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Oath Keeper claims she met with Secret Service before Capitol riot

Published 02/21/2021, 03:06 PM
Updated 02/21/2021, 03:50 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Jessica Marie Watkins poses for a booking photograph at the Montgomery County Jail in Dayton

By Linda So

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A leader of the far-right "Oath Keepers" group charged in the deadly U.S. Capitol riots said she was in Washington on Jan. 6 to provide security for legislators and meet with Secret Service agents, according to a court filing.

Jessica Watkins, 38, is one of nine associates of the anti-government group charged with conspiring to storm the Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's election victory.

Prosecutors said Watkins entered the Capitol building illegally. According to a defense petition filed on Saturday: "Ms. Watkins did not engage in any violence or force at the Capitol grounds or in the Capitol."

Watkins, an Afghanistan war veteran, has pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy charges. According to the indictment, Watkins arrived at the Capitol with communication devices, reinforced vests, camouflage helmets and goggles. She forcibly entered the Capitol “with a line of individuals wearing Oath Keeper clothing, patches, and insignia," prosecutors said.

But her attorney said: "Ms. Watkins was present not as an insurrectionist, but to provide security to the speakers at the rally, to provide escort for the legislators and others to march to the Capitol as directed by the then president, and to safely escort protesters away from the Capitol to their vehicles and cars at the conclusion of the protest. She was given a VIP pass to the rally. She met with Secret Service agents."

A Secret Service representative said it worked with government partners for security on Jan. 6, but added "any assertion that the Secret Service employed private citizens to perform those functions is false."

Prosecutors allege members of the Oath Keepers conspired as early as November to storm the Capitol and had extensively planned for a military-style attack. More than 200 people have been charged so far for their roles in the assault by followers of then-President Donald Trump that left five dead, including a police officer.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Jessica Marie Watkins poses for a booking photograph at the Montgomery County Jail in Dayton

Watkins, who has been detained since mid-January, is asking for the court to release her to home confinement pending trial, noting she is at risk for “harsh treatment” as a transgender woman.

Latest comments

Probably true as trump would have order secret service to assist the right wing in helping to overturn his election loss. That is why the secret service needed to remove some of the agent assigned to Biden as they were trump loyalists and would not have pertected Biden.
the leadership of oath keepers took an oath to Donald Trump not the Constitution.
the oath keepers...they were there to help steal an election and put trump back in power. they are a *****organization.
Kelly Mayer... still. defending insurrection and sedition.
Trying to divert attention from BLM riots. Focus on those.
Doesn't matter if members are nuns. Doesn't matter if pledge to save the US. What matters is the way they conducts their petitions and actions. Jeff all the rest is just blablabla. Violence when not mandate and authorize by the government is illegal. Full stop.
Now this is some scary stuff.. Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of current and formerly serving military, police, and first responders, who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to “defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” That oath, mandated by Article VI of the Constitution itself, is to the Constitution, not to the politicians, and Oath Keepers declare that they will not obey unconstitutional orders, such as orders to disarm the American people, to conduct warrantless searches, or to detain Americans as “enemy combatants” in violation of their ancient right to jury trial. See the Oath Keepers Declaration of Orders We Will Not Obey for detail.
paramillitaries have no place in civilized states
you mean the paramilitaries like they had in NOLA during Katrina? Oath Keepers prevent violations of the Constitution when the government is violating them.
In other words...since when is upholding the Constitution a bad thing? I looked at their website and no where does it mention violence or breaking the law. Their mission statement is about protecting our Constitution. I guess the author of this article supports DICTATORS and Communism.
"far-right" group? Aren't members of the Oath Keeper's military veterans and law enforcement who uphold their duty to defend the Constitution?
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