DOJ seeks to build large conspiracy case against Oath Keepers for Jan. 6 riot
Related DU thread in Latest Breaking News: Prosecutors seek a slowdown in Capitol attack cases, calling probe the 'most complex' in history
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Source: Washington Post
DOJ seeks to build large conspiracy case against Oath Keepers for Jan. 6 riot
By Devlin Barrett, Spencer S. Hsu, Aaron C. Davis and Tom Jackman
March 12, 2021 at 9:17 a.m. EST
The Justice Department and FBI are gathering evidence to try to build a large conspiracy indictment against members of the Oath Keepers for their roles in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to people familiar with the matter, but the group’s sometimes fractious and fantasy-laden internal workings may complicate efforts to bring such a case.
In a Friday morning filing, prosecutors spelled out the gargantuan scope of the case, saying the “investigation and prosecution of the Capitol Attack will likely be one of the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence.”
The Oath Keepers is the most high-profile self-styled militia group in the country. While members use the jargon and trappings of a paramilitary organization, in daily practice the group is often more akin to a collection of local chapters with a similar, disinformation-fueled ideology about what they view as the inevitable collapse of the U.S. government as it becomes more tyrannical.
“This was not a well-trained army or a disciplined military unit; this was a loose structure,” said Karl Schmae, who dealt with the Oath Keepers when he was an FBI negotiator responding to the 2016 occupation of a wildlife refuge building in eastern Oregon.
The Oath Keepers group is a major target of the sprawling FBI investigation into the riot at the U.S. Capitol, along with another militant group, the Proud Boys, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. How aggressively the Justice Department pursues such extremists will be a major test not only of the Biden administration’s pledge to combat domestic terrorism, but also the law and the courts.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/oattkeepers-capitol-riots-conspiracy/2021/03/11/03c26114-8291-11eb-9ca6-54e187ee4939_story.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
scope of the case.'
[Seems to be a lot of familiar, and big names, in this case]
