Oath Keeper accused of leading rioter into the Capitol is released to home confinement after his lawyers argued his wife won't 'tolerate' extremist views
Joseph Hackett, 50, was arrested and booked into the Pinellas County Jail on May 28 in connection to the January 6 Capitol riot
A Florida man accused of leading a militia into the US Capitol siege on January 6 was released to home confinement on Monday after his lawyer argued his wife wouldn't allow him to hold extremist views - despite the fact she hosted a far right political podcast.
Joseph Hackett, 50, of Florida, has been charged with conspiracy, destruction of government property, obstruction of an official proceeding and trespassing.
He is connected to the Sarasota branch of the Oath Keepers, one of the largest anti-government extremist groups in the far-right patriot militia movement.
On Monday, he was released from jail after his legal team argued that he was more of a 'follower' than a leader in the insurrection and that his wife would not allow him to re-explore his extremist views.
'She has no tolerance for that kind of talk,' federal public defender Angie Halim insisted.
But after US District Judge Amit B. Mehta agreed to Hackett's home confinement, a prosecutor mentioned that his wife, Deena Hackett, 50, co-hosted a political podcast. The prosecution did not share the content of the podcast.
It was later revealed that Denna co-hosted the political podcast, 'A&D's Patriot Battle Cry (Rub THAT In!!),' where she described her husband as a 'political prisoner' who was 'trying to preserve … this country,' according to The Washington Post.
Deena did not respond to DailyMail.com for a comment.
Hackett was released to home confinement on Monday after his defense team argued that his wife, Deena, 50, did not allow his extremist views
It was later revealed that Deena co-hosted a political podcast titled 'A&D's Patriot Battle Cry (Rub THAT In!!)' where she praised her husband calling him a 'political prisoner'
Deena has since posted a fundraising campaign online to collect funds to maintain her family and the family business while her husband is incarcerated writing: "I know in my heart that The Lord will rectify this and Joe will be exonerated"
The 'Battle Cry' podcast includes mentions of far-right conspiracy theories, including the unproven QAnon belief that Democrats are engaged in child sex trafficking and stands by the insurrection.
In the since deleted podcast, Deena complained that former president Donald Trump and 'the so-called Republicans' were not working hard enough to help those arrested in connection to the attack on the Capitol.
'The Americans who have fought for this country … we are now terrorists,' Deena said. Though she did make an exception for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene saying, 'love her,' according to The Washington Post.
Aside from her part-time gig as a podcast co-host, Deena is a Florida Licensed Acupuncture Physician and the owner of 941 Wellness, a holistic body alignment center.
Judge Mehta later admitted 'it would have been good to know' about the podcast 'before I released him into the home,' but still allowed Hackett to be return home on the condition that he not participate in the podcast or use a cellphone.
He allowed this on his understanding that Hackett was a 'follower' rather than a leader despite the evidence against the Oath Keepers being 'some of the most harrowing' of that coming from the insurrection.
This came in spite of the prosecution's claim that Hackett led the Sarasota chapter of the Oath Keepers coordinating training, planning, travel, and action with the founder Stewart Rhodes.
Deena and Joseph own the 941 Wellness center which focuses on a holistic approach to body wellness and alignment
Joseph has been accused of leading the Sarasota chapter of the the Oath Keepers
Hackett was arrested back in May and booked into the Pinellas County Jail in Clearwater, Florida.
His indictment exposed details of a virtual planning meeting held by the Oath Keepers on November 9.
According to prosecutors, after the election was called for Biden -Rhodes told supporters in an online GoToMeeting conference call: 'We’re going to defend the president, the duly elected president. Because if you don’t, guys, you’re going to be in a bloody, bloody civil war and a bloody...insurrection, or you can call it a war or fight.
'I’m willing to sacrifice myself for that. Let the fight start there. That will give President Trump what he needs, frankly.
'If things go kinetic, good. If they throw bombs at us and shoot us, great, because that brings the president his reason and rationale for dropping the Insurrection Act.”
'I do want some Oath Keepers to stay on the outside, and to stay fully armed and prepared to go in armed, if they have to...So our posture’s gonna be that we’re posted outside of DC, um, awaiting the President’s orders. . . . We hope he will give us the orders.
'We want him to declare an insurrection, and to call us up as the militia.'
The Oath Keepers are a far-right, anti-government militia group who claim they have a membership of around 35,000
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes has not been charged, but he was mentioned repeatedly in the newly unsealed indictment as 'Person One'. It's unclear why he has not been arrested
The nation's biggest anti-government group founded by a veteran paratrooper; The Oath Keepers
Former U.S. Army paratrooper Stewart Rhodes formed The Oath Keepers in 2009, and the group has become one of the nation´s largest anti-government organizations, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
In 2014, Oath Keeper members joined an armed standoff between federal officials and Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy over grazing rights on government land.
Later that year and in 2015, members patrolled the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, amid protests over the police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown. They wore camouflage body armor and openly carried rifles.
The group attended the Capitol riots on mass and said prior to the siege that it was sending trainers to Virginia to organize and train 'armed posses and militia.'
By then, claims from Trump's camp about voter fraud were widespread and millions of the former president's supporters thought he'd been robbed of victory.
As the planning continued on December 19, Hackett allegedly sent an email to Englewood resident Graydon Young, who has also been indicted, which read: 'I believe we only need to do this when important info is at hand like locations, identities, Ops planning.'
The email included a photo attachment of cursive handwriting on a lined notepad that stated: 'Secure Comms Test. Good talk tonight guys! Rally Point in Northern Port Charlotte at Grays if transportation is possible. All proton mails. May consider an RP8 that won't burn anyone. Comms – work in progress. Messages in cursive to eliminate digital reads. Plans for recruitment and meetings.'
On January 4, Oath Keeper leader Rhodes posted online: 'It is CRITICAL that all patriots who can be in DC get to DC to stand tall in support of President Trump’s fight to defeat the enemies foreign and domestic who are attempting a coup, through the massive vote fraud and related attacks on our Republic.
'We Oath Keepers are both honor-bound and eager to be there in strength to do our part.'
In another, he said: 'As we have done on all recent DC Ops, we will also have well armed and equipped QRF1 teams on standby, outside DC, in the event of a worst case scenario, where the President calls us up as part of the militia to to assist him inside DC.
'We don’t expect a need for him to call on us for that at this time, but we stand ready if he does (and we also stand ready to answer the call to serve as militia anytime in the future, and anywhere in our nation, if he does invoke the Insurrection Act).'
Smoke from pepper-spray ball exploded and used against pro-Trump protesters during storm of Capital building. Illegal invasion of Capitol building produced four death of protesters, 50 police officers were wounded and lots of property damaged
Several accused Oath Keeper rioters are seen in this picture released by the Department of Justice taken
Jessica Marie Watkins (2nd from L) and Donovan Ray Crowl , both from Ohio, march down the east front steps of the U.S. Capitol with the Oath Keepers militia group
According to the indictment, Hackett paid for a room at the Hilton Garden Inn in Washington, DC, from January 5-7, 2021. It alleges Hackett, Young and several others 'prepared themselves for battle before heading to the Capitol by equipping themselves with communication devices and donning reinforced vests, helmets, and goggles.'
The group reportedly broke into the Capitol building at 2:28 pm with Hackett leaving at 2:54 pm, according to ABC 7.