UPDATED: Arizona’s Seditionist Edward Vallejo and the Oath Keepers Indictment

UPDATE 1/20/22 @ 14:00: JustSecurity.org found and archived a podcast referenced in the Before The Attack section below; excerpts added.

I read the Grand Jury indictment of the #OathKeepersEleven for seditious conspiracy. There is plenty of coverage of this indictment elsewhere, especially as regards Elmer Stewart Rhodes, but as we are an Arizona blog, I thought it might be useful to focus on the Arizona resident who is alleged to be part of the conspiracy: Edward Vallejo.

All factual statements herein are based upon the indictment and/or media reports, thus any assertions of fact are, at this point, merely alleged to have happened. Quotations below are either quoted from the indictment or are things Vallejo allegedly said or wrote, unless otherwise indicated.

What do we know about Vallejo? What did Vallejo do on #Jan6th according to the indictment? And who else in Arizona may have been in on the plot against democracy?

[bctt tweet=”Vallejo, a resident of Phoenix, is an alleged #OathKeepers regional leader of the armed ‘Quick Reaction Force’ from Arizona, which was one of the ways the seditious conspirators were prepared to deploy armed force on #Jan6th” username=”BlogForArizona”]

Vallejo, a 63-year-old resident of Phoenix and Arizona native, is an alleged Oath Keepers regional leader of the armed ‘Quick Reaction Force’ (QRF) from Arizona, which was one of the ways the seditious conspirators were prepared to deploy armed force on Jan6th. As such, it is not alleged that Vallejo entered the Capital building that day. Instead, he apparently remained with the firearm-equipped QRF at the Comfort Inn Ballston in Arlington, VA on the outskirts of DC, although he may have gone to, or near, the Capital the next day.

Vallejo is reported to be planning to plead ‘not guilty to all charges in the near future. The DOJ said the FBI’s Phoenix field offices, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Arizona, provided assistance in the case, which is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

Public records suggest Vallejo doesn’t (yet) have a criminal record. Vallejo is listed as vice president of a non-profit called Homefront Battle Buddies on the organization’s web page. The group says its mission is “building a community to serve America’s veterans.” Vallejo’s picture is prominently on the homepage of that group. Arizona corporate records show the non-profit was formed just eight months ago, in May 2021. Its address is a rural location in Ash Fork in Yavapai County.

There have been no further tweets from that account as of this post. Presumably, his ‘interrogation’ of the FBI did not go well, as he was arrested soon after this tweet.

Before The Attack

According to the indictment, On Dec. 31, 2020, an un-named Arizona QRF team member messaged Rhodes, saying Vallejo and others were coming to D.C. and that “everyone coming has their own technical equipment and knows how to use it,” adding a “winky face” emoji.

“The Arizona QRF team member also said that the group would have ‘rifles’ and ‘manpower,’” according to the indictment.

While in transit, Vallejo sent a message via a Signal (an encrypted messaging app) chat called Leadership Signal Chat, “Sir, Ed Vallejo of Arizona in Tenn. With cadre requesting coordinates to Allied encampment outside DC boundaries to rendezvous. Please respond ASAP. For the Republic.”

Ahead of the Jan. 6 riot, Vallejo and others were seen on video at the Comfort Inn Ballston (the hotel) in Arlington as they “wheeled in bags and large bins of weapons, ammunition, and essential supplies to last 30 days,” prosecutors wrote.

In a podcast recorded the morning before the attack, Vallejo and another Arizona QRF member discussed the possibility of “armed conflict” and “guerrilla war” between his group and law enforcement if the Capitol were breached, and explained that “there are people who are prepared, have the will, have the facilities to do more than taunt.”

UPDATE 1/20/22: This podcast has been located and archived by JustSecurity.org. The other person on the podcast with Vallejo is identified as Todd Kandaris of Mesa, AZ, and CEO of Stepwyze.io. Based on the wording of the indictment, I gather that Kardaris is suspected of having been another member of the Arizona QRF present at the hotel outside of DC.

Here are some of the more interesting excerpts:

Soundcloud clip 1:

Kandaris is identified as the person identified saying, “It’s the old Monty Python “go away, or I shall taunt you a second time.” Right? But the fact is that there are people here who are prepared, have the will, have the facilities, to do more than taunt. The question is, you know, is there a shot heard around the world moment? The possibility definitely exists.”

Soundcloud clip 2:

In clip 2, Vallejo gets quite intemperate indeed:

Vallejo: “[M]y gut feeling and that’s the one I’m gonna go with, is we are going to be told the American people are going to be told today that we have liberty and justice for all, or they’re gonna be told, ‘fuck you.’ Okay. And if, and if they’re told, ‘fuck you,’ that’s going to be the declaration of a guerilla war.”

…

Vallejo: I’m just praying to God that Trump has his head on fucking straight and he knows what he’s doing. He’s got the machinations behind him. He’s got all the proof in the world, and he’s gonna bring the hammer down.

Hancock: I hope so, but I, I…

Vallejo: You know, that’s the only, that’s our only, only hope that if, if that doesn’t happen, the shit is on.

Hancock: Right. I, I, I hope so that he actually does because I’m not, I, I I’m my biggest concern is everybody, um, depending on somebody else to fix it for him, you know, let’s get…

Vallejo: Well’s that’s fine. No, that’s fine, Ernie, because I’m the motherfucker that’s gonna fix it for them. If they tell me today, it’s broken.

Hancock: Well, I, I don’t need Ed to fix it for me either, but you fix it for you. You go fix it for you. Well, let, let Todd…

Vallejo: You know what I’ve been telling people?You know what I’ve been telling people, Ernie? I’ve been telling people that for years, I’m the guy that everybody said no, Ed, you can’t shoot ’em yet. It’s too soon. No, Ed, you can’t shoot the bastard yet. It’s too soon. Well, I’ve been telling ’em about five, six months ago. They quit telling me.

There are further clips with more statements by Vallejo, Kardaris, and Rhodes from podcasts from the morning of the Jan 6th attack, and the day following, all of which are quite illustrative of the conspiracists’ intent and state of mind.

On January 12 while in Texas on the drive back to Arizona an un-named Arizona QRF member messaged Elmer Stewart Rhodes, “Hi Stewart. I’m sure you’re busy but wanted to let you know that [Vallejo] and I are here… We are excited to learn next steps and would like to know what we should be doing right now.”

Take-Aways

The Arizona QRF led by Vallejo was one of three identified in the indictment at the hotel, including QRFs from North Carolina and Florida. It is unclear if the QRFs are designated as such because their ‘leaders’ are from those states – such as Vallejo – or the entire QRFs consisted of people recruited from those states. My conjecture is the latter, as Vallejo traveled from Arizona to the DC area in the days leading up to Jan 6th, it makes sense that the members of his QRF were fellow residents of Arizona, or at least mustered there for the trip.

I conclude from this conjecture that there may be other members of the Arizona QRF that are residents of Arizona and that they may either be voluntarily cooperating with the investigation or unindicted co-conspirators pending a cooperation agreement. If that conjecture is correct, we may see further indictments of Arizona residents in connection with this conspiracy.