Capitol Riot: Basic Training Discussions from Newly Indicted Defendants

The Justice Department indicted Thomas Caldwell of Virginia and Jessica Watkins and Donovan Crowl of Ohio on Wednesday, alleging that the three are affiliated with Oath Keepers, a right-wing extremist group, and that Watkins discussed a basic training camp in Ohio and Crowl attended training in North Carolina before January 6.

Paramilitary groups have become the primary focus of investigators as they work to understand why Trump’s rally participants were armed and wore bulletproof vests, and how groups of extremists may have coordinated before the siege. And mentions of training camps punctuated some of the first court records that accused rioters linked to paramilitaries of federal crimes.

This is at least the second case related to the riots on Capitol Hill, where defendants would have links to military training. In the other case, against Robert Gieswein of Colorado, federal police said he wore a patch on his tactical vest on Capitol Hill representing a group called Woodland Wild Dogs, a private paramilitary training organization he allegedly runs.

Geiswein was also indicted on Wednesday by the grand jury in DC on six counts, including the use of an irritating spray and a baseball bat against the US Capitol Police.

At a news conference this week, the United States attorney in Washington, DC – Michael Sherwin – described the Caldwell case as one that showed active planning among militia groups and said the police were working to build cases of sedition conspiracy.

The charge filed on Wednesday against the alleged Oath Keepers does not include a sedition count, although it does accuse Caldwell, Crowl and Watkins of talking to each other and others about ways that could prevent Congressional certification of the Electoral College vote confirming Joe Biden as the 46th president.

The three reportedly communicated almost two months before January 6 on how to prepare, including talking about training.

‘Basic training class’

In early November, almost a week after the presidential election, Watkins sent a text message to people interested in his paramilitary group in Ohio about a weeklong “basic training class” given by a sergeant near Columbus to become ” fit to fight “for possession, prosecutors revealed on Wednesday.

Prosecutors also pointed out that Crowl attended a training camp in North Carolina in December.

Watkins also responded to an invitation to a “leadership” conference call about a “DC operation” in the Signal encrypted messaging app.

Caldwell and Crowl also reportedly sent messages about meeting with a “North Carolina crew”, the prosecution says.

Prosecutors say that in addition to the Oath Keepers, Watkins and Crowl are also part of a group called Ohio State Regular Militia, which has some members who pay fees to the Oath Keepers.

The indictment passed by the grand jury in DC on Wednesday formalizes four charges that prosecutors had previously raised against the three, including conspiracy, obstruction of an official process, destruction of government property and illegal entry into restricted US Capitol grounds.

When they were first charged, the case was the first allegation of significant conspiracy related to the attack on the Capitol. The Justice Department alleges that the three extremists planned and coordinated before the January 6 attack, which began in November last year, while discussing accommodation and meetings in Washington.

The indictment filed on Wednesday added details about the use of the Zello walkie-talkie app by Oath Keepers to communicate and their intentions for January 6.

Watkins, for example, allegedly said on a channel called “Stop the Steal J6”: “We have a good group. We have about 30-40 of us. We are staying together and following the plan,” said the Justice Department.

In other text messages and Facebook until January 6, Caldwell wrote about the need to “get violent” and a “call to action” in Washington.

They talked about buses from people who come from across the country, including North Carolina, and three unidentified people with whom they were communicating, according to the prosecution.

Prosecutors say Watkins and Crowl left Ohio to stay with Caldwell in Virginia after the siege, before their arrests.

The three have not yet formally responded to the indictment in Washington’s federal court.