The Oath Keepers threatened a “bloody civil war” against a “puppet regime” if Joe Biden took the White House from Donald Trump, messages displayed to jurors in the first January 6 seditious conspiracy trial showed.
“We are going to have a fight,” Stewart Rhodes, the group’s founder, said in a December 2020 message.
“That can’t be avoided, but it’s better to have a fight now, while Trump is commander-in-chief, than to wait till he is gone.”
The messages were presented by federal prosecutors on Friday as evidence against Mr Rhodes and four other people who are accused of sedition, or attacking the US government.
Prosecutors said the messages show that the Oath Keepers came to the Capitol ready for violence.
Mr Rhodes and the other accused have denied any conspiracy, contending that they travelled to Washington to provide security for authorised events and in preparation for Mr Trump invoking the Insurrection Act, which they claim would authorise the Oath Keepers to act as a military force.
Mr Rhodes’s lawyer has also argued that the government cherry-picked inflammatory statements that misrepresent what happened.
FBI Special Agent Byron Cody gave evidence in the trial, saying Mr Rhodes made the statements in the weeks leading up to the Capitol riot.
The government said Mr Rhodes was suggesting that Mr Trump could use the Insurrection Act even before January 6 to spur a militia movement that would prevent Mr Biden from taking office. Mr Rhodes said the group would take matters into its own hands if Mr Trump failed to act.
“Trump has one last chance to act,” Mr Rhodes wrote on the evening of December 14, after state electors cast their votes declaring Mr Biden as president.
“He must use the Insurrection Act.”
The message was styled as the first of two open letters to Mr Trump.
Five days later, Mr Rhodes wrote that it would be “a tragic mistake” for Mr Trump not to call for military action before January 6.
“Congress will stab him in the back,” Mr Rhodes said.
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Donald Trump, the president at the time, speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as president in Washington on January 6, 2021. AP -
A mob loyal to Mr Trump tries to break through a police barrier at the Capitol. AP -
The mob waves pro-Trump flags in front of the Capitol building. AP -
Riot police push back a crowd of rioters at the Capitol building. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol building. AFP -
Insurrectionists loyal to Mr Trump try to open a door of the US Capitol building as they riot in Washington. AP -
US Capitol Police push back rioters trying to enter the US Capitol. AP -
Police and rioters confront each other in the Rotunda of the Capitol. US Capitol Police via AP -
Smoke fills the hallway outside the Senate chamber of the Capitol. AP -
Insurrectionists loyal to Mr Trump breach the Capitol in Washington. AP -
Trump supporters, including Doug Jensen, centre, confront US Capitol Police in the hallway outside the Senate chamber at the Capitol. AP -
Newly installed razor wire tops the fence surrounding the US Capitol following the January 6 riot. Reuters -
Security agents and members of Congress barricade the door to the House chamber as the violent mob breaches the Capitol. AP -
Rioter Jacob Chansley holds a sign referencing QAnon as supporters of Mr Trump gather to protest the early results of the 2020 presidential election. Reuters
On December 23, Mr Rhodes posted an image of George Washington crossing the Delaware River. He urged Mr Trump to follow Washington’s example and attack.
He said that, if Mr Trump failed to intervene, then it would leave his group no choice but to declare independence from a “puppet regime and fight for our liberty”.
A week later, Mr Rhodes logged into a chat called “DC Op Jan 6 2021" and gave operations assignments for the group’s coming trip to Washington. He noted that he had been busy “on back-channel working groups trying to advise the president”.
Mr Rhodes said the congressional certification of Mr Biden’s electoral win would be the “final nail in the coffin on this Republic” and warned again that they would act with or without Mr Trump, a message displayed by the government showed.
