Brian Ulrich, a member of the far-right Oath Keepers, Friday pled guilty to seditious conspiracy and obstructing Congress in connection with the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021.
Ulrich, 44, of Guyton, Georgia, is the second Oath Keepers member after Jon Ryan Schaffer to plead guilty to sedition charges in the federal investigation into the Capitol riot. Eleven Oath Keepers have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack.
The statement of the offense states Ulrich joined an Oath Keepers group chat in November 2020. “Remember, it’s not over until January 20th,” one member wrote, referring to the day before the inauguration. “And if there’s a Civil War then there’s a Civil War,” Ulrich responded. In another Oath Keepers group chat, members planned what gear to bring to Washington, DC, on January 6, including helmets, radios, and weapons.
On the day of the insurrection, Ulrich and other co-defendants drove into the Capitol in golf carts, wearing tactical gear and goggles. Once inside, they forced their way into the building in a military stack-style formation.
“They coordinated travel across the country to enter Washington, D.C., and equipped themselves with a variety of weapons, donned combat and tactical gear, and were prepared to answer [Oath Keeper founder] Rhodes’s call to take up arms at Rhodes’s direction,” court documents stated.
Ulrich faces up to 20 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and up to 20 years for obstructing an official proceeding. As part of the plea deal, Ulrich will cooperate with federal prosecutors in the investigation of the insurrection. A sentencing date has not been set.