New federal charges against a member of the far-right Oath Keepers group indicate the leaders of the group planned to meet and organize “before the show.”
Right-Wing Extremists Planned An Organization Meeting Before Jan. 6 'Show'
Oath Keepers Founder Stewart RhodesCredit: 60 Minutes screen grab
May 22, 2021

The charges against New Jersey Oath Keepers member James Breheny indicate that he invited founder Stewart Rhodes to a “leadership meeting of multiple patriot groups” in southeastern Pennsylvania on January 3rd, BuzzFeed News reports.

Breheny also forwarded to Rhodes a message from an unnamed person, saying, “This will be the day we get our comms on point with multiple other patriot groups, share rally points etc.”

If that meeting occurred, BuzzFeed notes, “it would suggest there was more coordination and preparation among anti-government groups than previously disclosed and, potentially, that the Oath Keepers worked in concert with other organizations."

It’s not a shock that extremists got together or hoped to get together to plan for some kind of action on January 6. The big question is who they were working with and how far up the GOP food chain the organizing went. In January, C&L’s Susie Madrak reported that the organizer of January 6th’s “Stop the Steal” rally, Ali Alexander, claimed he had help from three Republican congressmembers: Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, and Mo Brooks.

Alexander’s claim was made all the more plausible after his history with some high-level Republican operatives was exposed in March.

Breheny has had some involvement with the Trump Republican Party, too. According to BuzzFeed, he appears to have run as a Republican (and lost) for a County Commission seat in 2016. He also provided “security and civilian protection” during Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration.

Fortunately, one of the 13 other Oath Keepers arrested for involvement in the January 6 insurrection is reportedly cooperating with federal investigators. Perhaps he’ll give us a clue as to who else was involved in planning the insurrection.

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