Oath Keepers member pleads guilty to felony in Jan. 6 case

A New Jersey man pleaded guilty Tuesday to obstruction of an official proceeding in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol.  

James Breheny, 61, pleaded guilty to the felony charge due to his involvement in the Capitol breach. Court documents show Breheny — who is also known as Seamus Evers — is affiliated with the Oath Keepers, where he served as the Bergen County coordinator for the New Jersey chapter.  

According to the Justice Department (DOJ), court documents show Breheny was in a group chat titled “DC OP: Jan 21” on Signal, which is an encrypted messaging platform. The group chat included discussions on Breheny “coming in with a team from NJ, and who also has contacts with several militia leaders coming in.” 

“His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress which was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related for the 2020 presidential election,” the release reads.  

The DOJ also noted other members of the group chat have been indicted on conspiracy charges. Public video footage cited by the department showed Breheny entering the Capitol and standing inside the rotunda, as well as his “close proximity” to violence against law enforcement officers.  

Text messages from Breheny’s phone showed messages he sent including, “Made it in Brother,” “I breached the Capitol door!” and “I have to clear chats,” according to the DOJ.

His phone also had texts from his associates urging him to delete his messages, take down social media posts and buy a new phone.  

Breheny’s guilty plea comes shortly after Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison last month after being convicted of seditious conspiracy and charged for his involvement in the Capitol attacks.