Tracking the Oath Keepers Who Attacked the Capitol – The New York Times
4 min read
Alleged conspirators
Jessica
Watkins
Donovan
Crowl
Other raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Jessica Watkins
Donovan Crowl
Other raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Jessica Watkins
Donovan Crowl
Other raid participants
Donovan Crowl and Jessica Watkins — both members of the Oath Keepers with ties to its leader — have been accused by federal investigators of coordinating a Jan. 6 Capitol breach in advance and conspiring to obstruct Congress.
Visual evidence shows they, along with a third alleged conspirator named Thomas Caldwell, may not have acted alone. Ms. Watkins and Mr. Crowl first attended President Trump’s rally and then entered the Capitol building in close coordination with at least 10 other people who had been seen wearing insignia of the Oath Keepers, a far-right paramilitary group.
The full identities of the 10 are currently unknown, but after they left the Capitol, all of them can be seen gathered around the Oath Keepers’ leader, Stewart Rhodes, just 70 feet from the building, with Mr. Crowl and Ms. Watkins close by.
Raid participants
Raid participants
Stewart Rhodes
Leader of Oath Keepers
Jan. 6 | East side of the U.S. Capitol
Stewart Rhodes
Leader of Oath Keepers
Raid participants
Raid participants
Jan. 6 | East side of the U.S. Capitol
Raid participants
Raid participants
Stewart Rhodes
Leader of Oath Keepers
Jan. 6 | East side of the U.S. Capitol
Ford Fischer
Mr. Rhodes has warned that if Mr. Trump didn’t overturn the government, the Oath Keepers would be “in a much more desperate, much more bloody war.” Here’s what we know about the group’s movements on Jan. 6.
At the Rally
On the morning of Jan. 6, many of the 10 Oath Keepers we tracked are seen attending the Trump rally near the White House. In the image below, Ms. Watkins is seen with several members at the scene.
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Raid participants
Mr. Crowl is also present at the rally, alongside several other Oath Keepers.
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Raid participants
Leaving the Rally
Twenty minutes before Mr. Trump’s speech ends — and at the same time that rioters across town first break through the Capitol’s perimeter fence — one of the 10 Oath Keepers we tracked is seen leading several others from that group out of the rally, including Ms. Watkins.
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Raid participants
Walking to the Capitol
Several of the Oath Keepers, including Ms. Watkins, Mr. Crowl and at least two others, have now changed into tactical gear, such as bulletproof vests and helmets. Around this time, Ms. Watkins posts a message on the audio app Zello saying: “Trump’s been trying to drain the swamp with a straw. We just brought a shop vac.”
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Raid participants
Approaching the Capitol
Minutes after the east doors of the Capitol are breached, Oath Keepers including Ms. Watkins, Mr. Crowl and others we tracked are walking in military-style patrol formation up the steps toward two members already at the top.
Alleged conspirators
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Alleged conspirators
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Robyn Stevens Brody
Inside the Capitol
All 10 Oath Keepers we tracked can be seen inside the building in and around the Rotunda, along with Ms. Watkins and Mr. Crowl, who are in the selfie video below on the left. In the clip on the right, three of the 10 members are seen praying.
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Raid participants
In this photo, Mr. Crowl is seen alongside three other Oath Keepers we tracked.
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
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Alleged conspirators
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Raid participants
Saul Loeb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
With Rhodes After the Attack
As the police continue trying to clear the Capitol, Mr. Rhodes is spotted about 70 feet away from the building.
All 10 of the Oath Keepers we tracked are seen near him. Most are in this photo.
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Alleged conspirators
Raid participants
Raid participants
Stewart Rhodes
Leader of the Oath Keepers
Stewart Rhodes
Leader of tneOath Keepers
Robyn Stevens Brody
Mr. Crowl and Ms. Watkins are standing off-camera just a few hundred feet away. Both have been spotted with Mr. Rhodes at protests before, including in November at a rally in Washington, D.C.
Donovan Crowl
Jessica Watkins
Stewart Rhodes
Leader of the Oath Keepers
Donovan Crowl
Jessica Watkins
Stewart Rhodes
Leader of the Oath Keepers
Robyn Stevens Brody
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p class=”g-body “> On Jan. 19, almost two weeks after the Capitol breach, Mr. Crowl and Ms. Watkins were charged with conspiracy and other crimes. Messages between them and Mr. Caldwell, the third Oath Keeper charged, suggest that Mr. Rhodes was not directly involved in their advance planning.
But in his public statements, Mr. Rhodes continues, as he had in the weeks before the Jan. 6 attack, to encourage supporters to “raise local militias” and prepare for impending civil conflict.
