Oath Keepers leader spoke of 'civil war' ahead of Jan. 6 Capitol attack, prosecutors say

Prosecutors on Monday urged a jury to convict Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four others for their roles in storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, alleging they plotted to do whatever it took to prevent the transfer of presidential power.

"They concocted a plan for an armed rebellion to shatter a bedrock of American democracy," prosecutor Jeff Nestler said on Monday in an opening statement at their trial in federal court in Washington.

Rhodes and his co-defendants Kelly Meggs, Thomas Caldwell, Jessica Watkins and Kenneth Harrelson are accused of plotting to forcefully prevent Congress from certifying Democratic President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory in a failed bid to keep then-President Donald Trump, a Republican, in power.

In their opening statements, prosecutors portrayed Rhodes as a sophisticated leader of the far-right group who sent encrypted messages to his followers after Biden won the 2020 election, saying "We must prepare for civil war."

"It will be torches and pitchforks time if they [Congress] don't do the right thing," he wrote in one encrypted message sent in November 2020.

Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 after Trump falsely claimed the election had been stolen from him through widespread fraud. Five people died during and shortly after the riot, and about 140 police were injured.

Case for seditious conspiracy

The five on trial face numerous felony charges, including seditious conspiracy — a Civil War-era statute that is rarely prosecuted and carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors have said the defendants trained and planned for Jan. 6 and stockpiled weapons at a northern Virginia hotel outside the capital in the group's so-called "quick reaction force" (QFR) that would be ready if called upon to transport arms into Washington.

As lawmakers met to certify Biden's election victory, some Oath Keepers charged into the Capitol building, clad in paramilitary gear in a military-style formation.

Nestler said Watkins led a group of seven Oath Keepers toward the Senate side of the Capitol. As she stormed down the hallway with the "power of the mob with her," Nestler said she yelled "Push, push, push!"

He said that Watkins added: "They can't hold us."

Defendants Meggs and Harrelson, meanwhile, led a group of seven Oath Keepers toward the House of Representatives side of the Capitol.

'It was chaotic'

FBI special agent Michael Palian testified as the government's first witness on Monday, saying that he helped escort U.S. senators back to the Senate to finalize certifying the election once the Capitol had been cleared of rioters.

"It was chaotic," Palian said, recounting how he had seen some lawmakers crying. "It looked like a bomb had gone off in there. There was pepper spray and tear gas everywhere."

The government and extremist monitoring groups have characterized the Oath Keepers as a far-right anti-government group, with some of its members having ties to militias. Many of its members are current and former military and law enforcement personnel.

Lawyer says Rhodes will testify

Defence lawyers on Monday accused prosecutors of cherry-picking evidence from messages and videos and said the government has no evidence there ever was any plan to attack the Capitol. One of Rhodes' lawyers said his client will take the stand and show that the Oath Keepers had merely been preparing for orders they expected from Trump but never came.

"Stewart Rhodes meant no harm to the Capitol that day. Stewart Rhodes did not have any violent intent that day," lawyer Phillip Linder said. "The story the government is trying to tell you today is completely wrong."

Rhodes, a Yale-educated lawyer and former U.S. army paratrooper, has disputed the government's characterization, saying the Oath Keepers are a non-partisan group whose members have pledged to defend the U.S. Constitution.

Linder told the jury his client was "extremely patriotic" and that "real evidence" in the trial will show the defendants were in Washington on Jan. 5 and 6 to provide security to a variety of speakers at political rallies.

Defence lawyers also said prosecutors have ripped the group's messages out of context to paint them unfairly.

Although Trump's shadow will loom large over the trial, he is not expected to be a central figure in the case.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who is presiding over the trial, previously restricted the defendants from using a "public authority" defence, meaning they cannot claim they stormed the Capitol at Trump's direction.