Last week, federal prosecutors filed sedition conspiracy charges against 11 members of the Oath Keepers, including its leader.
Oath Keepers is a rightwing armed militia group that participated in the Capitol riot intending to block certification of Biden’s election victory.
Additional court filings on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, offer some insight on why prosecutors charged those individuals with this crime, which essentially consists of plotting the violent overthrow of the U.S. government.
A large majority of the ~15,000 Trump supporters who marched on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, were protesters, or at least that’s how authorities are treating them. Only about 700 have been charged with crimes, and many of those were only charged with trespassing or unlawful entry, and got off with probation and small fines. A small number of Capitol rioters — generally those who assaulted police officers or engaged in other violence — are facing more serious charges. A handful have been handed prison sentences.
The charges against the Oath Keepers are the most serious yet, and could get them up to 20 years. What prompted these charges? Technically, it was the plotting; but it seems rather obvious that what’s really motivating authorities are their advance preparations, organizing, and weaponry.
The Oath Keepers facing these charges used a lot of rhetoric in the runup to Jan. 6, and afterward. They talked and texted about resorting to violence to prevent Biden from becoming president. To prepare for the Capitol insurrection, they organized three armed “quick reaction forces” and stashed guns, ammunition, equipment, and supplies in nearby hotel rooms. They also made plans to ferry those weapons across the Potomac River in case they were “needed” at the Capitol.
Needed for what? That’s a rhetorical question. The answer is, to violently override the votes of 81 million Americans.
But that’s not all they did. “[P]rosecutors say the Oath Keepers were prepared for a long-haul fight, one that stretched past Jan. 6 to the inauguration. Messages exchanged by Vallejo and others suggested the group cased the Capitol on Jan. 7 and discussed plans to continue working against the transfer of power up through Biden’s inauguration,” an MSNBC article says (read it here), which goes on to describe in detail the stockpiling of weapons, the group’s attempts to use an aerial drone for reconnaissance, and other details of their planning.
That isn’t protest, it’s insurrection. In this country, it’s legal to throw a toddler tantrum over losing an election, although it doesn’t make you look good. To the rest of us, the Capitol protesters are bad sports, sore losers, and childish.
But you don’t need guns to protest, and guns aren’t speech, free or otherwise; they’re violence or threats of violence.
Planning, organizing, and arming to prevent Congress from carrying out its constitutional functions isn’t protest, either. It’s violent revolution, and there isn’t a government on earth — including ours — that tolerates violent revolutionaries.
Don’t bet on these people waltzing away with probation and $500 fines. Taking them out of circulation is necessary for our nation’s security.
Related story: The Oath Keepers were “preparing for literal war,” prosecutors say (read story here).
Photo: Does this look like a “protester”?