Timeline: How two extremist groups planned for Jan. 6
With the exception of the information from the statement of offense included in Oath Keepers member Joshua James’s plea agreement, what follows are allegations from federal law enforcement. They have not been proved in a court of law, and while the details often rely on electronic communications, those communications themselves are not presented in the reference documents directly. With that important caveat, here’s how the Justice Department believes both organizations planned for the day of the riot.
Below we’ve created a visual timeline, with outlined circles marking either incidents of violence or alleged discussions or events apparently centered on preparing for Jan. 6. What’s immediately apparent is that the Oath Keepers were preparing specifically for the day of the riot before the Proud Boys were; in fact, the Proud Boys only seemed to turn their attention to that day after President Donald Trump tweeted his encouragement for people to be in Washington on that day for a protest that he promised would “be wild.”
Here are each of the individual points on the diagram. Source documents include the indictment of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, the indictment of Proud Boys chair Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, a superseding indictment for Tarrio and other Oath Keepers, and the government’s filing this week aimed at keeping Tarrio in detention.
Nov. 3, 2020. Election Day.
Nov. 5. [Oath Keepers] Rhodes sends a message to a Signal group called “Leadership intel sharing secured” (LISS): “We aren’t getting through this without a civil war. Too late for that. Prepare your mind, body, spirit.”
Nov. 7. Biden is declared the winner of the election.
[Oath Keepers] Rhodes sends a message to LISS comparing the situation to Serbia after Slobodan Milosevic took power. Among the tactics deployed then: “Millions gathered in our capital. There were no barricades strong enough to stop them, nor the police determined enough to stop them,” and “We stormed the Parliament.”
Nov. 9. [Oath Keepers] Rhodes hosts a national videoconference during which he “outlined a plan to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power, including preparations for the use of force, and urged those listening to participate,” according to federal prosecutors.
After the call, other members of the group contact others to focus on Washington in January. “We have been issued a call to action for DC,” one wrote. On the same day, an Oath Keeper contacts Rhodes about a reconnaissance trip he had taken to Washington.
Nov. 10. [Oath Keepers] Rhodes publishes a public “call to action” centered on the Serbian process.
Nov. 14. James meets with Rhodes and others in Virginia to learn about the plan to oppose the transfer of power.
Nov. 15. A pro-Trump rally in Washington is followed by sporadic acts of violence.
Nov. 16. [Proud Boys] Tarrio, who had posted incendiary claims several times on social media, writes, “If Biden steals this election, [the Proud Boys] will be political prisoners. We won’t go quietly. . . .I promise.”
Nov. 22. [Oath Keepers] Florida Oath Keepers chapter holds a training on “unconventional warfare.”
Nov. 25. [Proud Boys] In response to a message from Biden in a tweet about being at war with the coronavirus, Tarrio replies, “the American people are at war with YOU.”
Dec. 11. [Oath Keepers] Rhodes tells a Signal group that “We are going to have a fight” should Biden become president.
Dec. 12. Another pro-Trump rally in Washington results in isolated incidents of violence.
[Proud Boys] Proud Boys travel to D.C. to participate in the march. Several are involved in the violence that ensues. Tarrio and others steal a Black Lives Matter banner from outside a church and set it on fire.
[Oath Keepers] A North Carolina Oath Keepers chapter holds a training session, including on road blocks and “setting up hasty ambushes,” among other things.
Dec. 14. Electors meet to cast votes.
[Oath Keepers] Rhodes publishes a letter publicly “advocating for the use of force to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power.”
Dec. 17. [Proud Boys] Tarrio admits to burning the banner on social media.
Dec. 19. Trump tweets: “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”
[Proud Boys] A Proud Boys member encourages Tarrio to “get radical and get real men” after the Trump tweet.
Dec. 20. [Proud Boys] Tarrio and other Proud Boys form a new chapter of the organization called the Ministry of Self Defense (MOSD). The focus, Tarrio says, is “national rally planning.”
Dec. 21. [Oath Keepers] Joshua James declares that there is a “national call to action” centered on Jan. 6.
[Proud Boys] Tarrio hosts a video chat to discuss MOSD and Jan. 6.
Dec. 23. [Oath Keepers] Rhodes publishes another open letter in which he writes that “tens of thousands of patriot Americans, both veterans and non-veterans, will already be in Washington D.C., and many of us will have our mission-critical gear stowed nearby just outside D.C.” He warned that they might need to “take to arms in defense of our God given liberty.”
Dec. 25. [Oath Keepers] One of the indicted Oath Keepers sends a message declaring that the group “need[s] to make those senators very uncomfortable with all of us being a few hundred feet away.” Rhodes follows that by saying, “The only chance we/he has is if we scare the s— out of them and convince them it will be torches and pitchforks time is they don’t do the right thing.”
Dec. 27. [Proud Boys] Tarrio creates an encrypted chat focused on recruiting members for MOSD. A Proud Boys member starts a crowdfunding campaign to buy protective gear for Jan. 6.
Dec. 28. [Proud Boys] Tarrio tells MOSD and prospective members that they will not be wearing identifiable Proud Boys gear on Jan. 6.
Dec. 29. [Proud Boys] Tarrio posts a similar message publicly: the group will “turn out in record numbers on Jan 6th but this time with a twist. . . .We will not be wearing our traditional Black and Yellow. We will be incognito and we will be spread across downtown DC in smaller teams.” He suggests they’ll wear all black, imitating members of the left-wing group antifa.
Dec. 30. [Oath Keepers] Rhodes creates a new Signal group called “DC OP: Jan 6 21.”
He orders night-vision gear and a weapon sight, and has them shipped to Virginia.
[Proud Boys] Tarrio communicates with someone who provides him a plan called “1776 Returns.” It calls for occupying a number of buildings, including on Capitol Hill.
In a video call for prospective members, Tarrio makes clear that Jan. 6 would be “completely different” from past operations and wouldn’t simply be a march. Another Proud Boys member creates a crowdfunding campaign for travel to D.C. It raises more than $5,500.
Dec. 31. [Oath Keepers] In amessages, members of the Oath Keepers mention having a quick reaction force near D.C. and ready to deploy into the city. A number of rooms at a Comfort Inn in Arlington appear to be the location of that response team.
Jan. 1. [Oath Keepers] Rhodes buys more weapons and gear.
[Proud Boys] Among other things, Tarrio posts a message on social media: “New Year’s Revolution.”
Jan. 2. [Oath Keepers] A flurry of messages on logistics for Jan. 6. One Oath Keepers member suggests in the chat among organization leadership that they might bring in additional people either by the road near the Lincoln Memorial or across the Potomac River.
Jan. 3. [Oath Keepers] More planning. Discussions of uniforms and the role of the quick reaction force. Members travel to the DC area.
[Proud Boys] In the MOSD secure chat, members post messages about overwhelming the Capitol.
“[W]hat would they do [if] 1 million patriots stormed and took the capital building,” one reads. “Shoot into the crowd? I think not.” The day prior one had written: “time to stack those bodies in front of Capitol Hill.”
Jan. 3. Trump announces rally outside the White House.
Jan. 4. [Oath Keepers] Rhodes buys more weapons and gear.
[Proud Boys] Tarrio responds to a message about the plan for Jan. 6 with “you want to storm the Capitol” — apparently a recommendation aimed at accomplishing the goal of interrupting the counting of electoral votes.
Tarrio arrives in D.C. and is arrested for the banner-burning incident. After his arrest, the original MOSD chat is shelved. A Proud Boys member warns that law enforcement might have Tarrio’s phone: “Everything is compromised and we can be looking at Gang charge.”
Jan. 5. [Oath Keepers] The quick reaction force is set up. One Oath Keepers member maps a route from the Comfort Inn to the Capitol.
[Proud Boys/Oath Keepers] Tarrio is released from jail. Soon after, he, Rhodes and others meet in a parking garage.
“Just as Tarrio arrived from jail January 5, Rhodes was outside the Phoenix Park Hotel in DC, said a source at the scene,” Reuters’s Aram Roston reported. A lawyer for the Oath Keepers “said her recollection was that Tarrio and a couple of others were in the garage when she walked in with Rhodes … She said Rhodes shook Tarrio’s hand and the two exchanged pleasantries. Then she briefly discussed Tarrio’s need for a lawyer in the D.C. criminal case. … She said about six people were there.” Tarrio told Reuters the meeting was coincidental.
The Justice Department obtained audio of the conversation recorded by a documentary crew; it stated in a recent court filing that “a participant referenced the Capitol” during the discussion. Tarrio also reportedly told someone in attendance that he had cleared all of the messages from his phone before his arrest.
[Proud Boys] A new chat group is created for those in D.C. called “Boots on the Ground.” That evening, a Proud Boys member warns those in the group not to get into trouble that night: “Tomorrow’s the day.” The plan is to meet at the Washington Monument the next morning.
“Communications among the group were clear,” the Justice Department wrote. “MOSD members were looking to [Ethan] Nordean and [Joseph] Biggs to take charge on the ground. And Nordean and Biggs were coordinating — and deferring — to Tarrio.”
Jan. 6. The Capitol is overrun.
Despite that vague meeting on Jan. 5, what’s depicted in the government’s documents is, in fact, two separate plans. There’s no indication that either group changed direction after the meeting in the parking garage; in fact, one Oath Keepers member who spoke with Reuters was surprised that Rhodes had met with Tarrio, given the antipathy between the two groups.
What’s alleged instead is that the Oath Keepers responded to Trump’s loss in 2020 with an immediate call for use force to maintain his presidency. The Proud Boys coalesced around a similar goal only after Trump called for engagement in Washington — at which point much of the “Stop the Steal” infrastructure that sprung up to capitalize on Trump’s false claims of rampant fraud did the same.
That includes the other junction point between the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys: longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone. A longtime friend of Tarrio’s, Stone was being protected by Oath Keepers, including James, even before the evening of Jan. 5. It’s a reminder that, for all the government has made public, there are still questions for which we don’t have answers.
