Feds: Ex-NC cop part of Oath Keepers plot to storm US Capitol and overturn Trump loss

This story was updated on Monday, Feb. 22 at 10 a.m.

Two more North Carolina residents — including an apparent former N.C. law enforcement officer accused of being part of a right-wing militia group — have been arrested in connection with the violent Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol.

They were identified in newly released court documents Friday as Laura Steele, 52, of Thomasville, and Lewis Easton Cantwell, 35, of Sylva.

Their arrests mean at least five North Carolinians have been charged with taking part in the storming the iconic government landmark. Hundreds of supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump battled police, shattered windows and doors, and marauded through the Capitol to block congressional certification of Trump’s electoral loss to Joe Biden.

One police officer died and some 140 other officers suffered injuries. One rioter was fatally shot, and at least three other deaths have been linked to the chaos, including the suicides of two police officers. The Capitol and its grounds suffered millions of dollars in damages.

The full extent of North Carolina ties to the violence is still emerging. But in a new indictment, federal prosecutors said Steele was part of a months-long, multi-state conspiracy by the militia group, the Oath Keepers, to storm the Capitol in support of Trump.

According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Steele is a former High Point police officer and is married to a department assistant chief, Kenneth Steele.

She is one of six new alleged members of the right-wing group who were arrested and charged, court documents show. The others include her brother, Graydon Young of Englewood, Fla., and two married couples: Kelly and Connie Meggs of Dunnellon, Fla.; and Bennie and Sandra Parker of the Cincinnati area.

The indictment added new charges against three people already in federal custody for their alleged roles in the attack: Jessica Watkins and Donovan Crowl, both of Ohio; and Thomas Caldwell of Virginia.

Photos included in a new FBI affidavit show a group of men and women wearing camouflaged combat gear moving through the crowds inside and outside the Capitol in a tight military formation known as “a stack,” in which each member keeps a hand on the person in front.

The Oath Keepers largely are made up of current or former military or police and get their name from the oath they take to protect the country from enemies “foreign and domestic.”

In this case, the supposed enemies were the defendants’ fellow countrymen, who the group believed — with no legitimate proof — had stolen the election from Trump. The outgoing president then scheduled a Washington rally for Jan. 6, the day Congress was to certify Biden’s win.

“Trump said It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!! It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!! He wants us to make it WILD that’s what he’s saying,” Kelly Meggs wrote on Facebook on Dec. 22, according to the indictment.

“He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Sir Yes Sir!!! Gentlemen we are heading to DC pack your s---!!”

In her Jan. 3 application to join the group, Steele said she had 13 years of law enforcement experience as a K-9 officer and a SWAT team member, and was working for a private armed security firm, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Friday. According to the Journal, Steele’s also served as a school resource officer. Her LinkedIn page, which appears to have been deleted, listed her as a public safety officer for Novant Health, the paper reported.

The defendants had begun planning in November to help keep Trump in office, according to the court filings. Steele, documents claim, joined the Oath Keepers only days before traveling to D.C. for the Jan. 6 Trump rally that preceded the riot. She was arrested Wednesday in Greensboro.

She faces four charges, including conspiracy and destruction of government property and aiding and abetting.

Earlier federal court filings connected to the Oath Keepers alleged that North Carolina served as a training site for the group as well as a supplier of munitions and armed personnel pledging to overturn Biden’s victory.

Cantwell charged

Cantwell, who had a midday hearing Friday in Asheville’s federal courthouse, is charged with storming the Capitol, destroying property, refusing to leave and interfering with a police officer and attempting to disrupt a government activity, among other crimes.

He was released on an unsecured $25,000 bond. U.S. Magistrate Judge Carleton Metcalf ordered him to report to federal authorities in Washington, D.C., who are handling the Capitol cases. He has not been linked to the Oath Keepers.

An Observer search of public records shows that Cantwell’s criminal record is made up of driving offenses only.

Observer staff writer Gavin Off contributed to this story.

This story was originally published February 19, 2021 at 9:07 AM with the headline "Feds: Ex-NC cop part of Oath Keepers plot to storm US Capitol and overturn Trump loss."

Michael Gordon

The Charlotte Observer

704-358-5095

Michael Gordon has been the Observer’s legal affairs writer since 2013. He has been an editor and reporter at the paper since 1992, occasionally writing about schools, religion, politics and sports. He spent two summers as “Bikin Mike,” filing stories as he pedaled across the Carolinas.