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U.S. prosecutors announced Friday that they had arrested and charged an additional six people associated with the far-right Oath Keepers militia in connection with the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
Five of the six were among a group of militia members who used a military-style "stack" formation to breach the Capitol, along with hundreds of others, in a bid to prevent Congress from certifying Trump rival Joe Biden's election victory.
In a statement, the U.S. attorney's office for the District of Columbia said the militiamen donned paramilitary gear and "marched up the center steps on the east side of the U.S. Capitol, breached the door at the top, and then stormed the building." They marched on the Capitol after attending a Trump rally near the White House where Trump urged his supporters to "fight like hell."
The riot left five people dead, including a police officer, dozens of others seriously injured and extensive damage to the Capitol complex that serves as the seat of the national government. The attack led to a nationwide FBI manhunt for the hundreds of people who were caught in video footage ransacking the Capitol and attacking police and others.
Impeached, acquitted
The House of Representatives impeached Trump on a sole charge of instigating an insurrection at the Capitol to try to prevent lawmakers from certifying Biden's victory in the Electoral College. Trump was acquitted February 13 by the Senate after a five-day trial.
Among those associated with the Oath Keepers to be arrested this week were Kelly Meggs, 52, the self-styled leader of the group's Florida chapter, as well as three members: Connie Meggs, 59, Graydon Young, 54, and Laura Steele, 52.
Ohio couple Sandra Ruth Parker, 62, and Bennie Alvin Parker, 70, were arrested Thursday. Bennie Parker was the only one of the six arrested this week who was not part of the stack. While the two are not identified as members of the Oath Keepers, they're accused of traveling to Washington with two members of the group to take part in the riot.
Three other members of the Oath Keepers - Jessica Watkins, 38, Donovan Crowl, 50, and Thomas Caldwell, 65 - were arrested and charged with conspiracy last month.
All nine are being prosecuted as a group and face multiple counts, including one count of conspiring to commit an offense against the United States. If convicted, they face years or potentially decades in prison.
Who are the Oath Keepers?
The FBI describes the Oath Keepers as a "loosely organized collection" of anti-government militia members that recruits current and former members of the military, law enforcement and first responders. The group was founded in 2019 by Stewart Rhodes, a U.S. Army veteran. Rhodes, who was seen outside the Capitol during the riot, has not been arrested.
The arrests marked the culmination of a weekslong effort by the FBI to arrest and charge the eight to 10 members of the military formation or stack. Videos of the rampage showing the stack both outside and inside the Capitol began circulating shortly after the attack and helped the FBI to identify the suspects.
Authorities said the latest charges also offered fresh evidence of how members of the Oath Keepers began planning and coordinating the attack and using social media, text messaging and messaging apps to recruit "as large a following as possible to go to Washington, D.C., to support the January 6 operation."
In early November, Watkins, the self-styled commander of the Ohio State Regular Militia, a subset of the Oath Keepers, invited new recruits for training. She texted one, "I need you fighting fit by inauguration."
'Wild' event promised
In late December, after Trump urged his ardent supporters to come to Washington for a rally, promising that it would be wild, Meggs, the leader of the Florida chapter, wrote in a Facebook message, "Trump said It's gonna be wild!!!!!!! It's gonna be wild!!!!!!! He wants us to make it WILD that's what he's saying. He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Sir Yes Sir!!! Gentlemen we are heading to DC pack your s***!!"
An estimated 700 people took part in the January 6 riot. A recent analysis of the more than 200 rioters arrested so far revealed that nearly 90% had no known ties to militias or other far-right organizations.
In addition to the Oath Keepers, several members of another militia known as the Three Percenters and more than a dozen members of the Proud Boys, a pro-Trump far-right group, have been arrested.