Former Oath Keeper Felt He Wanted To Be Keen To ‘Conquer Or Die’ On Jan. 6

Jason Dolan, a former member of the extremist group the Oath Keepers, testified Tuesday that he was ready to take up arms to maintain former President Donald Trump in workplace as members of a far-right mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Dolan, a 20-year veteran of the Marine Corps, pleaded responsible to 1 federal rely of conspiracy and one rely of obstruction of an official continuing in September. He agreed to cooperate absolutely with prosecutors and testified Tuesday as a part of an ongoing seditious conspiracy trial of 5 members of the Oath Keepers.

The group’s chief, Stewart Rhodes, is amongst these on trial.

“I used to be watching lots of movies concerning the election. On the time I felt just like the election had been stolen,” Dolan, 46, testified, in accordance with NBC Information.

He joined the Oath Keepers, a far-right group largely made up of retired navy members and regulation enforcement.

“It felt like throughout the group I used to be with … that there was a core group that will be keen to combat,” he testified later, including he felt he wanted to be keen to “conquer or die” and “take up arms and combat again” to defend Trump’s presidency.

A part of that plan included members of the group stashing weapons in lodge rooms in close by Virginia in preparation for any battle between these defending Trump or then-President-elect Joe Biden, Dolan testified.

“That’s why we introduced our firearms,” he mentioned.

Dolan added he took firearms to Washington, D.C., within the days earlier than the Jan. 6 assault. Prosecutors displayed two weapons, a rifle Dolan constructed and a pistol.

“I’ve to be mentally ready for nevertheless far I’m keen to go to face for America, for the Structure, for the President & for the survival of our beliefs,” he wrote in a chat on Sign earlier than the rebel, per Legislation & Crime. “[I]f I’m fortunate I get a jail sentence, tagged with treason, or a bullet from the very folks I might shield. But I swore to defend this nation towards all enemies international & home.”

His testimony was the primary time a cooperating witness shared an account of being within the pro-Trump mob and the primary time a jury heard proof the Oath Keepers immediately sought to disrupt the certification of the Electoral Faculty outcomes on Jan. 6.

Dolan’s federal sentencing tips vary between 5 and 7 years, though he might obtain some leniency as a part of his plea cope with the federal government.

Prosecutors have lately laid out the case towards Rhodes and his subordinates. On Monday, they mentioned Rhodes and different Oath Keepers went on a cross-country spree shopping for as much as $20,000 in weapons within the days earlier than the Jan. 6 assault.

They haven’t but mentioned what Rhodes did with the weaponry, however his creation of an armed “fast response drive” within the lead-up to the rebel has develop into a central level in prosecutors’ seditious conspiracy case.

Attorneys for Rhodes and the opposite Oath Keepers have argued the short response group was meant for use if Trump invoked the Rebel Act, however not as an offensive drive on the Capitol.