Self-described Palm Coast militia member among 5 arrested in January 6 attack, release says
A Palm Coast man was among five self-identified militia members from Florida who were arrested on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a press release Thursday from the U.S. Justice Department.
Jonathan Rockholt, 38, of Palm Coast, was charged in federal court with the felony offense of interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder, according to the release.
Rockholt was part of the "B Squad," the release stated. The B Squad is a militia led by Jeremy Liggett, according to NBC News, a Longwood resident who campaigned for Florida's 7th Congressional District, which includes part of Volusia County, but left the race.
Liggett was not charged.
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According to the release, B Squad is a subgroup of the Guardians of Freedom, a Florida militia.
The criminal complaint refers to a leader of B Squad but does not name him.
'Guardians of Freedom'
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Liggett said that the FBI had searched his home.
A Jeremy Liggitt of 657 Sabal Lake Drive in Longwood is listed as the CEO of the Guardians of Freedom International in a May 11, 2021, filing with the Florida Division of Corporations.
The address on Sabal Lake Drive is the same one provided by Jeremy Liggett for his principal campaign committee for "Liggett For Congress" in a filing with the Federal Election Commission. In the filing, Liggett also gives an address, apparently his residence, on Wekiva Springs Road in Longwood.
Leandra Clark was listed as the CEO of the Guardians of Freedom, which lists the address of 1982 State Road 44, Box 138, New Smyrna Beach, in a filing with the Division of Corporations.
Clark, who described herself as the owner of the Guardians of Freedom, said in a phone interview that the group denounces the violence that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021.
After being told that Liggett was listed as the CEO, Clark said that Liggett is the original filer of the documents, but was removed from the group after Jan. 6, 2021, and is no longer with the Guardians of Freedom.
“Absolutely not,” Clark said. “He’s an extremist.”
She said she did not know why Liggett ended his Congressional run.
She declined to talk about the group, repeatedly referring a reporter to its website and asking the reporter to submit questions via the website.
The website states that “Guardians of Freedom is a group of Patriots that are willing to do whatever it takes to free our Country from the socialist (sic) that are trying to take control. We are Constitutional conservatives that will do what it takes to defend our families, help our neighbors, support our communities and Protect the Constitution.”
The website also includes a quote from Thomas Jefferson: "What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms."
Palm Coast man, others charged
In addition to Rockholt, Benjamin Cole, 38, of Leesburg, John Edward Crowley, 50, of Windermere, and Brian Preller, 33, of Mount Dora, were arrested on the same charge.
A woman who answered but did not open the door at Rockholt's address said they had no comment.
Two pickup trucks were parked outside the house, one with a Trump Pence sticker and the other had a circular sticker with a Confederate flag symbol in the middle and the words "When Tyranny Becomes Law Rebellion Becomes Duty."
Rockholt, Cole, Crowley and Peller, along with Tyler Bensch, 20, of Casselberry, are also charged with the misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, the release stated.
Rockholt made his initial appearance in federal court in the Middle District of Florida in Orlando on Wednesday and was released. His case was moved to the federal court in the District of Columbia which is handling cases related to the Capitol attack.
Volusia Proud Boys Leader Joe Biggs
Rockholt is the second person from Volusia or Flagler counties arrested in the Jan. 6 attack. Joe Biggs, a Volusia County Proud Boys leader, is in federal custody awaiting trial on seditious conspiracy and other charges in the attack on the Capitol.
Among the conditions of his release, Rockholt must refrain from possessing a firearm, destructive device or other dangerous weapon. Rockholt must remain within the Middle District of Florida, which covers Central Florida.
Rockholt and the other four men self-identified as members of the “B Squad,” a subgroup of a militia-style, Florida-based organization known as the Guardians of Freedom, which adheres to the ideology of the Three Percenters.
Three Percenters is an ideology that is part of the anti-government militia movement. Three Percenters make the unproven claim that only 3% of American colonists battled the British during the American Revolution, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center's website. "Threepers" or "III%ers" often compare the U.S. government today to the British government of the 1700s, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The Jan. 6 attack
Rockholt and the other four men traveled to Washington, D.C., and stayed at a hotel there on Jan. 5, 2021. The five men are accused of being among those who illegally gathered on the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, the release stated.
Rockholt wore a tactical vest, a baseball batting helmet and carried what appeared to be a knife in his front right pocket on Jan. 6, 2021, according to the release.
According to the criminal complaint, the baseball helmet appeared to have the logo of the "GoF," a red, white and blue skull and the Gadsden flag, a yellow flag with a coiled rattlesnake and the words "Don't tread on me." The tactical vest had a patch associated with the "Three Percenters" movement.
The release described the gear carried by the other men as well. Preller wore a tactical vest with an attached chemical irritant spray, along with large goggles and a green helmet with the word “monster” on the back. Preller also had a long black walking stick and wore a shirt that read “waterboarding instructor." Cole wore a tactical vest, according to the release.
Bensch also wore a tactical vest and carried a chemical irritant, the release stated. He also wore a military-style helmet with goggles and a black gas mask.
Rockholt, Cole, Crowley and Preller were in a group that engaged in a confrontation with law enforcement officers in the tunnel area of the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace, the release stated. During that time, Bensch was just outside of the tunnel.
Force and Momentum
The officers were trying to stop the crowd from breaching the Capitol. In the tunnel, Rockholt, Cole, Preller and Crowley were part of the crowd that confronted the officers, according to the release.
“They added their force, momentum, bodies and efforts to the other rioters in a 'heave-ho' effort that put pressure on the police line. As a direct result of the actions of the rioters in the tunnel at that time, the mob penetrated deeper, pushing the police line back,” the release stated.
Officers were finally able to repel Rockholt, Cole, Preller and Crowley and others from the tunnel, according to the release, which added that Rockholt picked up a clear riot shield with a Capitol Police seal before leaving the area.
Bensch sprayed a chemical irritant into the face of an unknown individual in the crowd who posed no threat to him, the release stated.
More than 860 individuals have been arrested across nearly all 50 states on charges related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the release stated.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: January 6 riot: Palm Coast, Florida militia member arrested
