The accusation in a civil trial that the Oath Keepers tried to overthrow the United States government on Jan. 6, 2021, is “ridiculous,” a New York member of the group and retired police sergeant testified in Alaska Superior Court.
Michael Nichols of King Ferry, New York, also testified about the operation he led on Jan. 6 to rescue 16 U.S. Capitol Police officers who were trapped in the foyer on the east side of the Capitol.
“So when you hear that there are individuals accusing Oath Keepers of wanting to overthrow a government, what’s your perspective on that?” defense attorney Joseph Miller asked Nichols.
“That’s ridiculous,” he testified. “The Oath Keepers support the Constitution and the United States government.”
The trial before Alaska Superior Court Judge Jack McKenna will determine if state Rep. David Eastman (R-Wasilla) should be removed from office and his 2022 election win wiped away because he is a life member of the Oath Keepers.
Brought by a former Republican who once ran against Eastman, the lawsuit challenged Eastman’s fitness for office under a Cold War-era amendment to the Alaska Constitution.
‘Wrongly Accused’
Plaintiff Randall Kowalke of Willow, Alaska, and attorneys from the Northern Justice Project argue that the Oath Keepers tried to overthrow the government on Jan. 6, although even those Oath Keepers convicted of seditious conspiracy were not accused of such a thing.Nichols said he would not disassociate himself from the group, even though Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes III was found guilty on Nov. 29 of seditious conspiracy and several other Jan. 6-related counts.
“I won’t disassociate with a group that supports the Constitution of the United States,” Nichols said after Kowalke’s attorney, Goriune Dudukgian, asked if he would abandon the Oath Keepers.
Nichols said he rejects the characterization by two plaintiff’s experts that the Oath Keepers are an extremist militia group bent on revolution.
Two analysts from academic institutes that study extremism testified that the Oath Keepers was run like a military organization, led with an iron fist by Rhodes.
“I don’t believe self-leadership is something you can appoint,” Nichols said. “The idea is that, as a retired law enforcement and retired police officer, we’re trained by our government in our state, and at any given time, we may be asked to step forward and lead.
“And that makes you basically able to have other people assist you with your leadership skills,” Nichols said. “So no, we don’t see ourselves as militia. We see ourselves as independently able to help the environment around us.”
Nichols ended up at the Capitol on Jan. 6 because roads leading back to his hotel were blocked, and protesters were herded toward the Capitol. He described approaching U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Tarik Johnson and asking if he needed help.
“He said, ‘You can help me?’ And I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ Nichols recalled. “And he, I believed he meant to get the people off the stairs. But he advised me that he had police officers trapped in the building. And I immediately went to rescue them.”
Johnson made national headlines because he wore a Make America Great Again (MAGA) cap given to him by a protester on the east steps of the Capitol. He explained that the crowds were more cooperative with him because of the hat, which he likened to a protective helmet.
Johnson, Nichols, and another Oath Keeper went inside the giant Columbus Doors and brought out 16 police officers. People in the crowd gave the officers hugs and slaps on the back. Four other Oath Keepers converged on the lower east Capitol steps to make a way for the line of police officers.
Capitol Police suspended Johnson and charged him with two rules violations, including conduct unbecoming. He spent 17 months on suspension before being reinstated. Johnson left the department in June 2022.
The Office of Professional Responsibility told Johnson he endangered the officers by leading them down the stairs.
Investigators claimed the officers rescued were not the ones who radioed for help. Johnson told them his only concern was officer safety. He said he would have evacuated anyone stuck in the east foyer.
Nichols backed up Johnson’s statements, saying the officers were clearly in distress. Some were vomiting. Others looked exhausted and were bent over with their hands on their knees, he said.
Nichols agreed with Johnson that the officers should be extracted so they would not be at risk of being overrun by the combative group of men who took up a position just outside the Columbus Doors.
“They were extremely, you know, they were exhausted [it] appeared, so we extracted them,” Nichols said. “We were able to get the door shut that had been being only held by shields.”
Nichols said he and his wife attended President Donald Trump’s speech at the Ellipse because of concerns about election fraud.
He said many people he spoke to that day wanted to observe possible challenges to the slates of electors from states like Arizona. The crowd at the Ellipse was peaceful and patriotic, he added.
“It was one of the most moving events I’ve ever attended in my life,” Nichols said. “I hadn’t experienced that much love in a long time. I actually cried a small bit. Not a lot.”
After hearing testimony over eight days, Judge McKenna will issue his decision in the case by the end of the year. Last fall he issued a temporary restraining order forbidding the state of Alaska from certifying the election results in Rep. Eastman’s district until the trial was over.
Eastman won the Nov. 8 election by a 24-point margin.
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