WASHINGTON—The third week of the Oath Keepers trial ended on Oct. 21 with a prosecutor giving a prepared presentation to the jury accompanied by a former FBI special agent on the witness stand.
Government prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler displayed an animated map with the locations of Oath Keepers and their affiliates. Nestler also showed phone call records, Signal messages, social media communication, Zello audio recordings, and video footage from Jan. 6, 2021.
FBI Special Agent Whitney Drew accompanied Nestler from the witness stand. She worked for the bureau for six years before going on maternity leave. Drew started to investigate the Oath Keepers on Jan. 17, 2021. Drew has a background in counter-terrorism and served in the Army.
Drew reviewed hundreds of pictures, videos, and messages including CCTV footage, body camera footage, social media interactions, chat logs, data from defendants’ phones, and news footage. Drew said she was able to recover call records from the defendants’ phone providers since those calls didn’t appear on their devices anymore.
In most of the communications, the Oath Keepers spoke about their unsatisfactory opinions about the 2020 presidential election, Antifa, and what was happening on Jan. 6.
Throughout defendant Stewart Rhodes’ and other members’ messages, they often referred to the people who went to the Capitol on Jan. 6 as “patriots.”
“All I see Trump doing is complaining. I see no intent by him to do anything. So the patriots are taking it into their own hands. They’ve had enough,” Rhodes wrote in a message to a Signal chattoom titled “DC OP Jan 6 21” at 1:38 p.m. on Jan. 6.
“Actual Patriots. [Expletive] off patriots,” Rhodes wrote in a chat room titled “Jan 5/6 DC Op Intel team” at 2:01 p.m.
The government implied that when Rhodes and others spoke about patriots, they meant Oath Keepers. Prosecutors then connected the messages to the Oath Keepers’ entry into the Capitol.
The video clips with the Oath Keepers used in the government’s presentation focus on various members and locations around the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In some videos, the audio is unclear about who speaks. Judge Amid Mehta instructed the jurors that it would be up to them to determine whose voice was in the video footage.
Drew testified in cross-examination that she did not put the presentation together or contribute to it. Throughout her direct testimony, she mostly confirmed and validated attorney Nestler’s questions.
In a video with defendant Jessica Watkins inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, she appears to have said, “Push, push, push, get in there. They can’t hold us.” In another recording from a Metropolitan Police Department officer’s body camera, a woman says, “Sorry, they’re pushing, they’re pushing,” suggesting that Watkins and the crowd were pushing her.
Defense attorney James Bright said that due to the high volume of communications on Jan. 6, 2021, some messages and phone calls did not go through immediately and were delayed by over five hours. Drew said she was unaware of this during her investigation and only learned of the delay recently.
Drew also confirmed that Rhodes did not enter the Capitol or give any related orders.
In cross-examination with defense attorney Stanley Woodward, Drew read messages that were not included in the government presentation.
“We must stick to the objective and protect those in the building from violence, including members and staff,” one Oath Keeper wrote.
Woodward said that Kelly Meggs, a defendant on trial, was in the Capitol for about 20 minutes. Drew concurred. In the CCTV footage, Meggs appeared to have normal interactions with law enforcement inside the Capitol.
In further cross examination, Drew confirmed that Kenneth Harrelson, another defendant on trial, hasn’t had Facebook, Twitter, or other social media accounts since 2014. He joined the Signal group chat on Jan. 3, 2021.
Rhodes, Watkins, Meggs, Harrelson, and Thomas Caldwell are charged with seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, aiding and abetting, conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties, destruction of government property, civil disorder, and tampering with documents.
Nestler told the court that the government plans to rest for the upcoming week and not bring any new witnesses.
Judge Mehta said the trial could last until Nov. 7 or longer.
