The unusual friend of Donald Trump who rises above a crowd of strange, Roger Stone, describes himself as a “dirty trickster.” He walked around Washington, D.C. on January 6 wearing a President Richard Nixon tattoo across his back with scary Oath Keeper bodyguards surrounding him. Later, members of that same group attacked our nation’s Capitol.
Now, we find the third member of the Oath Keepers has been arrested and pled guilty Wednesday to charges related to the U.S. Capitol breach and the failed coup. Prosecutors named Mark Grods, who has agreed to cooperate with them as part of his plea agreement, according to recently unsealed court records:
‘[He was charged with] Conspiracy to stop or delay the certification of the Electoral College results and obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting.’
These court filings read that Grods and other defendants traveled in golf carts on January 6. Then in an allegedly pre-planned tactical maneuver, they parked them on Third Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Northeast. The group debarked then walked toward the nation’s greatest symbol of our Democracy, the Capitol Building.
Within it, members of the House and Senate were in the process of certifying President Joe Biden’s election. The insurrectionists’ goal was to disrupt that process and overturn the election for Donald Trump.
As a group, they moved in a traditional military “stack” operating with hand signals to maintain their formation as they advanced on the Capitol, their destination, according to CNN:
The documents alleged that the group of Oath Keepers overran the police barriers. Then, they breached the Capitol through the East Rotunda Doors:
‘[M]inutes after others, Grods had traveled with had entered the same doors and assaulted law enforcement officers in the Rotunda.’
Grods assaulted the Capitol moments later carrying a “large stick” as he participated in overturning our democracy, according to the court documents.
Grods was also charged with illegally carrying firearms to Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Then, the Oath Keeper handed the weapons off to a second individual to hold miles away from the Capitol in a Virginia hotel.
The Oath Keeper’s plea was included in a major conspiracy case against his organization.
Grods was the second Oath Keeper to admit to being a part of a military “stack” as they prepared to enter the Capitol. Last week, another Oath Keeper, Graydon Young, pled guilty to participating in the “stack” that stormed the Capitol.
Founding member of the Oath Keepers, Jon Ryan Schaffer, was the first member of the Oath Keepers to plead guilty in the attempted coup last April. His was a separate case following the insurrection.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
Three White Lions podcast, Gloria Christie reads her week’s most important news/ commentary stories in the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Gloria Christie Report her newsletter for people on the go. Written in her own unique style with a twist of humor in a briefer version of Bipartisan Report. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery. Find her here on Facebook.
