Jessica Marie Watkins

{{Infobox person

| name = Jessica Watkins

| birth_date = 1982 or 1983

| nationality = American

| occupation = US Army, bar owner

| known_for = Participation in the January 6 United States Capitol attack

}}

Jessica Marie Watkins (born 1982 or 1983) is a transgender American militia founder and former Oath Keeper leader, Army veteran and bar owner who took part in the January 6 United States Capitol attack. She was convicted of multiple felonies relating to her participation and in May 2023 was sentenced to 8.5 years in federal prison. On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump commuted her sentence to "time served".{{cite web | url =https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/ | title =GRANTING PARDONS AND COMMUTATION OF SENTENCES FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES RELATING TO THE EVENTS AT OR NEAR THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6, 2021 | last = | first = | date =January 20, 2025 | website =The White House | publisher = | access-date =January 20, 2025 | quote =commute the sentences of the following individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, to time served as of January 20, 2025: Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Thomas Caldwell, Jessica Watkins, Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, David Moerschel, Joseph Hackett, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, Dominic Pezzola, Jeremy Bertino}}

Early life and career

Watkins was raised in Ohio and upstate New York.{{Cite magazine |last1=Bernstein |first1=Andrea |last2=Marritz |first2=Ilya |date=2022-06-06 |title=Two January 6th Defendants and the Consolidation of Right-Wing Extremism |language=en-US |magazine=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/two-january-6th-defendants-and-the-consolidation-of-right-wing-extremism |access-date=2023-12-08 |issn=0028-792X}} She enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2001 following her high school graduation, completing a Ranger course and then serving in Afghanistan until 2003 when she left the military.{{Cite web |last1=Amiri |first1=Farnoush |last2=Sewell |first2=Dan |date=2021-02-27 |title='Just shocked': A town reckons with charges in Capitol riot |url=https://www.wdrb.com/news/national/just-shocked-a-town-reckons-with-charges-in-capitol-riot/article_f5ce16bb-258e-5ed1-9ac9-16d4857d4560.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227005353/https://www.wdrb.com/news/national/just-shocked-a-town-reckons-with-charges-in-capitol-riot/article_f5ce16bb-258e-5ed1-9ac9-16d4857d4560.html |archive-date=27 Feb 2021 |access-date=2023-05-27 |publisher=WDRB}} She went absent without leave from the Army when her transgender identity was revealed, moving to Alaska due to non-acceptance of her identity by her family.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-26 |title=Oath Keepers defendant Jessica Watkins sentenced to 8 and a half years in prison for role in Jan. 6 attack |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oath-keepers-jessica-watkins-sentenced-prison-january-6-2021-attack/ |access-date=2023-05-27 |publisher=CBS News |language=en-US}}

She later worked as a first responder in Fayetteville, North Carolina. By 2019, she was the co-owner of the Jolly Rogers Bar and Grill, a pirate-themed bar in Woodstock, Ohio with her fiancé.{{Cite web |last1=Lybrand |first1=Holmes |last2=Rabinowitz |first2=Hannah |date=17 Nov 2022 |title=Jessica Watkins, Trans Jan. 6 Insurrectionist, Apologizes in Court |url=https://www.advocate.com/crime/2022/11/17/jessica-watkins-trans-jan-6-insurrectionist-apologizes-court |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=The Advocate |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Cohen |first=Marshall |date=2021-02-26 |title=Alleged Oath Keeper ringleader in Capitol siege ordered to stay in jail before trial {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/26/politics/jessica-watkins-oath-keepers-capitol-attack/index.html |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=CNN |language=en}} That year, she also set up the Ohio State Regular Militia for aid work after tornadoes cut off electricity to tens of thousands of residents. Business declined at the bar in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the Murder of George Floyd, she led her militia as self-appointed security guards during the resulting protests in Ohio and Kentucky. On November 7, 2020, when Joe Biden was declared winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, she appeared on the front lawn of the Ohio Statehouse with two other militia members, between two rival protest groups.

January 6 United States Capitol attack

In 2021, Watkins attended the January 6 Capitol attack with her militia, coordinating with the Oath Keepers of which she was also a leader,{{Cite web |last=Rabinowitz |first=Hannah |date=2023-05-26 |title=Jessica Watkins: Oath Keepers member and Army veteran sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for January 6 {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/26/politics/oath-keepers-jessica-watkins-sentencing/index.html |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=CNN |language=en}} and wearing military armour and tactical military style clothing.{{cite news |first=Jacqueline |last=Thomsen |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/far-right-oath-keepers-face-sentencing-over-us-capitol-attack-2023-05-26/ |title=Oath Keeper gets 8 1/2 years in prison over US Capitol attack |date=26 May 2023 |work=Reuters |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230526194157/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/far-right-oath-keepers-face-sentencing-over-us-capitol-attack-2023-05-26/ |archive-date=2023-05-26}} At the U.S. Capitol building, members of the militia encouraged rioters to forcibly enter the building. In 2021, while facing criminal trial, she disavowed the Oath Keepers.

Watkins went on trial with codefendants Kelly Meggs and Stewart Rhodes. In 2022, Watkins was the only one of the three acquitted of seditious conspiracy but was found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding{{cite web |last1=Reilly |first1=Ryan J. |last2=Barnes |first2=Daniel |date=26 May 2023 |title=Self-proclaimed 'idiot' Oath Keeper sentenced to more than 8 years in Jan. 6 case |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/jessica-watkins-oath-keeper-sentenced-85-years-jan-6-case-rcna86433 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230526165514/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/jessica-watkins-oath-keeper-sentenced-85-years-jan-6-case-rcna86433 |archive-date=2023-05-26 |publisher=NBC News}} and interfering with police. While in jail, she became a close friend of fellow Capitol rioter Guy Reffitt through playing the card game Magic: The Gathering, and became convinced of the false belief that the riot itself was "a setup" conducted by U.S. law enforcement.

In May 2023, Watkins was sentenced by Judge Amit Mehta to 8.5 years in prison, criticising her initial lack of remorse, but acknowledging a more recent apology. A cited justification for her long sentence compared to other rioters was her role in recruiting at least three other rioters.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-26 |title=Oath Keeper who stormed Capitol gets more than 8 years in prison |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-to-sentence-2-oath-keepers-members-after-groups-founder-received-18-years-in-prison |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}

On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of Watkins to "time served". She was one of fourteen individuals to have their sentence commuted; all others convicted of crimes related to the January 6th attack were unconditionally pardoned.{{Cite web |last=Wiggins |first=Christopher |title=Trump commutes transgender woman’s Capitol riot sentence |url=https://www.advocate.com/crime/jessica-watkins-commute-trump#toggle-gdpr |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=The Advocate |language=en}}

Personal life

Watkins was born in {{birth based on age as of date|38|2021|1|29|noage=y}} under a different name, taking the name Jessica Marie Watkins in 2003 or 2004. Watkins is a trans woman and spoke at her trial about her struggle with her gender identity was a factor that led her towards paranoia, fear and conspiracy theories.

She lived in Rochester, New York, and in Fayetteville, North Carolina, before moving to Woodstock, Ohio.