CINCINNATI -- Federal authorities said Tuesday that they've charged a leader in a paramilitary group with conspiracy and related counts after he and some of the group's members helped storm the U.S. Capitol.
Thomas Edward Caldwell, 65, of Virginia, was the first person to be charged with conspiracy after the Jan. 6 riot. His arrest and those of other group members offer some insight into the planning and coordination behind the attack, which apparently took law enforcement by surprise despite various warnings online.
Caldwell "appears to have a leadership role with" Oath Keepers, a paramilitary group that believes in a "shadowy conspiracy" to strip Americans of their rights, according to FBI investigators. The group often recruits current and former military, police or other first responders.
The FBI stated in charging documents against some Oath Keepers members that they were wearing helmets, protective vests and items with the group's name. The FBI also said that they seemed to "move in an organized and practiced fashion and force their way to the front of the crowd gathered around a door to the U.S. Capitol."
An affidavit filed against Caldwell states that he was involved in the planning and coordinating of the Capitol breach with other members, including two people from Champaign County, Ohio. Federal documents identify them as Jessica Watkins and Donovan Crowl and state that they are members of the Ohio State Regular Militia, dues-paying members of the Oath Keepers.
Caldwell faces other charges that include violent entry or disorderly conduct. It was unclear Tuesday afternoon if he had hired an attorney. A message left Tuesday at his home in Berryville, Va., was not immediately returned.
Separately, a woman accused of entering the U.S. Capitol illegally during the Jan. 6 riot will likely be charged with stealing a computer from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a federal prosecutor said in court Tuesday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Carlson in Harrisburg said he will consider bail and that he plans to conduct a preliminary hearing Thursday in the case of Riley June Williams.
Williams is charged with trespassing as well as violent entry of the Capitol and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors, and is being held in the county jail in Harrisburg.
Federal authorities are preparing two new felony charges of stealing government property and aiding and abetting against the Harrisburg resident, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian T. Haugsby told Carlson. Those charges have not yet been approved by a judge in Washington, he said.
Meanwhile, the FBI says a Georgia attorney accused of joining the attack on the U.S. Capitol riot bragged on social media that he was among the first rioters to break into Pelosi's office, and said she "probably would have been torn into little pieces" if they had found her there.
William McCall Calhoun Jr., 57, of Americus, Ga., made his first court appearance Friday after his arrest on charges including violent entry or disorderly conduct, tampering with a witness and entering a restricted building, according to court records. He remains jailed pending another hearing this week.
An FBI agent's affidavit said a citizen told the FBI about social media posts Calhoun made before, during and after participating in the Jan. 6 riot.
Calhoun wrote he was going to Washington "to give the GOP some back bone" as the House and Senate met to certify the November election won by Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. He posted about pushing past police barricades and being in a group that broke into Pelosi's office.
On Monday, the FBI searched the Huntington Beach, Calif., apartment of a far-right extremist who previously claimed to have attended the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
FBI agents searched an apartment on Viewpoint Lane around 10 a.m., said Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. Eimiller said the search resulted in unspecified items being removed, but no arrests were made.
She did not confirm the identity of the resident of the apartment, but public records show the address is associated with prominent far-right activist Kristopher Martin, also known as Kristopher Dreww, and his hairstyling business, Hair by Kristopher Dreww.
Martin is a far-right activist and supporter of Trump who posted videos on social media Jan. 6, claiming to have been part of the riot at the Capitol. In a video after the Capitol invasion, Martin spoke about being part of the mob and encouraged other people to join.
"I just got back from storming the Capitol," Martin said in the video. "It was successful. For all you b*s on Facebook going crazy right now talking about it was Antifa, and saying it wasn't us, it was us. We proudly took back our Capitol."
Information for this article was contributed by Dan Sewell, Ben Finley and Mark Scolforo of The Associated Press; and by Richard Winton and Melissa Gomez of the Los Angeles Times.