A federal judge sentenced Oath Keepers defendant Jessica Watkins in May 2023 to eight and a half years in prison on charges related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
She was found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, and conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging their duties.
She was acquitted on the far more serious count of seditious conspiracy.
Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, was among those convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Watkins, like most of those convicted of January 6-related crimes, expressed regret about her involvement in the insurrection.
“My actions and my behaviors that fateful day were wrong and as I now understand, criminal,” Watkins tearfully told the court after her sentencing, adding that she was “ashamed” of her conduct.
During her trial testimony, Watkins called herself ”another idiot” that was part of the mob inside the Capitol building.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oath-keepers-jessica-watkins-sentenced-prison-january-6-2021-attack/
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/26/politics/oath-keepers-jessica-watkins-sentencing/index.html
Watkins shared her personal story of how she ended up on the wrong end of the law and of history.
She said she struggled to come to terms with her gender identify as a transgendered woman. She said she was rejected by her family after telling them she was transgendered and then went AWOL in the Army after her transgenderism was revealed.
She then organized a militia in Ohio and coordinated efforts with the Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government militia that tried to disrupt the transfer of power on January 6.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oath-keepers-jessica-watkins-sentenced-prison-january-6-2021-attack/
Fox News reported that she recruited and then trained people to join her militia group, giving her recruits “military-style basic” training.
She told one recruit, “I need you fighting fit” by the Jan. 20, 2021, inauguration.
On January 6, Watkins and other Oath Keepers, wearing helmets and paramilitary gear, moved their way through the crowd outside the Capitol and then inside the domed building as Congress was certifying the presidential election.
Watkins communicated on the walkie-talkie app Zello, declaring, “We are in the main dome right now.”
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said he found it difficult to understand why Watkins, who had gone through so much suffering as a transgendered woman, had shown “a lack of empathy for those who suffered” on Jan. 6.
A hundred police officers were injured that day and five others died of injuries or trauma in the aftermath of the insurrection.
Fox News reported that Judge Mehta told Watkins she was not the general of the Oath Keepers militia but bore responsibility for the violence on that day. The judge characterized Watkins as a “foot soldier” who recruited members and then directed others to assault police officers, entered the Capitol, and disrupted the transfer of power from one president to another.
Watkins tearfully apologized for her actions and condemned the violence by rioters who assaulted police.
She described herself as “just another idiot running around the Capitol” on January 6.
“And today you’re going to hold this idiot responsible,” Watkins told the judge.
