CLEVELAND, Ohio – An Ohio bartender, accused last month of breaking into the United States Capitol with military equipment, was charged on Friday in a comprehensive indictment of nine members of Oath Keepers, a far-right group that officials say sought to prevent Joseph Biden’s certification as president.
Jessica Watkins and other members of the anti-government faction were accused of conspiracy to obstruct an official process that took place on January 6, the day when hundreds of protesters protested to prevent then President Donald Trump from losing the election.
“I wouldn’t worry about them coming after us,” she said in a message to a friend days after the attack, according to federal documents filed this week.
She was initially indicted last month on charges of conspiracy with Donovan Crowl, both from southwestern Ohio’s Champaign County, for what authorities called her roles in the Capitol violation. This week, federal authorities filed additional charges.
The new charge, at the United States District Court in the District of Columbia, features one of the broadest charges since the riots that killed five, including a Capitol police officer. The allegations again emphasize that many of the people who attacked the Capitol did so based on the belief that Trump wanted them there.
Minutes before the violation, Trump delivered a heated speech about the fight for America.
In addition to Watkins and Crowl, federal authorities made other arrests this week in connection with the case. They accused three others from Florida, one from North Carolina, one from Virginia and Sandra Parker and her husband, Bennie, from Warren County, in southwest Ohio.
An FBI statement filed in the case says that several of the accused joined Watkins and Crowl in forming a “military-style pile formation”, where they marched aggressively through the crowd toward the Capitol in a single line, with some of them entering the building.
“We took over Capitol,” Crowl exclaimed in a message to Watkins, according to the statement. “We dominate the Capitol.”
Watkins, says the document, fired back: “We’re in the fucking Capitol.”
Watkins and Crowl’s other defendants include Kelly Meggs, whom authorities call the leader of the Florida Oath Keepers. Like Watkins and Crowl, he wanted to go to Washington after hearing pressure from Trump for patriots to participate in the Stop the Steal rally, according to federal officials.
In a statement, they cited a post by Meggs on Facebook before January 6: “Trump said it will be wild !!!!! It will be wild !!!!! He wants us to make him WILD. That’s what he’s saying. He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make him wild! Sir yes sir. Gentlemen, we’re going to DC. Pack your bags !! “
The Oath Keepers chapters include many former military and police officers who believe the U.S. government is depriving residents of their rights and freedoms, officials said.
The FBI testimony claims that the Parkers rented rooms with Watkins and Crowl at the same hotel in Arlington, Virginia. They talked several times before and after the riot, according to the FBI’s testimony.
In a message to Bennie Parker in the days following the attack on the Capitol, Watkins wrote: “I’ve been following the FBI’s wanted list. They are only interested in people who have destroyed things. I wouldn’t worry about them coming after us. “