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The BulleTin • Thursday, OcTOBer 13, 2022 A13 Jan. 6 insurrection Oath Keepers jury hears about weapons cache BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST associated Press WASHINGTON — A member of the Oath Keepers who traveled to Washington before the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol testified Wednes- day about a massive cache of weapons the far-right extrem- ist group stashed in a Virginia hotel room. Taking the stand in the se- ditious conspiracy case against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four associates, Terry Cummings showed ju- rors an AR-15 firearm and an orange box for ammunition that he contributed to the so- called quick reaction force the Oath Keepers had staged at the hotel outside of Washing- ton in case they needed weap- ons. “I had not seen that many weapons in one location since I was in the military,” said Cummings, a veteran who joined the Oath Keepers in Florida in 2020. Prosecutors have said teams of Oath Keepers guarded the arsenal of firearms and were prepared to rush them into the hands of extremists in the capital if needed. The alleged teams and the cache of weapons are a central piece of the Depart- ment of Justice’s case against Rhodes and four associates charged with seditious con- spiracy in the Jan. 6 attack. Members of the Oath Keepers stashed the firearms just out- side Washington district lim- its, given the capitol’s tougher gun laws. Authorities have alleged the teams and the stockpile of arms were designed to get weapons into Oath Keep- ers’ hands quickly if they were needed to support a plot to stop the transfer of power from Republican Don- ald Trump to Democrat Joe Biden. Cummings’ testimony came in the second week of the trial that is expected to last several weeks. The others on trial are Thomas Caldwell of Berryville, Virginia; Kenneth Harrelson of Titusville, Flor- ida; Jessica Watkins of Wood- stock, Ohio; and Kelly Meggs of Dunnellon, Florida. Defense lawyers have not denied the existence of the quick reaction teams but noted that they were never deployed on Jan. 6. They have accused prosecutors of falsely Manuel Balce ceneta/aP file Members of the Oath Keepers stand on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. A member of the Oath Keepers who traveled to Washington before the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol testified Wednesday during the seditious conspiracy case against Oath Keep- ers founder Stewart Rhodes and four associates about a massive cache of weapons the far-right extremist group stashed in a Virginia hotel room. portraying them as an inva- sion force. Defense lawyers have said the Oath Keepers often set up quick reaction forces for events, but insist they were de- fensive forces only to be used to protect against violence from antifa activists or in the event Trump invoked the In- surrection Act. They are not facing any gun charges for bringing the weapons to Vir- ginia. Rhodes’ lawyers have said they will argue that the jury cannot find him guilty of se- ditious conspiracy because all the actions he took before Jan. 6 were in preparation for orders he anticipated from Trump under the Insurrection Act, which gives presidents wide discretion to decide when military force is neces- sary. Cummings told jurors that he traveled to Washington on Jan. 6 with other Oath Keep- ers to be part of a VIP secu- rity detail for Trump’s rally at the Ellipse. He said he saw it as an opportunity to “express my First Amendment rights” and see a sitting president susan Walsh/aP file Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washing- ton on June 25, 2017. speak, which he had never done. Cummings said his under- standing was the quick reac- tion forces “would potentially be used not as an offensive situation, but more as a show of force.” Cummings said he was part of a group that acted as a secu- rity team for a VIP at Trump’s rally before the riot. Cum- mings and other Oath Keepers left before Trump’s speech was finished and went toward the Capitol. He recalled Meggs talked about entering the Capitol — something Cummings didn’t think was a good idea. He then split off to find a bathroom, and when he re- turned the group was gone. The group entered the Capi- tol while he was away, he said. Up to an hour later, Cum- mings rejoined fellow Oath Keepers from Florida, and eventually Rhodes appeared as well. Cummings said he did not hear any talk about plans to storm or attack the Capitol, though he also said he wasn’t in a position of leadership. He has not faced criminal charges, was subpoenaed to testify for the government and acknowledged on the stand that he has contributed to the legal defense fund of some of the defendants. Authorities have said that Meggs and the Florida Oath Keepers on Jan. 5 brought gun boxes, rifle cases and suitcases filled with ammuni- tion to the Virginia hotel that served as the home for the quick reaction force. Another team from Arizona brought weapons, ammunition, and supplies to last 30 days, ac- cording to court papers. A team from North Carolina had rifles in a vehicle parked in the hotel lot, prosecutors have said. Prosecutors have described surveillance footage that they say shows Oath Keepers roll- ing bags, large bins and what appears to be at least one rifle case into the hotel. Over several days in early January, Rhodes spent $15,500 on guns, including an AR-platform rifle, mag- azines, mounts, sights and other equipment, prosecutors have said. Caldwell, in one message, suggested getting a boat to ferry “heavy weapons” across the Potomac River into the Oath Keepers’ “waiting arms.” A former Oath Keeper from North Carolina last week described setting up a quick reaction force for the “Million MAGA March” in Washington on Nov. 14, 2020, in case Trump invoked the Insurrection Act. Thou- sands of Trump supporters that day gathered at Freedom Plaza along Pennsylvania Av- enue in Washington to rally behind Trump’s false election claims. The former Oath Keeper, John Zimmerman, told jurors that the Oath Keepers stashed at least a dozen rifles and several handguns in his van parked at Arlington National Cemetery to serve as the quick reaction force on that occasion. He said they never took the guns into Washing- ton. Jan. 6 committee to present evidence Trump was warned of violence The newly obtained Secret Service records are just part of a larger hearing in which the committee hopes to summarize and remind the American public of all the ways Trump is said to have played a central role in fomenting a violent insurrection at the Capitol, one of the most brutal attacks on democracy in U.S. history … BY CAROL D. LEONNIG AND JACQUELINE ALEMANY The Washington Post The likely final public hearing of the House committee investigat- ing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol is expected to highlight newly obtained Secret Service re- cords showing how President Don- ald Trump was repeatedly alerted to brewing violence that day, and he still sought to stoke the conflict, accord- ing to three people briefed on the records. During Thursday’s hearing, the committee plans to share new video footage and internal Secret Service emails that appear to corroborate parts of the most startling inside ac- counts of that day, said the people briefed, who, like others who spoke to The Washington Post, spoke on the condition of anonymity to dis- cuss sensitive records and conver- sations. Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified in June that Trump was briefed on Jan. 6 that some of his supporters were armed for battle, demanded they be allowed into his rally and insisted he wanted to lead them on their march to the Capitol. Surveillance footage the commit- tee plans to share was taken near the Ellipse that morning before Trump’s speech and shows throngs of his supporters clustered just outside the corralled area for his “Stop the Steal” rally. Secret Service officers screened those entering who sought to get closer to the stage. Law enforcement officials who were monitoring video that morning spotted Trump sup- porters with plastic shields, bullet- proof vests and other paramilitary gear, and some in the Secret Service concluded they stayed outside the rally area to avoid having their weap- Jabin Botsford/Washington Post President Donald Trump is seen on the screen as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a primetime hearing on Capitol Hill on July 21 Washington, D.C. ons confiscated, according to people familiar with the new records. Other internal emails likely to be revealed at the hearing further but- tress accounts about staff members warning Trump about the risk and then the reality of violence that day, as he continued to press nervous Se- cret Service agents to take him to the Capitol to join his supporters march- ing there, the three people said. After being alerted to violence erupting at the Capitol when he returned to the White House, Trump tweeted crit- icism of Vice President Mike Pence for not blocking the certification of the election, whipping up supporters who had already trampled over se- curity barricades and were battling police to break into the halls of Con- gress. The newly obtained Secret Service records are just part of a larger hear- ing in which the committee hopes to summarize and remind the Ameri- can public of all the ways Trump is said to have played a central role in fomenting a violent insurrection at the Capitol, one of the most brutal attacks on democracy in U.S. his- tory, according to multiple people briefed on the evidence and commit- tee plan. While the committee’s pre- vious hearings took center stage over several weeks this summer, the com- mittee is trying to revive interest in its probe and deliver what it has pri- vately called its “closing arguments” about past and ongoing threats to democracy as voters prepare to cast ballots in next month’s midterm elections. The hearing aims to highlight new evidence gathered by investigators that corroborates the committee’s key findings about Trump and the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to the people briefed: that he sought to rile up his supporters to help block the certifi- cation of Joe Biden’s electoral victory; used his bully pulpit to encourage a fiery showdown at the Capitol; and then refused to budge to help rescue thousands of lawmakers, staff mem- bers and police officers on Capitol Hill who were either fleeing or fight- ing for their lives that afternoon. It’s unclear, however, if the new material will shed any light on a par- ticularly dramatic part of Hutchin- son’s testimony, in which she re- counted a senior Secret Service official telling her that Trump had erupted in anger and lunged at the lead security agent in his motorcade when told he could not go to the Capitol. One email the committee has ob- tained highlights the level of alarm inside Secret Service headquarters on Jan. 6 about the possibility that Trump would get his wish to head to the Capitol — and join a melee in progress.
