Category: Oath Keepers

Prosecutors Could Switch Timeline of When the Oath Keepers’ Alleged Seditious Conspiracy Began

WASHINGTON—Judge Amit Mehta, defense counsel, and prosecution attorneys talked on Nov. 10 at the federal courthouse about how to instruct the jurors before deciding the Oath Keepers’ fate. As the Oath Keepers trial reached the end of the sixth week, defense lawyers told the court of their concern about a possible change in the prosecution’s…


Oath Keepers Trial: Security Detailee Heard No Talk of Storming the Capitol

WASHINGTON—Another attendee of the events on Jan. 6, 2021, took the witness stand on Nov. 9 at the federal courthouse in Washington, explaining that his duty on that day was to provide security services. Michael Greene, 39, voluntarily waived his Fifth Amendment right to testify in the Oath Keepers trial. He is a defendant in…


Stewart Rhodes Denies Conspiring to Storm Capitol on January 6

WASHINGTON—Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes told a federal court on Nov. 7 that he did not conspire to breach the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Rhodes, one of five defendants facing several criminal charges over their involvement in Jan. 6 events, testified that he found out that protestors breached the barricades at 1:45 p.m. on…


Oath Keepers Trial: Stewart Rhodes Testifies That 2020 Election Was ‘Unconstitutional’

WASHINGTON—Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes told a federal court on Nov. 4 that the 2020 presidential election was invalid, spoke of his love for America, and his motivations for starting the Oath Keepers. Rhodes, 57, is one of the defendants in the highest-profile trial related to the events of Jan. 6, 2021. On Nov. 4, he…


Stewart Rhodes Post-Jan. 6 Message to Trump Ended Up at FBI

WASHINGTON—A military veteran testified at the Oath Keepers trial on Nov. 2 that he attempted to get a message from Stewart Rhodes to then-president Donald Trump after Jan. 6, 2021, but changed his mind. Jason Alpers currently owns a software development company and served over six years in psychological operations in the military. A former colleague with whom he…


Second Capitol Police Officer Says Oath Keepers Didn’t Offer Him Help on Jan. 6

WASHINGTON—A second U.S. Capitol Police officer told a federal court in Washington on Oct. 31 that he did not receive help from the Oath Keepers on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn testified at the trial of five Oath Keepers members or associates. Dunn has worked for the Capitol Police for about 15 years….


Oath Keepers Trial: Former Capitol Police Officer Testifies No Protesters Offered Help on January 6

WASHINGTON—A former U.S. Capitol Police Officer testified during the Oath Keepers trial on Oct. 25 that no protesters tried to help him on January 6. Ryan Salke, now a deputy sheriff in New Hanover County, North Carolina, joined the U.S. Capitol Police in 2018 and took two intensive classes on how to do his job…


Oath Keepers’ Founder Stewart Rhodes Tests Positive for COVID-19

WASHINGTON—Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes has tested positive for COVID-19, Judge Amid Mehta announced on Oct. 24 at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse. Rhodes, one of five defendants in the Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial, contracted COVID-19 over the weekend, according to his attorney, Edward Tarpley. The D.C. Detention Center is keeping Rhodes in total…


EXCLUSIVE: Retired Police Sergeant, Oath Keeper Helped Rescue Capitol Police on Jan. 6 ‘At the Moment the World Needed It’

“I can help.” Amid the bedlam of 10,000 voices chanting, singing, and shouting on the east terrace of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, those three words cut through the haze like a lighthouse beam. The target of the message was U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Tarik Khalid Johnson, 46, who scanned the crowd for…


Oath Keepers Trial Reaches End of Third Week

WASHINGTON—The third week of the Oath Keepers trial ended on Oct. 21 with a prosecutor giving a prepared presentation to the jury accompanied by a former FBI special agent on the witness stand. Government prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler displayed an animated map with the locations of Oath Keepers and their affiliates. Nestler also showed phone call…