Oath Keepers stockpiled 30 days of supplies, rifles ahead of Jan. 6
Ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the far-right group the Oath Keepers stockpiled a massive amount of weapons and ammunition and enough supplies to last 30 days, according to new court filings from the government.
The organization had amassed all of this gear and stored it in a Virginia hotel as part of a "quick reaction force" should its members need backup as they stormed the Capitol.
The Wednesday filing shows the extent to which the group was prepared for a lengthy fight surrounding the certification of President Biden's electoral victory.
The memo from the government shows Oath Keeper members "wheel[ing] in bags and large bins of weapons, ammunition, and essential supplies to last 30 days," staging their efforts from a Comfort Inn.
The Wednesday filing seeks to keep Edward Vallejo in federal custody while he awaits trial. Vallejo was indicted alongside Oath Keeper founder Stewart Rhodes, with the two men facing seditious conspiracy charges.
The Oath Keepers who entered the Capitol last year never needed to call Vallejo for backup, but the memo notes that he attempted to launch a drone for surveillance and "recon use."
"That Vallejo's co-conspirators did not activate him on January 6 does not mitigate his dangerousness. Vallejo traveled across the country and staged himself near the congressional proceedings ready to transport firearms and equipment into the nation's capital. That is what makes him a danger," lawyers for the government wrote in the filing.
"And there is no evidence that he has renounced violence or that he no longer believes in the necessity of guerrilla warfare after January 6."
