Watkins testified at trial about hiding her identity from her parents during a strict Christian upbringing and going AWOL in the Army after a fellow soldier found evidence of her contact with a support group for transgender people. The judge said Watkins' personal story of struggling for years to come to terms with her identity as a transgender woman made it especially difficult for him to understand why she has shown "a lack of empathy for those who suffered" on Jan. Law Attorneys give closing arguments in the Oath Keepers Jan. She condemned the violence by rioters who assaulted police, but conceded that 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. Watkins tearfully apologized for her actions before the judge handed down her sentence. "Your role that day was more aggressive, more assaultive, more purposeful than perhaps others," he told her. Mehta said that while Watkins was not a top leader, like Rhodes, she was more than just a "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. Watkins, who formed a separate Ohio-based militia group, recruited others to join the Oath Keepers in Washington that day. Harrelson was the group's "ground team lead" on Jan. Watkins and Harrelson marched toward the Capitol with other Oath Keepers members in "stack" formations as a mob of Trump supporters clashed with outnumbered police officers. The Justice Department had requested 18 years for Watkins and 15 for Harrelson. Mehta agreed with the Justice Department that Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers' actions could be punished as "terrorism," increasing the recommended sentence under federal guidelines.īut the judge ultimately gave Watkins and Harrelson far less time than prosecutors were seeking. Law Stewart Rhodes, Oath Keepers founder, sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy The charges against leaders of the Oath Keepers and another extremist group, the Proud Boys, are among the most serious brought in the Justice Department's massive investigation of the riot. Rhodes' 18-year term is the longest prison sentence that has been handed down so far in the hundreds of Capitol riot cases. 6 charges, including obstructing Congress' certification of President Joe Biden's victory. But jurors convicted Watkins and Harrelson of other Jan. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, to eight years and six months behind bars and sentenced Kenneth Harrelson, of Titusville, Florida, to four years in prison.Ī federal jury acquitted Watkins and Harrelson of the seditious conspiracy charge that Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was found guilty of in November. Capitol in a military-style formation with fellow members of the Oath Keepers were sentenced Friday to prison terms, a day after the far-right extremist group's founder received a record-setting 18-years behind bars in the Jan. WASHINGTON - Two Army veterans who stormed the U.S. This artist sketch depicts the trial of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and four others charged with seditious conspiracy in the Jan.
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