A transgender Army veteran and Oath Keeper has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for storming the Capitol in the January 6 riot.
Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, broke down in tears as the judge told her she had played an ‘aggressive’ role in the deadly siege. She was found guilty in November of obstruction and conspiracy to impede Congress.
US District Judge Amit Mehta said that while Watkins was not the leader of the Oath Keepers’ mob – she was not ‘just foot soldier,’ and recruited at least three others charged in the riot.
‘Your role that day was more aggressive, more assaultive, more purposeful than perhaps others,’ Mehta told her on Friday.
Watkins was jailed the day after the Oath Keepers founder and leader Stewart Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy – the longest term for a January 6 rioter.
FILE – This artist sketch depicts the trial of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and four others charged with seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, in Washington, Oct. 6, 2022. Shown above are, witness John Zimmerman, who was part of the Oath Keepers’ North Carolina Chapter, seated in the witness stand, defendant Thomas Caldwell, of Berryville, Va., seated front row left, Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, seated second left with an eye patch, defendant Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, seated third from right, Kelly Meggs, of Dunnellon, Fla., seated second from right, and defendant Kenneth Harrelson, of Titusville, Fla., seated at right. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakoczy is shown in blue standing at right before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. U.S. Army veterans Watkins and Harrelson are scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, May 26, 2023 (Dana Verkouteren via AP)
Watkins tearfully apologized for her actions before the judge handed down her sentence. She condemned the violence by rioters who assaulted police, but said she knows her presence at the Capitol ‘probably inspired those people to a degree.’ She described herself as ‘just another idiot running around the Capitol’ on Jan. 6.
‘And today you’re going to hold this idiot responsible,’ she told the judge.
During the nearly two-month trial in Washington’s federal court, lawyers for Watkins and the other Oath Keepers argued there was no plan to attack the Capitol. On the witness stand, Watkins testified she never intended to interfere with the certification and never heard any commands for her and other Oath Keepers to enter the building.
Evidence shown to jurors showed Watkins after the 2020 election messaging with people who expressed interest in joining her Ohio militia group about ‘military-style basic’ training. She told one recruit: ‘I need you fighting fit’ by the inauguration, which was Jan. 20, 2021.
On Jan. 6, Watkins and other Oath Keepers wearing helmets and other paramilitary gear were seen shouldering their way through the crowd and up the Capitol stairs in military-style ‘stack’ formation. She communicated with others during the riot over a channel called ‘Stop the Steal J6’ on the walkie-talkie app Zello, declaring ‘we are in the main dome right now.’
Another Oath Keeper and fellow Army veteran – Kenneth Harrelson – will be sentenced later Friday. One of their other co-defendants, Florida chapter leader Kelly Meggs, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years behind bars for seditious conspiracy and other charges.
Rhodes, 58, of Granbury, Texas, was the first Jan. 6 defendant convicted of seditious conspiracy to receive his punishment for what prosecutors said was a weekslong plot to forcibly block the transfer of power from former President Donald Trump to Biden. Four other Oath Keepers convicted of the sedition charge during a second trial in January will be sentenced next week.
During his sentencing Thursday, Rhodes defiantly claimed to be a ‘political prisoner,’ criticized prosecutors and the Biden administration and tried to play down his actions on Jan. 6. The judge described Rhodes as a continued threat to the United States who clearly ‘wants democracy in this country to devolve into violence.’
The Oath Keepers’ sentences this week could serve as a guide for prosecutors in a separate Jan. 6 case against leaders of the Proud Boys extremist group. Earlier this month, a different jury convicted former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio and three other group leaders of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said was another plot to keep Trump in the White House.
Before Thursday, the longest sentence in the more than 1,000 Capitol riot cases was 14 years and two months for a man with a long criminal record who attacked police officers with pepper spray and a chair as he stormed the Capitol. Just over 500 of the defendants have been sentenced, with more than half receiving prison time.
