Transgender Army vet and Oath Keepers member is sentenced to eight-and-a-half ... trends now
A transgender Army veteran and Oath Keepers member has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for storming the Capitol in the January 6 riot.
Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, was acquitted of the seditious conspiracy charge that Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was found guilty of in November, but jurors convicted her of obstruction and conspiracy to impede Congress' certification of President Joe Biden's victory.
She is the third member of the antigovernment group to receive her punishment this week in one of the most serious cases the Justice Department has brought in the riot. Rhodes' 18 year-term is the longest sentence that has been handed down so far in the hundreds of Capitol riot cases.
US District Judge Amit Mehta said that while Watkins was not a top leader, like Rhodes, she was more than 'just foot soldier,' noting that at least three others charged in the riot wouldn´t have been there if she hadn´t recruited them to join. He sentenced her to 8 1/2 years behind bars.
'Your role that day was more aggressive, more assaultive, more purposeful than perhaps others,' he told her.
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
