the river in Virginia, amassing an arsenal to come to DC "by land" or "by sea," as Florida State-chapter lead—and defendant convicted of seditious conspiracy—Kelly Meggs said.[41] Oath Keeper Jason Dolan testified at the seditious conspiracy trial that the "quick reaction force [was] ready to go get our firearms in order to stop the election from being certified within Congress."[42] Dolan further testified that the Oath Keepers came to Washington, DC "to stop the certification of the election. . . . [b]y any means necessary. That's why we brought our firearms."[43]
Garret Miller—a January 6th defendant who traveled from Richardson, Texas—posted on Facebook that "he was bringing guns with him but 'might just keep 1 hidden one and store the rest in Virginia'" after learning about the DC law.[44] He also threatened to assassinate Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and predicted a "civil war could start."[45]
Many members of the crowd decided against bringing firearms into the nation's capital, and armed themselves in other ways. Alex Kirk Harkrider from Carthage, Texas, and his co-defendant, Ryan Nichols, left guns in a parked car just outside the district before attending the rally.[46] Harkrider still brought a tomahawk axe.[47] During the march to the Capitol, he yelled "[c]ut their fucking heads off!"[48] One rioter told the Select Committee he saw another carrying a "pitchfork."[49]
Members of the mob carried flags and turned the flagpoles into weapons. Michael Foy, from Wixom, Michigan, carried a hockey stick to the Ellipse—he draped a Trump flag over it.[50] Just hours later, Foy used that hockey stick to repeatedly beat police officers at the inaugural tunnel.[51] Former New York City police officer Thomas Webster carried a Marine flag, which he later used to attack an officer holding the rioters back at the lower West Plaza.[52] Another individual, Danny Hamilton, carried a flag with a sharpened tip, which he said was "for a certain person," to which Trevor Hallgren(who had traveled with Hamilton to Washington, DC) responded: "it has begun." Later, Hallgren commented that "[t]here's no escape Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler. We're coming for you. . . . Even you AOC. We're coming to take you out. To pull you out by your hairs." On January 5th, Hallgren took a tour of the Capitol with Representative Barry Loudermilk, during which he took pictures of hallways and staircases.[53]
The mob President Trump summoned to Washington, DC, on January 6th, was prepared to fight.
8.2 MARCH OF THE PROUD BOYS
While tens of thousands of President Trump's supporters attended the rally at the Ellipse, the Proud Boys had other plans. On the morning of January
