A member of the far-right Oath Keepers accused of riots on the United States Capitol met with Secret Service agents before the siege and received a VIP pass to the rally where then President Donald Trump spoke, according to a court case. .
A defense attorney for Jessica Watkins said in Saturday’s filing that Oath Keeper was in Washington, DC to “provide security” for speakers at the January 6 rally, where she was less than 15 meters from the stage.
Watkins is one of nine Oath Keepers people accused of conspiring to block certification of election results on the broadest charge prosecutors have issued so far in investigating Capitol violence.
The lawsuit suggests that Watkins had a more formal role than previously known at the rally, where hundreds of Trump supporters gathered before walking to the Capitol and forcing their way inside.
In asking a judge to grant Watkins bail, the lawyer, public defender Michelle Peterson, said the government documents in the case are “full of rhetorical flourishes designed to ignite the passions of her readers without supporting evidence.”
“Watkins was not present as a rebel, but to provide security for the speakers at the rally,” according to the document.
The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the nature of Watkins’ meeting with the agents.
The lawsuit also blamed Trump for contributing to the violence, a strategy that lawyers for many of the accused protesters have followed in court.
Watkins “believed that the president of the United States was calling on her and her small militia group to support the president and the constitution,” the document said. “She was ready to serve her country in this way.”