'Vets for Trump' founder played 'central' role in January 6 insurrection, Philadelphia prosecutors allege

• Joshua Macias was first arrested in November 2020 outside the Philadelphia Convention Center.
• He had driven from Virginia in a Hummer full of guns, prosecutors said.

A man arrested in Philadelphia after driving a Hummer full of semi-automatic weapons to the city while votes were being counted in the 2020 election played a key role in the January 6 insurrection, prosecutors alleged Monday, citing video broadcast during the first public hearing of the congressional committee investigating the riot at the US Capitol.

In November 2020, Joshua Macias, a co-founder of the group "Vets for Trump," was detained and charged with a felony count of carrying a concealed firearm without a license. In a statement at the time, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office said police had received a tip that "armed individuals in a silver Hummer" — one outfitted with stickers supporting the QAnon conspiracy theory — were heading to the city, possibly to disrupt the counting of votes in the wake of former President Donald Trump's false claims of widespread fraud.

Prosecutors later uncovered a text message suggesting there was a plot to raid "a truckload of fake ballots," The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

On Monday, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said that Macias would go on to play a "central" role in the effort, two months later, to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's victory.

"We know that on January the 5th, the day before the insurrection, at a private location, in a parking garage, there was an in-person meeting of only a few people," Krasner said at a press conference in front of the Philadelphia Convention Center. Two of these people were Stewart Rhodes and Enrique Tarrio, the founders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, two paramilitary organizations whose members led the push through police lines and into the US Capitol. Both men have been charged with taking part in a seditious conspiracy.

Video of the two men aired last Thursday during the January 6 committee's prime-time hearing, with footage shot by a documentary filmmaker.

A third participant in that meeting, Krasner said, was Joshua Macias.

"This is a startling revelation — a startling revelation that so many people in that tiny meeting are charged with the most serious charges, and Joshua Macias was their confidant," Krasner said. "He was the person they wanted to talk to."

Macias faces a contempt hearing on Friday for violating the conditions of his bail, the district attorney added.

William J. Brennan, a Philadelphia-based criminal defense attorney representing Macias, declined to comment on the latest allegations, telling Insider he would respond in court.

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