How Oath Keeper Stewart Rhodes’ co-conspirators prove his guilt

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes isn't the only member of the militia groups he is the face of the Jan. 6 attackers who are facing sedition charges.

The New York Times reported that Rhodes isn't alone in the charges, but those involved will also be instrumental in ensuring a guilty verdict. Those joining him are Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, and Thomas Caldwell

Kelly Meggs, the car dealer from Dunnellon, Florida, north of Tampa, took over after Michael Adams left. He has already testified at the trial.

"After Mr. Trump posted a tweet on Dec. 19, 2020, inviting supporters to a 'wild' protest in Washington on Jan. 6, Mr. Meggs reacted enthusiastically. 'He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!!' he wrote. 'Sir Yes Sir!! We are headed to DC.'"

He was also part of getting the Oath Keepers involved with Roger Stone on the days leading into the Capitol attack.

On the day of the attack, Meggs was part of the military-style team who went into the east side of the Capitol and moved through to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, searching for her. According to Rhodes, Meggs went "off mission" by going inside the building. It's expected he'll claim that it was never the instruction for any of the Oath Keepers to enter the building.

Another ally is Kenneth Harrelson, who was named the "leader" of the "ground team" ahead of the attack. He is among those who don't have social media and deleted all of his cell phone messages after Jan. 6.

He brought the rifles to the Arlington, Virginia Comfort Inn where the men were staying so that if those on the ground called in for help they could be a "quick reaction force."

He entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 with military "stacks," he said. He then sought to find Pelosi with Meggs.

"Mr. Harrelson’s lawyers chose not to give an opening statement to the jury, but they have said he had no idea the Oath Keepers intended to storm the Capitol and had only gone to Washington to take part in the group’s security work," wrote the Times. The quick reaction force also never brought their weapons from Virginia into Washington.

Army veteran Jessica Watkins ran her own militia in Ohio until she joined with the Oath Keepers around the time of the election, the report explained. She believed Joe Biden's presidency was "an existential threat."

"Biden may still be our President,” she wrote to someone else in Nov. 2020. “If he is, our way of life as we know it is over.”

She then said, “Then it is our duty as Americans to fight, kill and die for our rights.”

Watkins deployed a digital walkie-talkie app called Zello where she was coordinating with other Oath Keepers, apparently unaware that her communications were recorded.

Thomas Caldwell wasn't a full-fledged member of the Oath Keepers, but he opened his Berryville, Virginia farm to those attending the Million MAGA March on Nov. 14, 2020, which turned out to be a small gathering. Caldwell penned a kind of "ops plan for the Dec. 12 event, urging his friends to bring "striking weapons" and even firearms. On Jan. 6, he was behind the armed "quick reaction force." He also suggested possibly using a boat to sit on the Potomac River with weapons so he could race to give them to the militia members if necessary.

While they'll all face their own charges, the information that they have a key role to play in the prosecution of Rhodes too.

Read the full write-up at the New York Times.