MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Oath Keeper Jessica Watkins had Trump rally VIP pass and met Secret Service, Internet calls it 'serious problem'

'On January 5 and 6, Ms Watkins was present not as an insurrectionist, but to provide security to the speakers at the rally... as directed by the then-President,' the court filing said

A member of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group charged with rioting at the US Capitol allegedly met with Secret Service agents before the siege and also received a VIP pass to the rally where then president Donald Trump spoke. Now a defense attorney for Jessica Watkins has claimed on Saturday, February 20, that the Oath Keeper was in Washington DC to “provide security” for the speakers at the January 6, 2021, rally, where she stood within 50 feet of the stage.

"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."

RELATED ARTICLES

Oath Keepers plotting Capitol riots had a ‘death list’ of enemies and waited for Donald Trump's directions

Did Donald Trump fund Oath Keepers? 3 from far-right paramilitary group indicted over plot to storm Capitol

The US Secret Service, in response to Watkins' claims in the Saturday filing, denied that private citizens were working with the Secret Service to provide security on January 6.
"To carry out its protective functions on January 6th, the US Secret Service relied on the assistance of various government partners. Any assertion that the Secret Service employed private citizens to perform those functions is false," a US Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement to CNN on Sunday, February 21.

Watkins is one of the nine people linked to the Oath Keepers charged with plotting to block the certification of the election results in the most sweeping indictment prosecutors have issued so far in the investigation into the Capitol violence. Public defender Michelle Peterson said the government’s filings in the case are “filled with rhetorical flourishes design to inflame the passions of its readers without supporting evidence". “Watkins was present not as an insurrectionist, but to provide security to the speakers at the rally,” according to the filing.

As soon as the news made its way to social media, people started talking about it. One internet user said: "One of the leaders of the “Oath Keepers” who attacked the Capitol claims she met w/ Secret Service agents Jan 6 & was providing VIP security. The Secret Service must make a statement quickly & disavow any connection to this group. Any meeting was bc Trump‘s flunkies set it up." While another one said, "If your Secret Service has gone rogue you are most DEFINITELY a shithole country."

Another one blamed the Secret Service and wrote: "There's a reason Joe Biden ordered a total change-around on his Secret Service detail, after January 6." While some pointed at Watkins and wrote: "Oath Keepers member says she was given VIP status at the Jan 6 Trump rally and even met with Secret Service. She even said she was providing security for legislators. Some of this I believe, some of this I don't. I think she's a legend in her own mind, with a superiority complex."

Another person tweeted, "Did you notice, as a mob of terrorists attacked the US Capitol Building on January 6, the Secret Service did not take trump to a protective bunker? Why?" And another one asked, "Do you think anyone in the Secret Service helped with the Trump Capitol insurrection?" 

One person wrote with confidence: "Of course, they were all involved, Capitol police, FBI, Secret Service, all tied to insurrection to save their orange monster." And another one pointed out at a very "serious" problem, saying, "I think we have a very serious problem in the ranks of the Secret Service as well as the Capitol Police."