Ohio Oath Keeper Jessica Watkins insists that she wasn’t at last month’s Capitol riot as an insurrectionist—but as security. In a new court filing over the weekend, a defense attorney for the former Army Ranger wrote that she was there to keep speakers and protesters safe. The filing claims: “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.” In response to the eyebrow-raising claim that Watkins met with Secret Service agents ahead of the riot, the Secret Service denied to CNN that it worked with civilians to provide security—but not that there was a meeting. A Secret Service spokesperson told the network: “To carry out its protective functions on January 6th, the U.S. 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.”
