Jessica Marie Watkins (2nd from left) and Donovan Ray Crowl (center), both from Ohio, march down the steps of the US Capitol’s eastern front with the Oath Keepers militia group among supporters of US President Donald Trump in Washington, 6 January 2021 Both have already been indicted by federal authorities for their roles in the siege of the United States Capitol.
Jim Bourg | Reuters
The self-described Florida chapter leader of the extreme right-wing extremist group Oath Keepers asked followers to travel to Washington with him on January 6 because “Trump said it will be wild !!!!!!” that day, court documents released on Friday revealed.
“He wants us to make him WILD, that’s what he’s saying,” wrote Kelly Meggs, head of Oath Keepers, in a Facebook message.
That message is detailed in a new replacement charge accusing him and five other Oath Keepers associated with crimes related to the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill by thousands of Trump supporters.
“He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make him wild !!! Sir Yes, Sir !!!”, wrote Meggs, according to the indictment brought before the United States District Court in Washington, which accuses the defendants of invading the Capitol complex.
The message referred to a Trump tweet in late December, when he was engaged in a frantic propaganda and legal effort to overturn Joe Biden’s election as president.
January 6 was the day scheduled for a joint session of Congress, chaired by then Vice President Mike Pence, to confirm Biden’s victory.
“Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 election,” Trump tweeted, referring to his baseless allegations that widespread electoral fraud had robbed him of an Electoral College victory.
“Big protest in DC on January 6th. Be there, it will be wild, ”wrote Trump.
Meggs, in her Facebook message, wrote: “Gentlemen, we’re going to DC to fix your shit !!”
“[W]and will have at least 50-100 OK there, “added Meggs.
The replacement charge alleges that Kelly and several other defendants – Connie Meggs, Graydon Young, Laura Steele and Sandra Ruth Parker – wore paramilitary clothes and joined two other previously accused defendants, Jessica Watkins and Donovan Crowl, “in a pile of style. military ‘formation that marched through the central steps on the east side of the US Capitol, broke the door at the top and then broke into the building, “on January 6, the US Department of Justice said in a press release.
Trump organized a major demonstration outside the White House on January 6, where he and allies, including lawyer Rudy Giuliani, encouraged his supporters to help them fight against confirming Biden’s victory.
In planning the trip to Washington, the prosecution alleges, Meggs made statements that his group did not need to be armed to attack the Capitol because he hoped there would be a “strong 10-minute QRF”.
Prosecutors said “QRF” refers to a “‘rapid reaction force’, a term used by police and military personnel to refer to an armed unit capable of responding quickly to evolving situations, usually to help allied units in need. such assistance. “
The prosecution says Young, around the same time as Meggs’ message, arranged for him and others to be trained by a Florida company that provides firearms and combat training.
Young, 54, from Englewood, Florida, was arrested on Monday in Tampa, Florida, while Meggs, 52, and Connie Meggs, 59, both from Dunnellon, Florida, were arrested on Wednesday in Ocala, Florida.
The other recently charged defendants were arrested elsewhere. Steele, 52, of Thomasville, North Carolina, was arrested on Wednesday in Greensboro, North Carolina, while Sandra Ruth Parker, 62, and Bennie Alvin Parker, 70, both from Morrow, Ohio, were arrested Thursday.
All six defendants are accused of conspiring to obstruct an official Congressional process, depredation against federal government property and illegal entry.
Bennie Parker and another previously accused defendant, Thomas Caldwell, are also accused of obstructing the investigation, allegedly tampering with documents or procedures by canceling the upload and deleting Facebook content.
Trump was accused by the House of Representatives in January, accused of inciting the riot with his false allegations of fraud and calls for his supporters to fight. The riot left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer.
But Trump, who stepped down on January 20, was acquitted by the Senate last week in his impeachment trial.