Fox News host Tucker Carlson repeatedly interviewed Thomas Caldwell who was indicted by the FBI earlier this week on charges of seditious conspiracy for his role in coordinating the Oath Keepers attack on Jan. 6, Media Matters reports.
Caldwell was initially indicted and arrested for his actions on Jan. 6 shortly after the attack, but was released on bond in March due to his deteriorating health.
Social media messages revealed in court documents in January shows Caldwell boasting about storming the Capitol with his wife and saying they were ready to do it on a local level.
“Us storming the castle. Please share. Sharon was right with me! I am such an instigator! She was ready for it man! Didn’t even mind the tear gas,” he wrote on Jan. 6. “We need to do this at the local level. Lets storm the capitol in Ohio. Tell me when!”
Court documents also revealed messages between Caldwell and two others accused of being his co-conspirators in the weeks leading up to January 6.
“Driving in with my wife from Berryville VA but am soending night before at Comfort Inn Arlington/Ballston on Glebe Road. Meeting up with Oathkeepers from North Carolina and Patriot group from the Shenandoah Valley,” Caldwell wrote on Dec. 24, 2020.
“This is a good location and would allow us to hunt at night if we wanted to,” he wrote on Jan. 1. “I don’t know if Stewie has even gotten out his call to arms but its a little friggin late. This is one we are doing on our own. We will link up with the north carolina crew.”
Caldwell first appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in October 2021 where he denied ever entering the Capitol or being a member of the Oath Keepers.
During his appearances on his show, Carlson and his guests ignored key details of Caldwell’s case and tried to portray him as a “disabled veteran” and the victim of overzealous prosecution for the events of January 6, Media Matters reports.
In reality, the Oath Keepers had amassed “firearms on the outskirts of Washington. D.C” on January 6, readying members to rapidly transport the stockpiled firearms into DC to distribute them among quick reaction force (QRF) teams “in support of operations aimed at using force to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power. The QRF teams were coordinated, in part, by Thomas Caldwell and Edward Vallejo,” according to the Department of Justice.
“If we had someone standing by at a dock ramp (one near the Pentagon for sure) we could have our Quick Response Team with the heavy weapons standing by, quickly load them and ferry them across the river to our waiting arms,” Caldwell said in a text message on January 2.
Carlson interviewed Caldwell after he was charged on Thursday. He denied that he had made those plans to ferry weapons across the Potomac and claimed once again that he was not inside the Capitol, despite text messages saying otherwise.
Caldwell was among the 11 Capitol riot defendants, including the founder of the Oath Keeper, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, to be charged with seditious conspiracy on Thursday. If convicted, Caldwell faces up to 20 years in prison.
