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Donald Trump commutes sentence of trans woman who helped organize the January 6 Insurrection
January 23 2025, 08:15

Donald Trump commuted the sentence of a transgender woman who was convicted in federal court and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for her role in helping organize the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Jessica Watkins was among the 1500 people he pardoned or commuted the sentence of for participating in the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election that resulted in five deaths.

Watkins, a military veteran from Ohio, was part of the far-right militia Oath Keepers. Prosecutors argued that she helped recruit and train people to go to the Capitol in an attempt to keep Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election, which Trump had lost. She was part of a group of Oath Keepers that went to the Senate to stop Mike Pence from ceremonially presiding over the certification process but was deterred when police used a chemical spray on the mob.

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On his first day in office on Monday, Trump issued a blanket pardon for over 1500 people who were charged with crimes related to the attack. Many of the people he pardoned or whose sentences he commuted attacked police officers. One hundred thirty-eight police officers were injured that day.

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“It is wrong to pardon individuals convicted of violent crime, especially when many of the victims of their violence were law enforcement officers,” said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS). Trump had previously said that he would examine the rioters’ requests for pardons on a case-by-case basis, and J.D. Vance had said that those who “committed violence” on that day “obviously… shouldn’t be pardoned.”

“It is shameful that the President has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said in a statement. “Despite the President’s decision, we must always remember the extraordinary courage and valor of the law enforcement heroes who stood in the breach and ensured that democracy survived on that dark day.”

Trump himself didn’t seem to realize that he had pardoned people who attacked police officers, telling a reporter when asked about whether a person who used a stun gun on a police officer deserved a pardon, “I don’t know… Well, we’ll take a look at everything.” He then rambled about unrelated topics.

REPORTER: You would agree it's never acceptable to assault police officers? TRUMP: Sure REPORTER: Among those you pardoned is a guy who used a stun gun on a police officer. Why does he deserve a pardon? TRUMP: Well, I don't know

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 21, 2025 at 11:40 PM

The Oath Keepers, to whom Watkins was a dues-paying member, is “based on a set of baseless conspiracy theories about the federal government working to destroy the liberties of Americans,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Prosecutors believe that the 11 Oath Keepers who participated in the insurrection were more serious in their attempt to overthrow the government.

Shortly after the November 2020 election that Trump lost and Biden won, Watkins texted invitations to training for people she called “recruits,” saying, “I need you fighting fit by innaugeration [sic].”

In December 2020, Watkins texted another member of the group: “We plan on going to DC on the 6th” and used the messaging app Signal to assign roles to a small group on January 2, 2021. This was while Oath Keeper leader Stewart Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers were stocking up on thousands of dollars worth of weapons and gear in preparation for the attack and promising their members a “bloody, massively bloody revolution.”

On January 3, Watkins allegedly told another member of the group that “weapons are ok now as well. Sorry for the confusion.” She also told that person to wear khaki or tan pants.

On the day of the insurrection, Watkins allegedly was part of the group of Oath Keepers going to the Senate – where Pence was ceremonially presiding as it received the results of the election from the states – and prosecutors said that others in the group called her “captain” and “cap.”

“Y’all, we’re one block away from the Capitol right now. I’m probably gonna go silent when we get there, because I’m gonna be a little busy,” she allegedly said in a channel on the walkie-talkie app Zello.

She and her group forced their way through the doors of the Capitol. Despite her worry that she would “go silent,” she kept talking on Zello, saying where she was in the Capitol.

“Get it, Jess. Do your f**king thing. This is what we f**king [unintelligible] up for. Everything we f**king trained for,” someone responded to her.

She and her group made their way to the Senate. Watkins told people in the crowd around her to “Push, push, push” and “Get in there, get in there” as the mob tried to get past a line of law enforcement officers.

“They can’t hold us!” Watkins said.

Officers then used a chemical spray on the mob, and they retreated. Watkins and her fellow Oath Keepers left the Capitol.

“Yeah. We stormed the Capitol today,” she wrote on Parler that day. “Teargassed, the whole 9. Pushed our way into the Rotunda. Made it into the Senate even. The news is lying (even Fox) about the Historical Events we created today.”

Several days later, Watkins messaged someone on Facebook: “We’ve been organizing a bugout plan if the usurper is installed… Something like 20+ Oathkeepers going to Kentucky mountains on hundreds of acres apparently.”

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