A defendant charged alongside members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol played down his message about ferrying “heavy weapons” across the Potomac River, calling it “creative writing" in testimony Tuesday.
Thomas Caldwell, 68, said he was never serious about trying to secure a boat to transport weapons across the river from a massive “quick reaction force” arsenal that Oath Keepers had stashed in a hotel room. His query about boating “heavy weapons” was among prosecutors' most chilling pieces of evidence in the case that accuses Caldwell and others of a violent plot to stop the transfer of presidential power from Republican Donald Trump to Democrat Joe Biden.
