IN TODAY’S MIAMI HERALD: Our reimagined newspaper features an in-depth look at Florida’s outsized role in providing recruits for militant groups like the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, Three Percenters and neo-Nazis. 🧵 
On Jan. 6, 2021, Kelly Meggs, the new “state lead” of the Florida Oath Keepers, and his wife, joined a violent mob breaching the U.S. Capitol, part of a throng loyal to defeated President Donald Trump and bent on overturning the 2020 presidential election. miamiherald.com/news/politics-…
Their “stack” — a military-style line of mostly men in tactical gear marching through the mob — snaked through the crowd, each with a hand on the shoulder of the other, and into the building in one of the many shocking images from the assault, captured on video.
Meggs, who told a TV station he “can’t wait for our day in court,” and 10 other individuals were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit sedition.
Of the 10 men and one woman charged in a Jan 8, 2022, indictment with seditious conspiracy, the most serious counts yet lodged in the wake of the Capitol assault, four are Floridians.
Although Floridians’ fingerprints appear to be all over the Capitol attack, many state residents with alleged Oath Keepers ties were far from Washington on Jan. 6.
Some appear to limit their involvement to taking part in online group chats, where the subjects range from humdrum affairs to gripes about Black Lives Matter to the inevitability of a civil war.
The names of purported members, past and present, were included in a leak of emails and other documents, obtained by a self-styled hacker group called Distributed Denial of Secrets.
The emails and other leaked records offer a window into the world as seen by Oath Keepers.
The emails and other leaked records offer a window into the world as seen by Oath Keepers.
The Florida chapter maintains a standard for membership, and its vetting process was spelled out in the records leak.
The screening process includes a questionnaire that subjects applicants to a background check — optional for those with concealed weapons permits, since they require much of the same information.
The leak of communications is rife with incendiary talk about race war, the supposed threat of Islam and the need to put the nation’s politicians in internment camps.
It wasn’t all militancy.
They also got together to help clean up after hurricanes around the state, went hunting for deer and feral hogs, and took fishing trips, said William Beaver, who ultimately became leader of the Southeast Florida chapter.
They also got together to help clean up after hurricanes around the state, went hunting for deer and feral hogs, and took fishing trips, said William Beaver, who ultimately became leader of the Southeast Florida chapter.
Beaver said the group eventually became more radical, with several members traveling to take part in stand-offs with the federal government at ranches in Nevada and Oregon — activities he described as “borderline legal.” He said he left the group around 2018.
He said he warned Oath Keepers that he still kept in touch with not to go to Washington, D.C. last year.
“It’s a set-up,” he said he told them.
After leaving the Oath Keepers, Beaver joined a similar organization.
“But I’m not going to name them.”
“It’s a set-up,” he said he told them.
After leaving the Oath Keepers, Beaver joined a similar organization.
“But I’m not going to name them.”
Search warrants, the indictment and other paperwork describe Meggs and other Floridians using an encrypted chat group labeled “OK FL DC OP Jan 6” to organize ahead of the riot.
Several defendants associated with Meggs said the move on the Capitol was spontaneous.
Several defendants associated with Meggs said the move on the Capitol was spontaneous.
But evidence suggests otherwise.
The indictment identifies two post-election efforts to train Florida members for the Jan. 6 “operation.” On Nov. 22, the chapter held a training on “unconventional warfare.” An additional session on “ultimate training munitions” was planned on Dec. 26, the charging document says.
Jon Moseley, the attorney for the Oath Keepers national leader and founder Stewart Rhodes, said he is eager to speak with Meggs to gain an understanding — for the benefit of his own client — of what exactly happened leading up to Jan. 6.
According to the Justice Department, Rhodes urged the Floridians to “refuse to accept” the election results, to “march en-mass on the nation’s Capitol.”
He also evoked the example of Serbia in 2000, when a general strike and popular uprising forced dictator Slobodan Milosevic to accept defeat amid a disputed election.
“The quotes look bad,” Moseley said. “What can I say.”
Some of the most prominent figures in the far-right so-called “patriot movement” live in Florida, making the state not just fertile ground for recruitment but a national stage for extremists with ambitions beyond school boards and statehouses. miamiherald.com/news/politics-…
Florida is, at least for now, No. 1 when it comes to residents rounded up and charged in connection with the siege on Jan. 6, 2021. miamiherald.com/news/local/cri…
Visit our website or eEdition to read more.
You can find all of our coverage here: miamiherald.com/e-edition/today
You can find all of our coverage here: miamiherald.com/e-edition/today
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