Additional Oath Keepers sentenced for involvement in January 6th Capitol breach: ‘I was just another foolish person’

Prosecutors argued that Watkins mobilised a group in Ohio alongside the Oath Keepers, and joined a mob in Washington DC in tactical gear to upend the results of the 2020 presidential election, fuelled by Donald Trump’s false narrative that the election was stolen and rigged against him. According to messages and recordings shared at trial, Watkins declared the group “stormed the Capitol” on a radio-like communication app on the day of the attack.

More than 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the January 6 attack, with 14 people, including the leader of the neo-fascist gang the Proud Boys and three of his lieutenants, having either been convicted by a jury or pleaded guilty on charges of seditious conspiracy in the aftermath of the riots. The 18-year prison sentence for Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted by a jury on a treason-related charge of seditious conspiracy after a nearly two-month trial last year, is currently the longest sentence related to the assault at the Capitol on January 6.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland said the sentences against Rhodes and Meggs “reflect the grave threat the actions of these defendants posed to our democratic institutions.” He further stated, “The United States proved at trial that the Oath Keepers plotted for months to violently disrupt the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next. The Justice Department will continue to do everything in our power to hold accountable those criminally responsible for the January 6 attack on our democracy.”