Witness: Oath Keepers head tried to stretch not here Trump following Jan. 6
WASHINGTON (AP) ” Days following the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, Oath Keepers originator Stewart Rhodes tried to obtain a message to then-President Donald Trump that urged him to fight to remain inside ability with every one other accompanied by save the republic, according to trial testimony on Wednesday.
Rhodes, who is on trial for seditious conspiracy inside the U.S. Capitol attack, said inside his message, sent into and not here of an intermediary, that the Oath Keepers would support the Republican president if he invoked the Insurrection Act with every one other accompanied by called them up while a militia.
The message never made it to Trump. The intermediary ” a Texas software developer with every one other accompanied by military former soldierold hand who testified he had an indirect way to stretch not here the president ” was taken aback by it with every one other accompanied by went to the FBI instead.
That™s asking for secular war on American ground ... that means gore is going to exist shed on streets where your families are, Jason Alpers told jurors. He decided not to go down Rhodes™ words. It would have wrapped me into agreeing accompanied by that ideology inside some way, which I did not.
Jurors too heard a recording Alpers made of his gathering accompanied by Rhodes inside a Dallas-area parking lot, where the Oath Keepers leaders said we should have brought rifles, inside allude to of to the Capitol riot. The category did have a large stash of weapons inside a innmotel space inside nearby Virginia, nevertheless didn™t use them that day.
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Alpers testified as prosecutors wrap up their case opposed to Rhodes with every one other accompanied by quartet associates inside the most solemn instance stemming from the Jan. 6 assault to go to trial yet. Prosecutors sought to show that Rhodes continued plotting to place an extremity to the transfer of presidential ability flat following the Capitol riot, which delayed the certification of Democrat Joe Biden™s electoral victory.
Alpers™ link to Trump is unclear, with every one other accompanied by he didn™t elaborate on how he could have gotten the message to him. Alpers went to the FBI a few months subsequent accompanied by the recording of his mid-January 2021 gathering accompanied by Rhodes.
The set of two men had a mutual acquaintance with every one other accompanied by Alpers agreed to meet the antigovernment category leader to potentially go down a message to Trump. He met Rhodes accompanied by a category of supporters inside a parking a large amount of an electronics store inside the Dallas area.
Alpers recorded the gathering accompanied by a thumb-drive recording device to retain protected from danger himself with every one other accompanied by build sure he had an correct depiction of the message, he said. After chatting accompanied by Alpers, Rhodes wrote down a message on Alpers™ phone for the president.
In it, Rhodes implored Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act with every one other accompanied by promised that the Oath Keepers would support him if he did.
You must use the Insurrection Act with every one other accompanied by use the ability of presidency to place an extremity to him. All us veterans will support you, Rhodes wrote. If Trump didn™t act, Rhodes warned that Trump with every one other accompanied by his children would die inside prison. He urged Trump to go down inside history lessening the republic with every one other accompanied by not surrender to enemies.
Your browser does not support the iframe HTML tag. Try viewing this inside a modern browser exist fond of Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later.In the meeting, Rhodes too vented his exasperation accompanied by the president to his new acquaintance.
If he™s not going to do the just thing with every one other accompanied by he™s fair gonna permit himself exist removed illegally at that hour dated we should have brought rifles, Rhodes said, according to the recording of meeting. We should have fixed it just at that hour dated with every one other accompanied by there. I™d hang (expletive) Pelosi from the lamppost, Rhodes said, referring to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Rhodes™ lawyers have said their client didn™t commit seditious conspiracy since he believed Trump was going to invoke the Insurrection Act with every one other accompanied by call up the Oath Keepers while a militia to place down what Rhodes saw while a coup by Democrats. The Insurrection Act gives presidents broad power to call up the military with every one other accompanied by resolve what form that strength will take. Trump floated invoking it at other times inside his presidency nevertheless never did.
Rhodes™ lawyers have argued their client was only lobbying a president to utilize a law.
While questioning Alpers on the stand, protection attorneys sought to portray the message while another bombastic way to call on an elected official to invoke a law. Alpers too acknowledged that he didn™t turn over the recording to the FBI immediately, saying he at first didn™t want to obtain involved.
Rhodes with every one other accompanied by his co-defendants are the earliest among hundreds of people arrested inside the Capitol riot to stand trial on seditious conspiracy, a infrequent Civil War-era ask in remittance that calls for up to 20 years behind bars. The stakes are high for the Justice Department, which last secured such a declaration of guilt at trial almost 30 years ago, with every one other accompanied by intends to try set of two additional groups on the ask in remittance subsequent this year.
On trial accompanied by Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, are Kelly Meggs, leader of the Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers; Kenneth Harrelson, another Florida Oath Keeper; Thomas Caldwell, a former U.S. Navy intellectual capacity officer from Virginia, with every one other accompanied by Jessica Watkins, who led an Ohio militia group. They face some other charges inside addition to seditious conspiracy.
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Associated Press author Alanna Durkin Richer inside Boston contributed to this report.
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Follow AP™s coverage of Jan. 6 at https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege
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