WASHINGTON—Prosecutors filed conspiracy charges related to the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, saying in a new complaint that three rioters had acted in an “organized and practiced fashion” and at one point appeared to suggest the possibility of gassing lawmakers in the tunnels below the building. A search of the home of one of the three people also turned up directions for making explosives from bleach, according to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint. The three were allegedly part of a group that approached the east side of the Capitol and tried to push their way through a set of center doors in between the House and the Senate wings. A separate mob of pro-Trump supporters battled a thin line of police officers on the west entrance during the riot. The complaint is among the first to charge multiple alleged members of the mob with conspiracy in connection with the events of that day. Around eight to 10 people wearing helmets, reinforced vests and clothing with paraphernalia identifying themselves of the right-wing militia group Oath Keepers moved in a tactical fashion and forced their way to the front of the crowd, a video cited in the complaint shows. During the breach, one of the members allegedly communicated: “We have a good group. We have about 30-40 of us. We are sticking together and sticking to the plan,” the new complaint said.
The three alleged members of that military formation, including Thomas Edward Caldwell, a 65-year-old from Clarke County, Va., had already been arrested in the past few days on charges of disorderly conduct, obstructing an official proceeding and other crimes. Mr. Caldwell and the two others he allegedly collaborated with were charged in an amended complaint filed Monday that accused them also of conspiring to injure officers and destroying government property. An attorney for Mr. Caldwell couldn’t immediately be located for comment. During the riot, Mr. Caldwell allegedly received a Facebook message that said: “All members are in the tunnels under capital seal them in. Turn on gas,” the affidavit said. In another message, Mr. Caldwell was allegedly also told: “Tom all legislators are down in the Tunnels 3floors down,” and “Do like we had to do when I was in the core start tearing oit florrs go from top to bottom,” the affidavit said, replicating apparent spelling errors. Several affidavits described the Oath Keepers, which recruit primarily from military and law-enforcement personnel, as a “large but loosely organized collection of militia who believe that the federal government has been co-opted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights.” Investigators have pursued charges against more than 100 participants of the riot to date. They are examining nearly 400 subjects, as the investigation has shifted from targeting those who broadcast their intentions on social media to those who may have engaged in advanced preparation to breach the Capitol as Congress met to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
Mr. Caldwell, described as an alleged leader of the Oath Keepers group, was taken into custody Monday. The initial affidavit filed against him alleges he planned before Jan. 6 to coordinate participants and mask their identities. On Jan. 1, according to that affidavit, Mr. Caldwell sent a Facebook message providing a number for the Comfort Inn in Arlington, Va., and urged the recipient, who isn’t identified, to arrive on the 5th and depart on the 7th. “This is a good location and would allow us to hunt at night if we wanted to,” Mr. Caldwell wrote, telling the person: “Really, press this home, just get somebody to put it on a credit card.” One hotel room for those dates was booked by a “Jessica Wagkins,” the affidavit said. A woman named Jessica Watkins was arrested Sunday on charges of being a member of the Oath Keepers group that targeted the east entrance of the building and now faces the new conspiracy charges in the new complaint. Her Parler account identified her as commanding officer of the “Ohio State Regular Militia,” which the affidavit filed against her describes as a “dues-paying subset of the Oath Keepers.” The investigation into Ms. Watkins appeared to have led FBI agents to Mr. Caldwell. A witness told law enforcement that, a week after the riot, Ms. Watkins again left Ohio to stay with a fellow Oath Keeper named “Commander Tom.” Ms. Watkins left a phone number with the witness that led to Mr. Caldwell’s property, the affidavit said. An attorney for Ms. Watkins couldn’t immediately be identified for comment.
In a media interview last week cited in the affidavit, Ms. Watkins told the Ohio Capital Journal: “To me, it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw until we started hearing glass smash. That’s when we knew things had gotten really bad.” When agents tried to arrest Ms. Watkins on Saturday, according to the new affidavit from FBI special agent Michael Palian, they searched her home in Woodstock, Ohio. In conducting the search, they also found a document titled “Making Plastic Explosives From Bleach,” the affidavit, approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, said. In another Jan. 1 Facebook message cited in the affidavit involving Mr. Caldwell, another Ohio man, Donovan Crowl, wrote to Mr. Caldwell: “Guess I’ll be seeing you soon. Will probably call you tomorrow…mainly because…I like to know wtf plan is. You are the man Commander.” Mr. Crowl, also arrested on Sunday, was identified in the new affidavit as a third member of the Oath Keepers team that attacked the east side of the U.S. Capitol. Ms. Watkins had referred to Mr. Crowl as a member of her militia, the affidavit said. “Proud boys scuffled with cops and drove them inside to hide,” Mr. Caldwell wrote in a Facebook message from inside the Capitol during the riot, according to the document. “Breached the doors. One guy made it all the way to the house floor, another to Pelosi’s office. A good time.” Another message was added less than a minute later: “We need to do this at the local level. Lets [sic] storm the capitol in Ohio. Tell me when!”
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