FBI agent says ‘zombie killer’ is part of US Congress mob plan

WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) – The “zombie killer” tomahawk is one of the weapons Donald Trump’s supporters have suggested to bring to January. June 6, 2021 FBI agents stormed the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, testifying at the trial of five members of the far-right Oath Keepers.

Thomas Caldwell was one of five people on trial, FBI agent Michael Palian read from what he said was planning documents prepared by Thomas Caldwell. One, the charges include inciting conspiracy for their alleged involvement in planning an attack aimed at overthrowing then-President Trump’s electoral defeat.

“Each team member should be armed with strike weapons,” Caldwell wrote in the Dec. 12 document. On February 2, 2020, Palian said on the third day of his testimony. “When the fight comes in, apply the strike weapon where it can make the most of it.”

Knives, multi-tools and “zombie killer” tomahawks are recommended as weapons.

Oath Keepers leader Stuart Rhodes and four associates – Caldwell, Kenneth Harrison, Kelly Meggs and Jessica Watkins – are accused of conspiring to prevent Congress from certifying Democrats Election victory for Joe Biden on January 1. June 6, 2021, failed to keep Republican Trump in power.

Some of the defendants were among Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol after the then-president falsely claimed the election was taken from him through widespread fraud, prosecutors said.

The five defendants are charged with multiple felonies, including incitement to conspiracy, a Civil War-era law that is rarely prosecuted and carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Defense lawyers said the evidence would show that the accused did nothing illegal and that the sworn-in is simply a peacekeeping organization that has carried out security work at events across the country in recent years.

Testimony on Thursday revealed that Caldwell instructed Oath Keepers members in the action plan not to use their real names, how to create cover stories for their “mission,” and to use “burn-in phones” because their personal cell phones were traceable.

Caldwell also wrote that “OTC (overall tactical commanders) should consider providing limited firearms that can be quickly introduced into the mission area.” He added that they should wear gloves and wipe before use to remove any fingerprints , thus making the weapon “unattributable”.

quick response

Prosecutors said the defendants were trained and planned to stockpile weapons for a “Quick Response Force,” or QRF, which would be ready to ship weapons to Washington on Jan. 6 by storing them at a hotel in northern Virginia outside the capital. Prepare.

A second witness, John Zimmerman, a former oath-keeper from North Carolina, testified Thursday that he attended QRF for a Nov. 11 pro-Trump rally in Washington. January 14, 2020. Zimmerman was not in Washington in January. 6.

Zimmerman said he had previously interacted with Rhodes at a Trump pre-election rally in North Carolina, where Rhodes was on the phone with someone he said was a Secret Service agent.

Zimmerman said Oath Keepers members discussed the need for weapons on Nov. 11. 14 Because they fear potential violence by counter-demonstrators.

“These weapons will be needed if President Trump enacts the Insurrection Act,” Zimmerman quoted Rhodes as telling them. The Insurrection Act is a law that empowers the president to deploy the military to suppress civil unrest.

Zimmerman voluntarily provided his van, in which members stored about six pistols and 12 to 15 rifles, he said. During the rally, he and others in the van waited at Arlington National Cemetery, the largest military cemetery in the United States, across the Potomac River from Washington, but were never called.

Zimmerman also said he joined Oathkeepers as an emergency response team, but was unhappy with Rhodes’ suggested tactics, including acting like a parent pushing a stroller — but with arms.

“I told him it was a trap,” Zimmerman said. “If we’re going to trick people into attacking us so we can beat them? That’s not what we do.”

Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Scott Malone, Richard Pullin and Jonathan Oatis

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