Arizonan found guilty of seditious conspiracy for role in Jan. 6 riot

Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article gave an incorrect reference to Ron Paul's political affiliation in 2008.

A jury found a 63-year-old Army veteran from Phoenix guilty of seditious conspiracy on Monday for his part in planning and executing the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Edward Vallejo was tried alongside three members of the militia group Oath Keepers, who jurors also found guilty.

Prosecutors contended that Vallejo coordinated an arsenal of weapons, ammunition and supplies at a Comfort Inn in northern Virginia awaiting orders to mobilize.

Prosecutors said that the group expected then-President Donald Trump to declare martial law and that Vallejo was one of three so-called “quick reaction force teams” stationed at the hotel.

“Vallejo back at hotel and outfitted," Vallejo messaged to other Oath Keepers at 2:24 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, according to court records. "Have 2 trucks available. Let me know how I can assist."

Vallejo divided his time between Phoenix and a homestead in the northern Arizona city of Winslow.

He had been involved in Libertarian politics. A Republic photographer captured an image of him watching 2008 election results come in while sitting on a plastic chair in the headquarters for Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.

But Vallejo became a supporter of Trump in the 2016 election, according to social media posts and Republic interviews with friends and associates. He had not abandoned the Libertarian Party but seemed motivated in keeping Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton out of the White House.

“I'd rather see a blind, left-handed monkey be president than Hillary Clinton,” friends quoted him often saying.

Vallejo also believed that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump, who official results showed lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

He drove with two friends to Washington, D.C., in January 2021, texting with members of the Oath Keepers along the way.

For subscribers:How an Arizona man was charged with seditious conspiracy in the U.S. Capitol riot

Vallejo, in an interview with a friend that was later released online, denied being part of the Oath Keepers, following a falling out with the group in 2014. But he apparently answered the call of the group’s leader, Stewart Rhodes, who was asking Oath Keepers and their affiliates to amass on Jan. 6, 2021, the day the election results would be certified in a joint session of Congress.

Encrypted messages sent to a group Vallejo and others took part in over the Signal app referred to it as “DC OP: Jan 6 21.”

Attorneys for Rhodes said the quick reaction forces were meant to come to the aid of any Oath Keepers who needed protection, a defensive group, not one ready to strike.

Vallejo’s attorney told The Republic that Vallejo expected he would be cooking for protesters at a campsite, using the 30 days' worth of food he had brought.

On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, Vallejo called into a podcast hosted by a longtime Arizona Libertarian figure, Ernest Hancock.

Vallejo told the host that if the day didn’t result in what he considered a just result for America – ostensibly the overturning of the election results, “that’s going to be the declaration of a guerrilla war.”

Although nearly 1,000 people have been charged with crimes associated with the riot at the Capitol, only Vallejo and 10 other people have faced seditious conspiracy. The crime, according to federal statute, carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Edward Vallejo found guilty of seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 riot