A leader of the far-right Oath Keepers group charged in connection with the uprising at the Capitol alleges she was in Washington DC on Jan. 6 to “ provide security ” at the pro-Trump rally and met with agents of the Secret Service, according to court documents.
Jessica Watkins, 38, reportedly received a “VIP pass” to the rally where then-President Donald Trump spoke before the siege, her lawyers wrote in a petition filed Saturday.
Ms. Watkins was not in attendance as an insurgent, but to provide security for the speakers at the meeting, to guide lawmakers and others to march to the Capitol as directed by the then president, and to guide protesters safely away from the Capitol to their vehicles and cars at the end of the protest, ”the petitioner said.
“She got a VIP pass for the meeting. She met with Secret Service agents. “
The Ohio resident is one of nine people with ties to the Oath Keepers accused of conspiring to storm the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying President Biden’s election victory.
Prosecutors allege members of the anti-government group coordinated as early as November to attack the Capitol.
The war veteran from Afghanistan is also accused of entering the Capitol by force during the siege, “with a line of people wearing Oath Keeper clothing, patches and badges.”
But in Saturday’s filing, her attorneys claimed she had “not committed any violence or violence on the Capitol grounds or inside the Capitol.”
Watkins, who has been detained since mid-January, pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy charges.
She is asking to be released from house arrest pending trial, noting that she is at risk of “harsh treatment” as a transgender woman.
A representative for the Secret Service said every claim the agency hired on Jan. 6 to carry out security “is false.”
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