Prosecutors say Jason Dolan is the individual pictured inside the green oval.
Federal prosecutors argued in court papers on Tuesday that a magistrate judge was wrong to allow a 20-year Marine veteran charged in the Oath Keepers conspiracy case to get out of jail ahead of trial. The government argued that 44-year-old Jason Dolan — a Marine marksmanship instructor for a decade — is too dangerous to let out.
“Defendant Jason Dolan should be detained pending trial, as he is a danger to the community. Like detained co-defendant Kenneth Harrelson (as ‘Gator 6’), Defendant Dolan (as ‘Turmoil’) helped lead a group of Oath Keepers who organized and plotted with coconspirators to stop the certification of the Electoral College vote, prepared to use violence if necessary, and stormed the Capitol. Like Harrelson, Defendant Dolan deposited his weapons at the ‘QRF [quick reaction force] hotel’ in Arlington before coming into Washington, D.C. But unlike Harrelson, who still had firearms at his house upon his arrest, Dolan has since hidden his firearms,” prosecutors said.
The government has said that Dolan was a part of the Oath Keepers “Stack” that “pushed forward alongside a mob that aggressively advanced towards the Columbus Doors at the central east entrance to the Capitol, assaulted the officers guarding the doors, threw objects and sprayed chemicals towards the officers and the door, and pulled violently on the doors” on Jan. 6.
In the latest filing, prosecutors devoted an entire section to a The Gateway Pundit interview of an anonymous Marine veteran from May 24. The magistrate judge said the government previously fell short in proving that the veteran was Dolan, but this time prosecutors claim they can show it was Dolan who espoused a “conspiracy theory” about police opening “magnetic locks” to let him and others into the Capitol.
“Just two weeks ago, Defendant Dolan apparently gave an interview to the Gateway Pundit, describing his actions on January 6 and a conspiracy theory about the Capitol Police actually unlocking the ‘magnetic’ doors to let him inside. Judge Matthewman held that the government did not meet its burden to prove that Defendant Dolan in fact gave the interview. The government does so below,” prosecutors began.
The first piece of proof the government cited is that the Gateway Pundit’s interviewee said he was at the top of the steps next to another Oath Keeper in what he described as the “infamous stack video.”
Next, the interviewee said he was a 20-year Marine veteran who is now retired. The government said this matches up with Dolan’s career exactly. The third detail prosecutors cited was an image that Gateway Pundit obtained from the interviewee.
This image matched up with a video recovered from Kenneth Harrelson’s phone, prosecutors say.
“Video recovered from Harrelson’s phone shows Defendant Dolan standing in front of Harrelson, holding up his Android cell phone, and taking a picture of almost the precise scene that the interviewee later provided to the website,” the filing said.
The fourth factor cited by the government was basically a process of elimination:
Fourth, the interviewee said he was an Oath Keeper, that he entered the Capitol with the stack, and that he expected to be arrested soon. Of the approximately 13 members of the stack, all but 6 had been arrested at the time the interviewee made his comments. (The arrests of Defendant Dolan and co-defendants Hackett and Isaacs have since brought that number down to 3.)
The government cited the Gateway Pundit interview as an exhibit, including a rough transcription of the audio and the magnetic locks “conspiracy theory” as described by the retired Marine (or “RM”).
Notably, the retired Marine claimed in that interview that there was “never any preplanned intention, operation, criteria to go into the Capitol.”
Prosecutors say that photos of Dolan at the so-called “Quick Reaction Force Hotel” (QRF) — with long gun cases and fellow Oath Keepers — show that it’s not true that there was no pre-planning.
As Law&Crime reported in late May, prosecutors alleged that Dolan’s alleged co-conspirator Thomas Caldwell organized a group of militia members to be on “standby with guns” at the so-called “QRF hotel” across the Potomac. The government said Caldwell described a “worst case scenario” where then-President Donald Trump “calls us up as part of the militia to to assist him inside DC.” Caldwell allegedly went so far as to suggest that the “QRF” could travel across the Potomac with their guns—by boat:
Can’t believe I just thought of this: how many people either in the militia or not (who are still supportive of our efforts to save the Republic) have a boat on a trailer that could handle a Potomac crossing? 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. I’m not talking about a bass boat. Anyone who would be interested in supporting the team this way? I will buy the fuel. More or less be hanging around sipping coffee and maybe scooting on the river a bit and pretending to fish, then if it all went to shit, our guy loads our weps AND Blue Ridge Militia weps and ferries them across. Dude! If we had 2 boats, we could ferry across and never drive into D.C. at all!!!! Then get picked up. Is there a way to PLEASE pass the word among folks you know and see if someone would jump in the middle of this to help. I am spreading the word, too. Genius if someone is willing and hasn’t put their boat away for the winter.
As for Dolan, prosecutors said the defendant attended 10 GoToMeeting sessions with Oath Keepers, including a “dc planning call” meeting on Jan. 3—three days before the attack on the Capitol. The Jan. 3 meeting took place the day after Caldwell allegedly messaged his “contacts” about the boat idea.
Dolan was hit with charges in a fourth superseding indictment against fellow Oath Keeper defendants Thomas Caldwell, Donavan Crowl, Jessica Watkins, Sandra Parker, Bennie Parker, Graydon Young, Laura Steele, Kelly Meggs, Connie Meggs, Robert Minuta, Joshua James, Jonathan Walden, Joseph Hackett, William Isaacs, and Kenneth Harrelson, pictured in the red oval next to Dolan at the top of this story.
Prosecutors allege that the “coconspirators’ movements and statements [after entering the Capitol] are relevant to their intent, and their dangerousness.”
“When Defendant Dolan moved south in the direction of the House chamber, it is reasonable to infer that he and his coconspirators may have been going to look for Speaker Nancy Pelosi,” documents said.
Dolan is charged with conspiracy, obstruction, destruction of government property, and trespassing in a restricted building.
A detention hearing is set for Friday. U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta will preside. One of the attorneys representing Dolan is Michael T. van der Veen, the Philadelphia personal injury attorney who defended then-President Donald Trump against the impeachment charge of inciting an insurrection.
Read the government motion and the full Gateway Pundit exhibit below.
[Image via FBI]
Follow Law&Crime:
