“A Tale of an American Political Prisoner”

Part 6.6: The DC Gulag; Washington, DC

–Bond Hearings–

by: Jessica Watkins (X: @J6ssicaWatkins)

A True Story; 100% verifiable with Text Messages, Emails, Video/Audio, Court Documents, and Testimony.

Donovan wouldn’t be in C2B long. By the time he had cleared COVID quarantine and arrived in C2B, he had a mere 2 days until his Bond Hearing. His attorney had written an excellent Bond Motion and the arguments within were excellent; we didn’t attack anyone or destroy anything, we stopped vandalism, we obeyed the curfew order, we complied with ALL lawful orders by both Capitol and Metropolitan Police Officers. When the FBI had a Federal Warrant for our arrest, we drove 10 hours across 5 states in order to turn ourselves in the the Urbana Police Dept. We didn’t destroy evidence. Everything the DOJ/Prosecution said is refutable nonsense. We deserve to be granted Bond, because the criteria of “a threat to society” and “poses a flight risk” were inapplicable. Donovan and I walked around for Outside Rec and chatted about his motions and our hopes for his upcoming Bond Hearing; it was scheduled for the following morning. My hearing was scheduled for the day after. As a result, I saw Donovan’s Bond Hearing as a litmus test for my own. If Donovan was granted Bond, then surely mine would be granted too. After all, he and I were inseparable the entire day of J6. We travelled together, were in the same hotel, went to the Capitol together, and left together. We rescued the injured together. Stopped vandalism together. Turned ourselves in to the Police together. Even our motions for Release were virtually identical. We were a carbon copy case. I figured that “As Donovan goes, so also shall I.” Hah! No.

When Donovan came back to C2B and told me that he was granted Bond, I was ecstatic! I packed my stuff, gave away things I didn’t need, and told Montana to take the time off work. All the travel arrangements were in order, Montana was going to drive my car to come pick me up. Everything would be alright soon, and I could finally go home. The next day, my hearing went forward. I was so hopeful and excited, that I was virtually leaping out of my skin. For the first order of business, Judge Mehta needed to rule on the motion, to set a precedent to see if I could be denied Bond based on the “10 Year” rule. My Judge promptly ruled AGAINST the Government, and sided with ME! He ruled that I WAS INDEED eligible for a Detention Hearing! I was hopeful in the extreme. But then, immediately following that ruling, my Judge promptly denied me Bond; citing the damage to the door as an act of Terrorism. The “Destruction of Government Property” charge was sufficient evidence to him that I was “a threat to society”. Destruction of Government Property was a charge that my DC Jury would eventually find me “NOT GUILTY” of having committed; a charge that the Government never substantiated my presence for; a false charge for a crime committed by someone else (by a man named Hunter Ehmke), when I was half a mile away. I wasn’t on the same STREET at the time the crime was committed. Yet despite this, I was denied Bond and held pending trial. I was stunned. How? Why? How did Donovan get Bond and not me? We didn’t do anything differently! It was NOT fair. I returned to C2B crushed. The oppression of those Solitary Confinement walls closed in on me. I won’t lie, I flipped the f*** out; kicking my door, crying, screaming “I’m not a f***ing terrorist!”. I swirled into a depression spiral. I became suicidal, self destructive.

By the following day, I had heard from Montana. He drove my car halfway, only to turn around and have to drive back. My car never made it, the transmission blew and my car would be left for dead in a body shop somewhere in Pennsylvania. Gone forever. To make matters worse, Antifa and BLM had protested at my bar. They threatened to burn it down, kill Montana, kill my family, and attack my customers. So the guy we were buying the place from… well… he kicked us out. He terminated the Land Contract through which we were purchasing the property; a building Montana and I had JUST financed a $40,000 roof. The original owner saw the threats by Antifa as an opportunity to steal my home and business from Montana and me, after we had footed the bill for tens of thousands of dollars in renovations; new walls, new windows, hardwood floors, replaced the customer bathroom floor, purchased appliances for, fixed up the kitchen, and of course a BRAND SPANKIN’ (months) new roof. When we bought the place, the roof had something like 36 leaks. Montana and I used to crawl through the rafters dumping buckets every time it rained. Now, it had a brand new lovely roof on it. And the original owner decided that Antifa was a “threat enough” to steal everything from Montana and me. By that summer I would have lost EVERYTHING; my car, my business, my home, my furniture, my washer/dryer, my freedom. Now, behind those walls, I was losing my sanity. I slept very little, 2-3 hours per night typically. My hair began to fall out in gobs, my skin began to wrinkle from stress crying all the time. All the while, the Prosecution kept indicting more and more people; our case getting larger and larger, as the Prosecution kept changing the story in every Indictment.

It was as if they didn’t know what the story was, so they just kept inventing a story (and subsequently reimagining the “crime”) as they went. It was as if they had no idea what happened on January 6th; as if they had no clue who we were or what the truth was. But that was NOT the case. They knew EXACTLY what happened. They knew EXACTLY what we HAD and HAD NOT done. They knew our motivations. They knew our plans. They knew our travel itinerary. They knew about our Contract to protect VIP’s and Congressmen; about our Background Checks with Secret Service; about our Permit from Capitol Police. They knew about the OathKeepers rescuing Police Officers. They knew we stopped vandalism, and helped the injured. They KNEW we were innocent of everything but trespassing. They just didn’t care. How do I KNOW that they KNEW? Because I followed through on my promise when I was arrested; to tell them the truth about EVERYTHING once I had an attorney. That’s right. I sat down with the FBI and Prosecution, and I told them everything; gave them my emails, accounts, and passwords. I even told them about how I smoked weed. I told them the truth, I held nothing back. When asked on the witness stand, Special Agent Palian would admit this. My attorney asked “Did my client lie or hide information from you?” He said “We have no indication of that. Everything Ms. Watkins told us was substantiated by the evidence”. Yes, I told the FBI and Prosecution everything. It’s why I felt comfortable writing “What Really Happened”. It’s nothing new to them, they’ve heard it all before. Some might call that “snitching”. Is providing an ALIBI for innocent people snitching? Not hardly. Snitching is pointing the finger at the guilty. I did the opposite; I exonerated the innocent. The only person I snitched on was myself. I would come to regret it. But the Prosecution and the FBI didn’t want me to tell the truth or exonerate anyone. What they wanted me to do is lie, and I refused. I decided not to play that game; to “accept my charges like a big girl”. Soon, I would be facing life in prison. That was not exactly what I had in mind…