Rose made violent comments at a conference in Texas with Jason Alpers, who described himself on the witness stand as a veteran and co-founder of the Allied Security Operations Group (ASOG). The organization played a key role in spreading false claims about the 2020 election through misleading and inaccurate reports about voting machine software.
Speaking on the stand, Alpers said there was an “indirect” line to Trump’s “entourage” but did not elaborate.
That apparent relationship was the reason Rhodes wanted to meet, Alpers testified. What he got, he said, finally bothered him enough to go to the FBI.
Alpers appears in Week 6 of the trial of Rhodes and four others accused of participating in an inflammatory conspiracy against the US government. He was presented by prosecutors seeking to prove that the actions of the sworn guardians on January 6 were only part of an attempt to block the legitimate transition of presidential power by any means necessary. He was one of the last witnesses.
he was An FBI agent then displays firearms, knives, and tactical equipment Rose has purchased since January 6 (valued at more than $17,000, according to testimony) as the former Army Paratrooper urges his followers to prepare for civil war. I read your message.
Prosecutors say Rhodes was in hiding in Texas and met Alpers in the parking lot of an electronics store. Also present were Oath Keeper Joshua James, who pleaded guilty, and Kelly Sorrell, a lawyer who had a romantic relationship with Rhodes.
As he had made public before Jan. 6, Rhodes repeatedly said Trump should invoke the Riot Act. He believed this would allow militias to block the inauguration of President Biden.
Rhodes told Alpers that “he and his family” would be “dead” if Trump gave up power. He compared this election to his 1917 overthrow of the Russian Tsar, after which the entire royal family was slaughtered.
Alpers testified that Rhodes wrote a similar message to Trump. And all of us veterans will support you, as will the majority of the military. “
Rhodes claims he is only defending what he believes to be a legitimate order from the president. , which indicated that he and his supporters acted violently.
“This is the problem, we are going to fight,” Rhodes is recorded as saying. “We are not going to let them bring our brothers. We are going to fight, the battle will be ours.”
And had he known Trump would never invoke the Riot Act on Jan. 6, he would have gone further that day, including assassinating a Democratic leader, Rhodes said.
“If he wasn’t going to do the right thing and just get taken away unlawfully, he should have brought a rifle,” Rhodes said in the recording. Hang Pelosi from a pillar.
Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, is currently hospitalized after being attacked by a man authorities say was trying to kill her.
In the recording, Rhodes called the riot “a good thing in the end.” Because “we showed people that we have a spirit of resistance.”
But he said that if Trump resigned, “everyone in the Capitol” risked being indicted for “felony murder…because someone died.” SoRelle can be heard agreeing: “I know it happens.”
Felony homicide applies when the death results from the commission of another felony crime.
In a recording, Alpers told Rhodes that he never thought Trump would invoke the Riot Act. testified that it was based on discussions in
Emails released Wednesday by Trump attorney John Eastman show the matter was discussed by people close to the president. On Dec. 19, 2020, Eastman told an unknown correspondent, “Stop down this road,” because it “leads to a constitutional crisis.”
Alpers said he did not relay Rose’s words to Trump “because he did not agree with the message.” He also said he fears that being associated with these “extremist ideologies” will damage his “relationships and trust.”
Alpers told The Washington Post last year that, to the best of his knowledge, ASOG launched an “election fraud project” after he left the company.
In a podcast last year, a former ASOG employee named Josh Merritt said Alpers linked the group with Phil Waldron. “Alpers was a psyop. Waldron was involved in a psyop,” Merritt said.
Waldron, a retired colonel, has made numerous visits to the White House to share evidence of alleged election fraud. Work directly with Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to file a legal challenge to the vote count, circulate a PowerPoint presentation by Jan. 6, and Trump will use the military to seize the ballots argued that it was possible.
Waldron did not return requests for comment.
One ASOG report on software used in Antrim County, Michigan, claims to have found evidence of a widespread conspiracy to modify votes. The report’s central allegations were quickly debunked by independent experts and Homeland Security officials, but Trump said it was “absolute proof” of fraud and that he would be serving a second term. could remain president, former Attorney General William P. Barr later told Congressional Researchers.
Alpers said he didn’t do anything to the recording at first because he “didn’t want to get involved,” but he met with federal law enforcement in the spring of 2021.
“To ask you to understand that the civil war was fought on America’s behalf and that you are the one who went to war means blood will be spilled in the streets where your family is,” he said. “At that point, I’m really wondering if it’s in the best interest to take a step back and push this onto President Trump.”
“Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that President Trump will not take the decisive action we urged him to take,” Rhodes told Oath Keepers leaders four days after meeting Alpers. The record shows that He urged the group to delete all related correspondence on January 6 and “rally” against the “illegal regime.”
Texts read in court show other defendants responding enthusiastically, discussing potential hideouts and weapons to construct.
Emma Brown and Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report.
