Jessica Marie Watkins, third from left, and Donovan Ray Crowl, center, both from Ohio, march down the east front steps of the U.S. Capitol with the Oath Keepers militia group Jan. 6. (Jim Bourg/Reuters)
By Spencer S. Hsu and Rachel Weiner, Washington Post
U.S. authorities on Friday alleged a broader conspiracy to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 among members and associates of the Oath Keepers, naming six new individuals charged in the case, all of whom appeared to be group members or associates.
One member posted on Facebook that 50 to 100 Oath Keepers planned to attend and that Jan. 6 would be “wild,” echoing then-President Donald Trump’s comment on Twitter rallying supporters to D.C.
A 21-page indictment alleged that the defendants “did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with each other and others known and unknown” to force entry to the Capitol and obstruct Congress from certifying the election of Joe Biden as president in riots that led to five deaths and assaults on 139 police.
The nine-person indictment named three already charged military veterans — Jessica Marie Watkins, 38, and Donovan Ray Crowl, 50, both of Woodstock, Ohio, and Thomas E. Caldwell, 66, of Berryville, Va. The six new defendants include siblings Graydon Young, 54, of Englewood, Fla., and Laura Steele, of Thomasville, N.C. It also includes married couples Kelly and Connie Meggs, ages 52 and 59, of Dunnellon, Fla., and Bennie and Sandra Parker, ages 70 and 60, of the Cincinnati area.
On Dec. 22, Kelly Meggs wrote a Facebook message saying that Trump’s comment that Jan. 6 would be “wild” meant he “wants us to make it WILD. . . . He called us all to the Capitol. . . . Gentlemen we are heading to DC,” the indictment alleges.
Meggs added a few days later that there would be “at least” 50 to 100 Oath Keepers in attendance.
Steele allegedly emailed Meggs and Florida Oath Keepers on Jan. 3 at her brother’s suggestion, to expedite her application to join the group to participate in the events on Jan. 5 and 6.
“Trump said It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!! . . . He wants us to make it WILD that’s what he’s saying,” Steele allegedly wrote in an electronic message. “He called us all to the Capitol. . . . !!! SirYesSir!!! Gentlemen we are heading to DC,” the charging document stated.
Prosecutors allege that the group conspired to attend or schedule paramilitary combat training; recruited supporters online; and “coordinat[ed] . . . and join[ed] forces” with members of Oath Keepers and people from other regions to invade the Capitol in military-style camouflage tactical gear and in a single-file “stack” formation.
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