Self-styled militia members planned on storming the U.S. Capitol days in advance of Jan. 6 attack, court documents say Spencer Hsu, Tom Jackman, Devlin Barrett
Video shows alleged Oath Keepers at Capitol attack
Replay Video UP NEXT Self-styled militia members from Virginia, Ohio and other states made plans to storm the U.S. Capitol days in advance of the Jan. 6 attack, and then communicated in real time as they breached the building on opposite sides and talked about hunting for lawmakers, according to court documents filed Tuesday. While authorities have charged more than 100 individuals in the riot, details in the new allegations against three U.S. military veterans offer a disturbing look at what they allegedly said to one another before, during and after the attack statements that indicate a degree of preparation and determination to rush deep into the halls and tunnels of Congress to make “citizens’ arrests” of elected officials.
Prosecutors on Tuesday said three people affiliated with a far-right militia group conspired to breach the U.S. Capitol, the first time they have directly accused people of organizing the violent Jan. 6 uprising that left five people dead.
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A man the Justice Department says is a leader in the right-wing militia-type group known as the Oath Keepers was accused of “conspiracy” and other crimes in connection to the siege of Congress this month.
Thomas Edward Caldwell, a 65-year-old Virginian whom an FBI special agent said “appears to have a leadership role within Oath Keepers, was arrested Tuesday. A Justice Department criminal affidavit said there was probable cause to believe he “knowingly and willfully entered into a conspiracy” to violate a numberoffederallaws, illegally entered the restricted Capitol grounds, sought to corruptly impede a congressional proceeding, engaged in disorderly conduct at the Capitol, and was “aiding and abetting the commission of these offenses against the United States.”