A leader of the New Jersey chapter of the Oath Keepers has been charged for allegedly planning with other members of the paramilitary group to storm the U.S. Capitol. James Breheny, the Bergen County, New Jersey, “coordinator” for the far-right group, has been charged with several crimes, including violent entry and impeding an official proceeding, for his role in the Jan. 6 siege. According to a criminal complaint unsealed on Thursday, Breheny had been planning for the siege with other members as early as December, when he invited Oath Keeper founder Stewart Rhodes to a meeting of “multiple patriot groups” three days before the Capitol riots to “prepare.” “This will be the day we get our comms on point with multiple other patriot groups, share rally points etc,” Breheny said, according to the complaint. “This one is important and I believe this is our last chance to organize before the show. This meeting will be for leaders only.”
On Jan. 6, prosecutors said Rhodes invited Breheny to an encrypted group chat where several other Oath Keepers already charged for their roles in the insurrection had been coordinating the day’s plan of attack. In the chat, Rhodes said Breheny was “coming in with a team from NJ, and who also has contacts with several militia leaders.” During the siege, Breheny is captured in photos and videos storming the Capitol “via a violent and sustained assault against law enforcement officers.” “We breached the door baby,” he said in one text during the riots, the complaint states. Hours later, Breheny posted on Facebook that people “need to stand up and fight” because “we exhausted all legal channels.” “They refuse to investigate any of crimes or voter issues. Therefore the Government has become tyrannical. The People’s Duty is to replace that Government with one they agree with. I’m all ears. What’s our options???” he wrote, according to the complaint.
