A top member of Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government militia group, pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy after making a bombshell testimony in court on Wednesday.
The leader of the North Carolina chapter of the Oath Keepers, William Todd Wilson, said that the group's leader, Stewart Rhodes, tried to get in touch with former United States President Donald Trump after the Capitol Hill riot. Wilson said he heard Rhodes make repeated calls to the Republican businessman.
Oath Keepers Member Pleads Guilty
The Oath Keepers member said their leader wanted Trump to call upon groups such as the far-right group to forcibly oppose the transfer of power. The phone call allegedly occurred when Rhodes and other members were in a private suite at a Washington, D.C. hotel on Jan. 6 shortly after the chaos.
The filing said that after the end of the call, Rhodes told the group that he "just wanted to fight." The leader of the Oath Keepers pleaded not guilty and two of his lawyers said on Wednesday that they were not aware of any time their client had direct contact with Trump and did not know about the alleged phone call, as per CNN.
Wilson, 44 years old, pleaded guilty to conspiring with other members of the Oath Keepers to stop the transfer of power to President Joe Biden after the 2020 elections. On Friday, 44-year-old Brian Ulrich from Guyton, Georgia, pleaded guilty to the same charge. Joshua James of Arab, Alabama was the first member of the far-right group to plead guilty to seditious conspiracy.
The seditious conspiracy charge is rarely employed as before January, the last time that American prosecutors brought such a case was in 2010. At the time, an alleged Michigan plot by members of the Hutaree militia was believed to have planned to incite an uprising against the federal government.
Trump's Alleged Involvement in the Capitol Hill Riot
According to ABC News, Wilson, who has been a member of the Oath Keepers since 2016, is described as a military and law enforcement veteran, the details of which were not included in the filing. The document noted that some members, similarly to the suspect, believe that the government has been "co-opted" by a cabal of elites that were actively trying to take Americans' rights.
Based on court records, Wilson drove to a hotel in Tysons Corner in Virginia on Jan. 5, 2021, with an AR-15-style rifle, a 9mm pistol, about 200 rounds of ammunition, body armor, pepper spray, and a large walking stick that he allegedly planned to use as a weapon. The Oath Keepers member stashed the weapons as part of teams of "quick reaction forces" hiding away in various hotels outside of the District.
Wilson's plea agreement, which gives him credit for cooperating with authorities, estimates that his likely sentencing range is from 63 to 78 months in prison. Prosecutors appear to be slowly but steadily connecting the groups who organized themselves before the Capitol Hill riot, including the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, with individuals connected to the Trump White House, the Washington Post reported.
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