Ohio Militia Woman Stormed Capitol As Insurrectionist-In-Chief’s Very Special Guest, Allegedly!

We are so not surprised.

Former Army Ranger Jessica Watkins, a member of the MAGA mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6, claims she was there as a very special guest of the twice-impeached thug. Watkins's attorney dropped the details in court filings arguing for her release on bond as she awaits trail.

 CNN reports:  

"On January 5 and 6, Ms. Watkins was present not as an insurrectionist, but to provide security to the speakers at the rally, to provide escort for the legislators and others to march to the Capitol as directed by the then-President, and to safely escort protestors away from the Capitol to their vehicles and cars at the conclusion of the protest," the court filing said on Saturday. "She was given a VIP pass to the rally. She met with Secret Service agents. She was within 50 feet of the stage during the rally to provide security for the speakers. At the time the Capitol was breached, she was still at the site of the initial rally where she had provided security."

Watkins is a member of the far-right Oath Keepers militia. Southern Poverty Law Center classifies Oath Keepers as an extremist group. Secret Service agents meeting Watkins and letting her within 50 feet of the stage where the one-term loser was set to speak is an incredible security failure, but President Klan Robe considers the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, and any rightwing militia “his people." And he's right.

The Secret Service officially disavowed knowledge of Watkins's actions. Her attorney, Michelle Peterson, insists she wasn't violent during the Capitol siege, even though Watkins boasted on Parler that she and fellow militia members “stood our ground and drew the line" against Capitol Hill police.

"Yeah. We stormed the Capitol today," she wrote in one message posted to the social app Parler. "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."

Back in December, disgraced Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn had shouted on rightwing media about the one-term loser invoking the Insurrection Act and imposing martial law so he could remain president forever. Peterson alleges Watkins and other MAGA supporters believed this would happen and they "would have a role if this were to happen." The one-term loser's Big Lie had convinced these suckers they were upholding law and order.

"However misguided, her intentions were not in any way related to an intention to overthrow the government, but to support what she believed to be the lawful government. She took an oath to support the Constitution and had no intention of violating that oath or of committing any violent acts."

Watkins's counsel is arguing a familiar “deranged president made me do it" defense. The twice-impeached loser and most elected Republicans are hanging these fools out to dry, insisting they acted on their own without incitement from the so-called commander-in-chief. But the defense is correct that Watkins and her fellow conspirators would've never shown up at the Capitol if not for the mad king's rhetoric. It still seems odd that the same guy who pitched stuffed crust pizza with his Zsa Zsa Gabor-knockoff wife could command an army, but he did have help from spineless congressional Republicans and a rightwing media that enabled his fascist Big Lie.

From  Newsweek :  

"In November, [Watkins] believed that the President of the United States was calling upon her and her small militia group to support the President and the Constitution and she was ready to serve her Country in that manner," according to their latest filing.

In fairness to the mob, it's not like they heard hidden messages in Beatles songs that weren't actually there. The previous White House squatter wasn't subtle in his declarations for an uprising against what he falsely claimed was a stolen election.

Watkins, who served in Afghanistan, is transgender, which is only relevant because her attorney claims she's been "treated harshly" and is at "particular risk in custody." In a motion she filed for Watkins's home detention, Peterson said Watkins was "forced out of the military after her sexual orientation was discovered." (It's unclear if Peterson is conflating sexual orientation with gender identity.)

From Buzzfeed:  

In the petition, Watkins alleged that while in a county jail in Ohio, she was stripped naked and left "in a cell with lights on 24 hours a day for 4 days in full view of everyone." According to the attorney, that was a response to a hunger strike Watkins went on in a failed attempt to get medical attention for an injury to her arm

That's horrific. No one deserves that, even if they committed several felonies on behalf of a man who revels in such cruelty. I don't want her jetting off to Mexico for a “retreat," but she's not an immediate threat if confined safely in her home until trial.

Also, as a cis straight guy I am not into implying LGBTQ+ people should believe a certain way, but Evan is one of the letters of LGBTQ+ and he says "If she was kicked out of the military for being trans and then she went to war for fucking Trump anyway ? YIKES."

The end.

[ CNN / Newsweek / Buzzfeed ]

Follow Stephen Robinson on  Twitter.  

 Do your Amazon shopping through this link, because reasons .

Yr Wonkette is 100 percent ad free and supported entirely by reader donations. Please click the clickie, if you are able!