Oath Keeper repents for Jan. 6 at trial, blames ‘steady diet’ of right-wing conspiracies – Yahoo! Voices

A member of the far-right militia the Oath Keepers on Wednesday said it was a “really stupid” decision to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, saying she was fed a “steady diet” of conspiracy theories and became “just another idiot” in the mob that day.
Jessica Watkins, a former bar owner in Ohio and an Army veteran, took the stand on Wednesday in a high-stakes trial charging Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four other militia members with the rarely used charge of seditious conspiracy.
Watkins, who has been locked up for two years following her arrest in the case, said she did not intend to stop certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory when she stormed the Capitol in a military stack formation with other Oath Keepers, according to The Associated Press.
She also said she did not receive any commands from her militia group to enter the federal building that day.
According to the AP, Watkins explained she was given a “steady diet” of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election from “Infowars” host Alex Jones, who was recently ordered to pay more than $1 billion for spreading a conspiracy about the 2012 Sandy Hook shootings in Connecticut.
Watkins, Rhodes and three other Oath Keeper members on trial face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the seditious conspiracy charges. Closing arguments could begin as early as this week in the trial, which began in late September.
Prosecutors have accused the defendants of plotting to overthrow the government not long after the 2020 election, charging them with organizing militia members to gather on Jan. 6 and of stashing weapons at a Virginia hotel before the rioting.
When he took the stand, Rhodes also said it was “stupid” for Oath Keepers members to charge into the Capitol and repeated that he never meant to overturn certification of the 2020 election.
Rather, Rhodes said he and other militia members were awaiting orders from former President Trump to invoke an old series of laws known as the Insurrection Act, which allows the commander-in-chief to call up a militia to quell a domestic disturbance.
But Watkins on Wednesday said there was no plan to invoke the Insurrection Act, according to The Washington Post.
“There was talk of the Insurrection Act, but no one was taking it seriously. I would put it below the Chinese invading,” Watkins said.
On Wednesday, another Oath Keepers member, Thomas Caldwell, also testified.
Caldwell, a retired Navy intelligence officer, said he was not serious when he wrote messages to the militia group about ferrying “heavy weapons” across the Potomac River into Oath Keepers’ “waiting arms,” according to the AP.
Caldwell called those messages “creative writing.”
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
He handed over his weapons and was taken to a local hospital for observation, police said.
Mankind has long been fascinated by space debris burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere, leaving eerily beautiful trails across the night skies.
Democrats held on to a swing district in Maine, as two-term U.S. Rep. Jared Golden beat back a challenge from a former congressman via ranked choice voting for the second time in four years. Golden won reelection via the ranked round, Maine’s secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, said Wednesday. During the ranked round, votes for third-place finisher Bond were redistributed to the second choices of those who voted for her.
Kari Lake would be a great running mate for Donald Trump in 2024. I imagine Ron DeSantis would approve.
He is prohibited from owning guns and ammunition due to previous conviction.
The party has blamed the independent state senator for Derek Schmidt’s loss.
The new report grades the judges for how they treat defendants, along with how often public defenders are appointed.
Recession to last until 2024 as taxes climb to highest level since Second World War
CBS13 political analyst Gary Dietrich addresses Nancy Pelosi's decision to step down as leader of the Democratic Party while continuing to represent San Francisco in Congress.
A California man was convicted by a federal jury for his part in a $723,000 health care fraud and prescription drug scheme that resulted in the drugs going on the black market.
Former Vice President Mike Pence said he won't provide testimony to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
At a press conference held on Nov. 16, police confirmed that two additional roommates were at home during the Nov. 13 slaying of four University of Idaho students.
An indicted former president running again for the White House has never happened. But it’s not impossible to predict how it will all shake out.
One of Florida’s largest homeowners associations, Miami’s West Kendall Hammocks Community Association, has become a “criminal enterprise,” prosecutors say.
An 18-year-old girl said she had been locked in her room with very little food and water for at least a year before she was able to escape and get help from a
The United States is deeply concerned about the Chinese government setting up unauthorized 'police stations' in U.S. cities to possibly pursue influence operations, FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers on Thursday. Safeguard Defenders, a Europe-based human rights organization, published a report in September revealing the presence of dozens of Chinese police "service stations" in major cities around the world, including New York. The report said the stations were an extension of Beijing's efforts to pressure some Chinese nationals or their relatives abroad to return to China to face criminal charges.
Months before four University of Idaho students were murdered, a man allegedly menaced a group of students on campus with a knife as new photos emerged of the crime scene.
One of the men appears to have an assault-style rifle and another appears to have a handgun.
Two victims of the University of Idaho quadruple homicide, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, appear in a video from a food truck hours before their deaths.
A task force aimed at curbing rail theft in Los Angeles County made more than 700 arrests, authorities said, months after images of discarded packages along Union Pacific tracks drew national attention.

source