroom papers, federal investigators stated that Hernandez appeared to advertise a wide range of conspiracy theories, together with “Q-Anon, well being and science associated conspiracies, monetary conspiracies, and varied conspiracies related to US political figures.” He has pleaded not responsible. The Oath Keeper data match Andrew Alan Hernandez’s full title, bodily deal with, and embrace an e mail deal with that precisely matches a web based account cited in courtroom paperwork. The data state Hernandez signed up for an annual membership with the Oath Keepers in February 2012.
John Nassif of Chuluota, Fla. allegedly posted on Fb about breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6, whereas sporting a crimson “Make America Nice Once more” hat. He has pleaded not responsible. The Oath Keepers data state {that a} John Nassif signed up for an annual membership, however don’t specify a date. The cellphone quantity included within the leaked data is related to a social media account that matches an account cited by prosecutors within the case towards Nassif. A number of the Oath Keeper information state what actions new Oath Keepers would possibly be capable to help with. Subsequent to Nassif’s entry, it states, “Writing articles. Organizing native chapter. Technique and planning.”
Sean David Watson of Alpine, Tex. allegedly despatched texts and pictures despatched shortly after the riot, one in every of which learn “I used to be one of many folks that helped storm the capitol constructing and smash out the home windows . We made historical past at the moment. Proudest day of my life!” He has pleaded not responsible. Photographs allegedly depicting Watson contained in the Capitol are included in courtroom data, and present Watson sporting a T-shirt with the brand of the anti-government Three Percenter motion. The Oath Keepers and Three Percenters share a lot of the identical ideology. In response to a photograph obtained by Marfa Public Radio, the aspect of Watson’s home options the spray painted phrase “DEMOCRATS STOLE THE ELECTION” on the aspect. A “Veterans for Trump” signal may be seen hanging exterior. NPR was not in a position to affirm Watson’s army historical past. The Oath Keepers have centered on present and former army servicemembers and legislation enforcement officers for recruitment. The group’s data point out a Sean David Watson with the identical deal with signed up with the group in December 2012.
There isn’t a publicly obtainable proof that any of those defendants joined the felony conspiracies that federal prosecutors have alleged towards Oath Keepers in courtroom associated to the Capitol riot. And a few individuals included within the Oath Keepers information leak have since instructed reporters that they only supported the group’s political stances or wished an Oath Keepers T-shirt and had no additional involvement.
Regardless of the case, the data recommend that the Oath Keepers’ extremist ideology might have been extra broadly adopted than was initially understood.
Rhodes’ message in speeches and interviews typically focuses on attacking “Marxists” who’ve supposedly taken over each the Republican and Democratic events and are “killing our nation from the within”; making baseless claims of widespread “voter fraud”; and calling for particular person People to arm themselves with “fashionable infantry weapons” to guard towards a variety of “home enemies.” Rhodes has been a vocal supporter of Trump because the former president sought the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.
After Trump misplaced the 2020 election, Rhodes joined the pro-Trump “Cease The Steal” motion that attempted to overturn Joe Biden’s victory. He additionally indicated that he was supporting that motion with an armed militia.
Forward of a Nov. 2020 pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C. – referred to as the “Million MAGA March” – Rhodes told Infowars that, “we’ll be inside DC, we’ll even be on the skin of D.C. armed, ready to go in, if the President calls us up.”
Once more, forward of Jan. 6, 2021, which Trump had promised could be the day of a “wild” protest, Rhodes posted on the Oath Keepers website that the group would “have effectively armed and outfitted QRF [Quick Reaction Force] groups on standby, exterior DC, within the occasion of a worst case situation, the place the President calls us up as a part of the militia to to help him inside DC.” That assertion has since been cited in indictments of alleged Oath Keepers for allegedly conspiring to assault the Capitol. Prosecutors have alleged that members of the group deliberate for weeks and months to assemble weapons and armor, arrange encrypted communication channels, and use military-style ways to breach the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Rhodes has denied any involvement within the Capitol riot. He was in Washington, D.C., that day, and allegedly met with Oath Keepers who breached the Capitol exterior the constructing, however has not been accused of getting into the Capitol himself.
Some commentators on the far-right have steered that Rhodes may very well be a federal informant himself, as a result of he has not been federally prosecuted. Rhodes has vehemently denied that he has any affiliation with the FBI, and stated in an interview in July that the accusation is “a defamation marketing campaign.”
He stated he additionally stands by any Oath Keepers who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“I do not assume they did something flawed. I do not assume they dedicated any crimes,” stated Rhodes. “Do I feel it was silly? Yeah. As a result of it left our enemies an opportunity to demonize and persecute them. However I don’t disavow them.”
Huo Jingnan contributed to this report.
