Prosecutors allege oath keepers stockpiled weapons in preparation for Capitol attack

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Federal prosecutors allege the Oath Keepers militia were ready to move a stash of firearms and equipment from a Virginia hotel to rioters on Jan. 6 last year, saying Edward Vallejo, recently arrested for seditious conspiracy and other charges, was working with others to coordinate what they called “quick reaction forces” stationed at a Comfort Inn in Arlington, Virginia, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some other alleged members of the group, including Thomas Caldwell, a Virginia man who served in the US Navy, and Jessica Watkins, a former US Army infantryman, were among the first to be arrested after the riot and charged for having developed a military- style plan to break through the Capitol.

Prosecutors have previously charged Caldwell with discussing a plan to station a boat full of “weps,” or weapons, on the Potomac River from Washington as part of a quick reaction force. In the new indictment, in which Caldwell and Watkins are named, and the accompanying detention memo for Vallejo, prosecutors described evidence that Rhodes purchased more than $15,000 worth of guns and related supplies in the days leading up to the riot, including a “rifle AR rig, sights, mounts, triggers, slings and additional gun accessories” as he traveled to Washington, D.C., from Texas on Jan. 3, 2021. Prosecutors also allege that after the riot, Rhodes and Vallejo continued to plot in an attempt to thwart Biden’s inauguration.

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