Prosecutors say Oath Keepers coordinated with Proud Boys ahead of Capitol riot

Prosecutors are alleging that the Oath Keepers militia group coordinated with the Proud Boys ahead of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The allegation came in a court filing on Tuesday, in which prosecutors were urging a D.C. federal court not to release alleged Oath Keeper Kelly Meggs from detention ahead of his trial. 

Prosecutors included redacted Facebook messages from Meggs coordinating with the Proud Boys ahead of a planned rally in D.C. on Jan. 6.

A number of members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have been indicted on conspiracy charges in connection with the riot, but the messages are the first showing that the groups might have worked together.

On Dec. 19, Meggs wrote that he organized an alliance between the Oath Keepers, the Florida Three Percenters group and the Proud Boys and that the groups have “decided to work together and shut this shit down.”

One Facebook chat dated Dec. 22 indicated that at least 50 to 100 Oath Keepers would be in D.C. In that chat, Meggs wrote that “we have made contact with the PB and they always have a big group. Force multiplier.”

Meggs also sent a message on Dec. 25 about a “provisions list” for the riot, including mace, gas masks, batons and armor. He also discussed communicating a plan with the Proud Boys.

“You can hang with us we will probably be guarding [redacted] that or someone during the day but then at night we have orchestrated a plan with the proud boys,” the message read. “I’ve been communicating with [redacted] the leader. We are gonna March with them for a while then fall to the back of the crowd and turn off. Then we will have the proud boys get in front of them the cops will get between antifa and proud boys. We will come behind antifa and beat the hell out of them.”

More than 300 people have been charged in connection to the Capitol riot that resulted in five deaths.

The first conspiracy charges relating to the Capitol riot were handed to the Oath Keepers in January. A grand jury indicted four members of the Proud Body on conspiracy charges, according to court documents that were unsealed Friday.