Revealed in court document following the arrest of an apparent Oath Keepers leader, prosecutors allege that militia members from six states coordinated their January 6th attack on Capitol and communicated in real-time to update each other on their progress, the Washington Post reports.
Documents filed in relation to the charges for Thomas Edward Caldwell, 66, of Clarke County, Virginia, state that Caldwell was working with 30-40 individuals to plan attacks on both sides of the Capitol and take advantage of the chaos caused by Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally.
Two other people–Jessica Watkins, 38, a U.S. Army veteran, and former U.S. Marine Donovan Crowl, 50,–were charged with Caldwell, a Navy veteran, in a conspiracy to stop the Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote declaring Joe Biden the victor of the November election.
The FBI did not release what platforms were being used to communicate before or during the attack, but the court filings reveal the Bureau has those planning and real-time messages.
“We have about 30-40 of us. We are sticking together and sticking to the plan,” Watkins reportedly said as they entered the Capitol.
“You are executing citizen’s arrest. Arrest this assembly, we have probable cause for acts of treason, election fraud,” a man replied.
“We are in the main dome right now. We are rocking it. They are throwing grenades, they are fricking shooting people with paint balls. But we are in here,” a woman believed to be Watkins said.
A man replied, “Get it, Jess. This is … everything we fucking trained for!”
Caldwell reportedly received updates, using Facebook Messenger, on the activities of others attempting the coup. He also received information on the layout of the Capitol, with people telling him what direction to go and the locations of hallways and tunnels within the complex.