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Six additional people associated with the Oath Keepers organization were arrested this week in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol after a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment that laid out a conspiracy to block the certification of Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.
The superseding indictment, which replaced a Jan. 27 indictment returned against three defendants, also lays out how members of the right-wing group saw then-President Donald Trump sending them clear messages to fight to overturn the November election results on his behalf. The new indictment cites an article on the Oath Keepers website that tells members it is “CRITICAL that all patriots who can be in DC get to DC to stand tall in support of President Trump’s fight to defeat the enemies foreign and domestic who are attempting a coup, through the massive vote fraud and related attacks on our Republic.â€Â
The six new defendants are now co-defendants alongside Thomas Caldwell, Donavan Crowl and Jessica Watkins, who were previously charged. The new defendants ― 54-year-old Graydon Young of Englewood, Florida; 52-year-old Kelly Meggs and 59-year-old Connie Meggs of Dunnellon, Florida; 52-year-old Laura Steele of Thomasville, North Carolina; and 62-year-old Sandra Ruth Parker and 70-year-old Bennie Alvin Parker of Morrow, Ohio ― are now all charged as part of a criminal conspiracy to interfere with the certification of the Electoral College results.
Several of the members, the new indictment alleged, were part of a “stack†formation that marched up the center steps on the east side of the Capitol and stormed the building. All nine defendants are charged with conspiring to commit an offense against the United States by impeding an official preceding, depredation against federal government property, as well as unlawful entry, disorderly conduct or violent conduct in restricted buildings or grounds.
The superseding indictment includes a message citing a tweet that Trump sent inviting his supporters to a “wild†event on Jan. 6 as he attempted to use his supporters to pressure Republicans in Congress to overturn the results of a free and fair election and keep him as president for a second term.
“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!!!†Kelly Meggs wrote in one message mentioned in the indictment. “Sir Yes Sir!!! Gentlemen we are heading to DC pack your shit!!â€
Read the superseding indictment below.
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