"Donald Trump commuted the sentence of a transgender woman who was convicted in federal court and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for her role in helping organize the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Jessica Watkins was among the 1500 people he pardoned or commuted the sentence of for participating in the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election that resulted in five deaths. Watkins, a military veteran from Ohio, was part of the far-right militia Oath Keepers."
"Prosecutors argued that she helped recruit and train people to go to the Capitol in an attempt to keep Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election, which Trump had lost. She was part of a group of Oath Keepers that went to the Senate to stop Mike Pence from ceremonially presiding over the certification process but was deterred when police used a chemical spray on the mob. On his first day in office on Monday, Trump issued a blanket pardon for over 1500 people who were charged with crimes related to the attack. One hundred thirty-eight police officers were injured that day."
""It is wrong to pardon individuals convicted of violent crime, especially when many of the victims of their violence were law enforcement officers," said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS). Trump had previously said that he would examine the rioters' requests for pardons on a case-by-case basis, and J.D. Vance had said that those who "committed violence" on that day "obviously... shouldn't be pardoned." "It is shameful that the President has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power," Rep"
Donald Trump commuted the sentence of Jessica Watkins, a transgender military veteran from Ohio, who received an eight-and-a-half-year federal sentence for her role in organizing the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Watkins was a member of the far-right Oath Keepers and was accused of recruiting and training people to try to prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 election results. She joined a group that went to the Senate to stop Mike Pence's certification but was deterred by police chemical spray. Over 1,500 people received pardons or commutations related to the attack, and 138 police officers were injured that day. Critics condemned pardoning those convicted of violent crimes against law enforcement.
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