Former La Habra police chief and Stop the Steal organizer Alan Hostetter, his partner in putting together Orange County rallies and four men accused of being involved in the Three Percenters militia were charged Thursday, June 10 for their suspected roles in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection.
Hostetter, 56, who also led local protests against coronavirus pandemic restrictions, is a yoga instructor who took a medical retirement in 2010 after eight months leading the La Habra Police Department. Before becoming chief in La Habra, he was deputy chief in Fontana.
The grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday also names Russell Taylor, 40, of Ladera Ranch; Erik Scott Warner, 45, of Menifee; Felipe Antonio “Tony” Martinez, 47, of Lake Elsinore, Derek Kinnison, 39, of Lake Elsinore; and Ronald Mele, 51 of Temecula.
Hostetter, a San Clemente resident, and the five other men are facing several federal charges, including conspiracy, obstructing an official proceeding and unlawful entry on restricted building or grounds. Taylor is also charged with obstructing law enforcement during a civil disorder and unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds, while Warner and Kinnison are charged with tampering with documents or proceedings, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors say Hostetter communicated to followers through encryptions on Telegram – an online messaging app – and was filmed in videos advocating “executions … at the highest levels.”
Hostetter, in a blue blazer, baggy jeans and tan boots, with his hair pulled back into a short ponytail, sauntered into the courtroom in federal court in Santa Ana just after 2 p.m., flanked by a federal marshal. As soon as he entered, he looked at supporters in the gallery and winked.
Bilal Essayli, an attorney for Hostetter, said the former police chief turned himself in to the FBI after he was indicted.
Prosecutors in court documents alleged Hostetter was part of the crowd surging forward on the Capitol steps on Jan. 6. He is not accused of entering the building or carrying a firearm but charging documents show prosecutors believe Hostetter had “other items” that would have violated rules for the Capitol grounds.
Essayli said while his client was on the steps he did not see other protesters sparring with Capitol police across metal barricades at the bottom of the steps moments earlier.
“He’s a peaceful protestor,” Essayli said outside the courtroom. “He’s an activist.”
During an FBI raid on his home earlier this year, Hostetter told agents he had firearms. None were taken from his home during the search. Essayli argued in court Thursday that Hostetter and his wife needed to keep several guns in their possession due to threats they’ve received after the Jan. 6 attack and subsequent press reports about the FBI raid. Hostetter and his wife had received at least five death threats through email and their phones since the raid.
A magistrate judge ruled Thursday that Hostettler could keep whatever guns he has inside his home and set his bail at $20,000.
Warner, Mele and Kinnison were also in custody and appeared in U.S. District Court in Riverside via video hookup. They were ordered released and told to post a surety bond and stay away from Washington DC except to attend court. Martinez previously appeared in court in Texas, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.
The indictment states Hostetter used his nonprofit, American Phoenix Project, which sought major overhauls of the U.S. government and the news media, “as a platform to advocate violence against certain groups and individuals that supported the 2020 presidential election results.”
Prosecutors allege all six men communicated with each other through various messaging apps and social media networks in the late fall and early winter of 2020 in order to “plan and coordinate their effort to obstruct and interfere with the joint session of Congress at the Capitol on Jan. 6 to certify the electoral college vote.”
One chat group all the defendants are accused of joining was called “The California Patriots-DC Brigade,” in which Taylor is accused of describing as being “exclusive to be utilized to organize a group of fighters to have each other’s backs and ensure that no one will trample on our rights.”
Taylor also wrote that he was “assuming that you have some type of weaponry you are bringing with you,” and asked those with law enforcement or military experience to identify themselves.
According to prosecutors, in messages exchanged prior to their trip to the Capitol, Kinnison, Mele, Martinez and Warner discussed whether to bring firearms, with Mele allegedly telling the group “shorter the better. Mine will be able to be stashed under the seat. I’ll bring it. 18” barrel.”
Prosecutors say Taylor on Jan. 5 posted a photo on an encrypted messaging service showing “gear” arranged on a bed, including two hatchets, a stun baton and a knife, along with a caption reading “Now getting ready for tomorrow.”
According to court filings, Taylor at one point texted Hostetter and asked if he was “bringing firearms” to Washington D.C. Hostetter texted back “NO NEVER (instagram now monitors all text messages… this has been a public service announcement),” adding “three emojis of faces laughing with tears coming out their eyes,” according to the filing.
The defendants are accused of meeting up together at the National Mall on Jan. 6, where Mele, Martinez, Kinnison and and Warner reportedly posed for a photo. In that picture, prosecutors allege, Martinez, Kinnison and Warner flashed a hand signal indicated their affiliation with the three percenter group, a far-right, anti-government militia movement.
Prosecutors allege that Taylor took a “selfie-style video” and said, “We are on the move. Heading up to the Capitol” as the men walked down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Warner is accused of entering the Capitol through a broken window, while Taylor and Hostetter allegedly joined rioters who were pushing through a line of law enforcement officers. Taylor is also accused of carrying a knife in a pocket of his vest and urging the rioters on before pushing through a police line and up stairs in the Capitol onto a terrace.
“This is nothing more than Big Brother trying to make criminals out of law-abiding citizens who were exercising their constitutional liberties,” said Kinnison’s attorney, Nic Cocis, in a statement Thursday. He said Kinnison owns a pressure-washing business.
Taylor, his lawyer and others could not be reached for comment.
On Thursday night, Eimiller said Taylor was in custody and would have a court appearance on Friday.
Hostetter began his brief tenure in La Habra in early 2010, arriving from the Fontana Police Department, where he had served as deputy chief. At the time of his hiring, city officials cited his more than 20 years in law enforcement, which encompassed a wide variety of assignments, including patrol, investigations, vice, narcotics and internal affairs experience.
Eight months later, Hostetter took a disability retirement.
He re-emerged in 2020, organizing opposition in Orange County to the pandemic-driven statewide stay-at-home order.
“There is a strong groundswell all over the country and there are people all over the world watching us here today,” Hostetter told a San Clemente crowd at one rally. “We want our rights back from the governor who issued his tyrannical order.”
During a May 21, 2020 rally at San Clemente’s Pier Bowl, Hostetter called for the crowd to help him disassemble fencing around the parking log blocking the pier. He began to unscrew the bolts himself, ignoring warnings to stop before being taken into custody by deputies.
In January, a video clip of Hostetter speaking before a Dec. 12, 2020 “Stop the Steal” rally in Huntington Beach appeared online, in which he called for “a reckoning” and “justice.”
“President Trump must be inaugurated on Jan. 20 and he must be allowed to finish this historic job of cleaning out the corruption in the cesspool known as Washington D.C.,” Hostetter told a cheering crowd in the video. “The enemies and traitors of America, both foreign and domestic, must be held accountable, and they will. There must be long prison terms, while execution is the just punishment for the ringleaders of this coup.”
Hostetter and Taylor reportedly co-sponsored a pro-Trump rally near the Supreme Court the day before the Capitol riot. Video footage from that rally captured Hostetter telling the crowd to prepare for “war tomorrow,” adding they didn’t plan to “return to our peaceful way of life until this election is made right.”
Hostetter’s public profile has turned him into the public face of pro-Trump activism in Orange County. A Washington Post article earlier this year cited his second-career as a yoga teacher in describing Hostetter as an example of a “suburban ‘wellness community’” that helped drive pro-Trump activism.
The national coverage also extended to Hostetter’s wife, Kristine Hostetter, a well-liked fourth-grade teacher.
In April, a New York Times article described the debate that surrounded Kristine Hostetter after she appeared alongside her husband at protests, and was captured apparently marching toward the capitol on Jan. 6. An investigation by her school district apparently determined she had done nothing but peacefully protest in Washington, and there is no indication she is facing criminal charges.
More than 450 people have been arrested in relation to the breach of the capitol. Prosecutors have said that more than 500 are expected to eventually be charged.
