Oath Keeper extremist who stormed US Capitol kept ‘death list’ and fantasised about mutilating corpses of enemies

Federal prosecutors object to release of Thomas Caldwell, 66, from custody over organising role in riot that left five dead and led to historic second impeachment of Donald Trump

A member of the US far-right group the Oath Keepers arrested for his part in the Capitol riot kept a “death list” and fantasised about mutilating the corpses of his enemies to use as shields, according to federal prosecutors.

A memorandum objecting to Thomas Caldwell’s release from custody and signed by Michael Sherwin, acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, describes in graphic detail the defendant’s efforts to organise the attempted insurrection on 6 January in protest at the certification of November’s election results in Congress on behalf of Donald Trump, who baselessly insisted the presidency was “stolen” from him.

Mr Caldwell, a 66-year-old US Navy veteran, is facing multiple criminal charges relating to the incident, including conspiracy to injure or impede an officer, violent entry or disorderly conduct and obstruction of an official government proceeding.

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The Oath Keepers is a secretive anti-government militia that seeks to recruit ex-members of the armed forces and law enforcement and allegedly conspired with other far-right movements including the Proud Boys and QAnon to attack the legislative complex on 6 January.

The prosecution’s memo quotes a wealth of text messages and social media posts between Mr Caldwell, fellow members Donovan Crowl and Jessica Watkins and others in which they discuss organising the Million MAGA March on Washington, DC, on 23 November in support of the “Stop the Steal” campaign opposing Joe Biden’s election win.

“I believe we will have to get violent to stop this, especially the antifa maggots who are sure to come out en masse even if we get the Prez for 4 more years,” Mr Caldwell wrote to Ms Watkins on 23 November regarding a second march on DC planned for 12 December.

Members of the Oath Keepers militia group occupying the east front steps of the US Capitol in Washington on 6 January 2021 (Jim Bourg/Reuters)

In other correspondence, he shared links to weapons for sale on eBay, including a “surgical steel tomahawk axe” with the phrase “Zombie Killer” printed on the blade, and fantasised about crossing the Potomac river like George Washington.

“If we had someone standing by at a dock ramp (one near the Pentagon for sure) we could have our Quick Response Team with the heavy weapons standing by, quickly load them and ferry them across the river to our waiting arms,” he suggested to a member of the Three Percenters militia on 3 January.

Mr Caldwell had begun to promote his plans publicly on Facebook on 30 December, telling his followers: “It begins for real Jan 5 and 6 on Washington D.C. when we mobilize in the streets. Let them try to certify some crud on capitol hill with a million or more patriots in the streets. This kettle is set to boil….”

Responding to a comment on the site two days later, he said: “I swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. I did the former, I have done the latter peacefully but they have morphed into pure evil even blatantly rigging an election and paying off the political caste. We must smite them now and drive them down.”

On the day of the riot itself, Mr Caldwell was interviewed on YouTube and said of the senators engaged in ratifying the election results in Congress: “Every single b**** in there is a traitor. Every single one!”

Having joined the storming of police barricades, Mr Caldwell then climbed the stairs up to a balcony on the western side of the Capitol building and texted Ms Watkins asking: “Where are you? [Mike] Pence has punked out. We are screwed. Teargassing peaceful protesters at capital [sic] steps. Getting rowdy here…”

Later, he posted a picture on Facebook captioned: “Us storming the castle. Please share… I am such an instigator!”

He continued: “Proud boys scuffled with cops and drove them inside to hide. Breached the doors. One guy made it all the way to the house floor, another to [House speaker Nancy] Pelosi’s office. A good time.”

In the days that followed, Mr Caldwell scrambled to delete his posts before he was arrested at his home in Virginia on 19 January, where police officers discovered a “death list”, including the name of an out-of-state election official, plus $750 of ammunition, a coiled rattlesnake flag on a yellow background bearing the legend “DON’T TREAD ON ME” and an “Ideal Conceal Cellphone Pistol”, a firearm intentionally manufactured to look like a mobile phone.

In their objections to the appeal by Mr Caldwell’s lawyers for his release, the federal prosecutors wrote in summary: “The detailed and organised nature of Caldwell’s planning for the January 6 operation and Capitol assault was uniquely dangerous and continues to impact security in the District and beyond. Everything he did, he did in concert with an anti-government militia. Specifically, Caldwell helped organise a tactical unit of trained fighters that stormed and breached the Capitol on January 6, 2021.”

“Whether it was an ‘enemy,’ ‘socialists,’ ‘savages,’ ‘antifa-like bugs,’ ‘maggots,’ or ‘cockroaches,’ Caldwell dehumanised those who held opposing worldviews and discussed killing them, shooting them, and mutilating their corpses to use them as shields. He admitted himself, that he has his own gear, and likes to ‘go where the enemy is, especially after dark.’

“It is difficult to fathom a more serious danger to the community - to the District of Columbia, to the country, or to the fabric of American Democracy - than the one posed by someone who organised insurrectionists to occupy the United States Capitol.”