Prosecutors revealed messages they say show Oath Keeper's leader Stewart Rhodes' state of mind in the days leading up to the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Politico reports.
The right-wing militia leader, who reveled in conspiracy theories and false claims about the 2020 election, was reportedly upset that then-President Donald Trump had not invoked the Insurrection Act, which he felt would enable his group to take action and prevent the 2020 election's results from being certified.
“Either Trump gets off his ass and uses the insurrection Act to defeat the ChiCom puppet coup or we will have to rise up in insurrection (rebellion) against the ChiCom puppet Biden,” Rhodes wrote in a Dec. 20, 2020 message. “Take your pick.”
Rhodes and four other Oath Keepers members are facing seditious conspiracy charges related to their role in the Capitol riot. Rhodes never entered the building, but stayed outside as his fellow militia members entered.
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"Oath Keepers defense attorneys have contended that despite the tough talk in private messages, the group was primarily in Washington D.C. to act as security details for VIPs at a pro-Trump rally, and had no plan to enter the Capitol," Politico reports. "Their firearms were legally stowed at a hotel in Arlington, Va., and were intended to be deployed only if street violence escalated or Trump invoked the Insurrection Act."
In other messages, Rhodes said they needed to physically go to the Capitol to show Trump they're willing to fight, adding that pro-Trump rallies were getting "kinda old."
“They don’t give a shit how many show up and wave a sign, pray or yell. They won’t fear us until we come with rifles in hand,” he wrote on Dec. 29 to a group of five allies, including Kellye SoRelle, a girlfriend who Rhodes has also claimed was the group’s attorney. “Only reason to go is so Trump knows we support him in taking Reg gloves off and kickin ass.”
Read the full report over at Politico.
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