Related video above: Jan. 6 rioter apologizes to officers at hearing

A Texas man convicted of storming the U.S. Capitol with a holstered handgun, helmet and body armor was sentenced on Monday to 87 months — more than seven years — in prison, the longest sentence imposed so far among hundreds of Capitol riot cases.

Prosecutors said Guy Reffitt told fellow members of the Texas Three Percenters militia group that he planned to drag House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the Capitol building by her ankles, "with her head hitting every step on the way down," according to a court filing.

Reffitt was the first person to go on trial for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, in which supporters of then-President Donald Trump halted the joint session of Congress for certifying Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory.

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, who presided over Reffitt's jury trial, also sentenced him to three years of supervised release after his prison term and ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution.

Justice Department prosecutors recommended a 15-year prison sentence for Reffitt, who already has been jailed for approximately 19 months. They said he was a militia group member who intended to drag lawmakers out of the building and take over Congress to stop the certification of the Electoral College vote.

Sentencing guidelines calculated by the court's probation department called for a sentence ranging from nine years to 11 years and three months. Prosecutors argued that an "upward departure for terrorism" was warranted in Reffitt's case.

The longest sentence before Reffitt's was five years and three months, for two men who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers at the Capitol.

Defense attorney Clinton Broden asked for Reffitt to be sentenced to no more than two years in prison. Broden noted that Reffitt didn't assault any law enforcement officers or enter the Capitol building.

Videos captured the confrontation between outnumbered Capitol police officers and a mob of people, including Reffitt, who approached them on the west side of the Capitol.

Reffitt was armed with a Smith & Wesson pistol in a holster on his waist, carrying zip-tie handcuffs and wearing body armor and a helmet equipped with a video camera when he advanced on the officers, according to prosecutors. He retreated after an officer pepper sprayed him in the face, but he waved on other rioters who ultimately breached the building, prosecutors said.

Reffitt didn't testify at his trial before jurors convicted him in March of all five counts in his indictment. The jury found him guilty of obstructing Congress' joint session, of interfering with police officers outside the Capitol and of threatening his two teenage children if they reported him to law enforcement.

Reffitt's 19-year-old son, Jackson, testified that his father told him and his sister, then 16, that they would be traitors if they reported him to authorities and warned them that "traitors get shot."

Guy Reffitt was a member of the Texas Three Percenters militia group, according to prosecutors. The Three Percenters movement refers to the myth that only 3% of Americans fought in the Revolutionary War against the British.

Reffitt lived with his wife and children in Wylie, Texas, a Dallas suburb. He drove to Washington, D.C., with Rocky Hardie, a fellow member of the militia group.

Hardie testified that both of them were armed with holstered handguns when they attended Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally before the riot. Hardie also said Reffitt gave him two pairs of zip-tie cuffs in case they needed to detain anybody.

More than 840 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot. Over 340 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors. More than 220 have been sentenced, with nearly half of them receiving terms of imprisonment. Approximately 150 others have trial dates stretching into 2023.

Reffitt is one of seven Capitol riot defendants to get a jury trial so far. Jurors have unanimously convicted all seven of them on all counts in their respective indictments.

The largest investigation in the Justice Department's history keeps growing two years after a violent mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol and challenged the foundations of American democracy.

Related video above: AP Explains: Criminal referrals by the Jan. 6 panel

More than 930 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the siege on Jan. 6, 2021, and the tally increases by the week. Hundreds more people remain at large on the second anniversary of the unprecedented assault that was fueled by lies that the 2020 election was stolen.

A surplus of self-incriminating videos and social media posts has made it difficult for riot suspects to present viable defenses. Federal prosecutors have a near-perfect trial record, securing a conviction in all but one case.

The cases have clogged Washington's federal court, a building less than a mile from the Capitol. Virtually every weekday, judges are sentencing rioters or accepting their guilty pleas while carving out room on their dockets for trials. Already scheduled for this year are trials for about 140 riot defendants.

At least 538 cases, more than half of those brought so far, have been resolved through guilty pleas, trials, dismissals or the defendant's death, according to an Associated Press review of court records. That leaves approximately 400 unresolved cases at the outset of 2023.

While a House committee has wrapped up its investigation of the riot, the Justice Department's work appears to be far from done. A special counsel is overseeing two federal investigations involving Trump: one into the retention of classified documents at the former president's Florida estate and a second into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The Jan. 6 attack as an "assault on our democracy," Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

"And we remain committed to doing everything in our power to prevent this from ever happening again," he said in a statement Wednesday.

A look at where the prosecutions stand:

___

HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CHARGED?

The number of defendants charged with Jan. 6-related federal crimes is approaching 1,000. They range from misdemeanor charges against people who entered the Capitol but did not engage in any violence to seditious conspiracy charges against members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys extremist groups accused of violently plotting to stop the transfer of presidential power.

More than 100 police officers were injured at the Capitol. More than 280 defendants have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement officers on Jan. 6, according to the Justice Department. The FBI is posting videos and photos of violent, destructive rioters in seeking the public's help in identifying other culprits.

Investigators have used facial recognition software, license plate readers and other high-tech tools to track down some suspects. Networks of online sleuths have helped the FBI identify rioters based on digital clues.

Among those still on the lam: the person who put two explosives outside the offices of the Republican and Democratic national committees before the riot. The FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Metropolitan Police Department are offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Authorities have shared a staggering amount of evidence with defense lawyers — more than nine terabytes of information that would take over 100 days to view. The shared files include thousands of hours of surveillance footage from the Capitol and hundreds of hours of bodycam videos from police officers who tried to hold off the mob.

___

HOW MANY HAVE PLEADED GUILTY?

Nearly 500 people have pleaded guilty to riot-related charges, typically hoping that cooperating could lead to a lighter punishment.

About three-quarters of them pleaded guilty to misdemeanors in which the maximum sentence was either six months or one year behind bars. More than 100 of them have pleaded guilty to felony charges punishable by longer prison terms.

The first person to plead guilty to a Jan. 6-related crime was Jon Ryan Schaffer, an Indiana musician who joined the Oath Keepers. Schaffer was one of at least eight Oath Keepers who pleaded guilty before the group's founder, Stewart Rhodes, and other members went to trial on seditious conspiracy charges.

The Justice Department also cut plea deals with several Proud Boys members, securing their cooperation to build a case against former national leader Enrique Tarrio and other top members of the group. A New York man, Matthew Greene, was the first Proud Boys member to plead guilty to conspiring with others to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote.

___

HOW MANY HAVE GONE TO TRIAL?

Dozens of riot defendants have elected to let juries or judges decide their fates. For the most part, they haven't fared well at trial.

The Justice Department notched a high-stakes victory in November when a jury convicted Rhodes, the Oath Keepers' founder, and a Florida chapter leader of seditious conspiracy. It was the first seditious conspiracy conviction at trial in decades. Jurors acquitted three other Oath Keepers associates of the Civil War-era charge, but convicted them of other felony offenses.

The next major milestone is the sedition trial of Tarrio and four other members of the Proud Boys. Jury selection in the trial of the far-right extremist group started last month.

In other cases, an Ohio man who stole a coat rack from the Capitol testified that he was acting on orders from Trump when he stormed the Capitol. A New Jersey man described by prosecutors as a Nazi sympathizer claimed he didn't know that Congress met at the Capitol. A retired New York Police Department officer testified that he was defending himself when he tackled a police officer and grabbed his gas mask outside the Capitol.

Those defenses fell flat. Jurors unanimously convicted all three men of every charge in their respective indictments.

Federal juries have convicted at least 22 people of Jan. 6 charges. Judges have convicted an additional 24 riot defendants after hearing and deciding cases without a jury.

Only one person, New Mexico resident Matthew Martin, has been acquitted of all charges after a trial. After hearing testimony without a jury, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden concluded that it was reasonable for Martin to believe that outnumbered police officers allowed him and others to enter the Capitol through the Rotunda doors on Jan. 6.

___

HOW MANY HAVE BEEN SENTENCED?

At least 362 riot defendants were sentenced by the end of 2022. Roughly 200 of them have received terms of imprisonment ranging from seven days to 10 years. Prosecutors had recommended a jail or prison sentence in approximately 300 of those 362 cases.

Retired New York Police Department Officer Thomas Webster has received the longest prison sentence. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who sentenced Webster to a decade in prison, also presided over the first Oath Keepers sedition trial and will sentence Rhodes and Rhodes' convicted associates.

Webster is one of 34 riot defendants who has received a prison sentence of at least three years. More than half of them, including Webster, assaulted police officers at the Capitol.

The riot resulted in more than $2.7 million in damage. So far, judges have ordered roughly 350 convicted rioters to collectively pay nearly $280,00 in restitution. More than 100 rioters have been ordered to pay over $241,000 in total fines.

Judges also have ordered dozens of rioters to serve terms of home detention ranging from two weeks to one year — usually instead of jail time — and to collectively perform more than 14,000 hours of community service.

After the Capitol insurrection, major social media and web hosting platforms that provide the tools for them to stay online, like Amazon Web Services, made substantial efforts to eradicate domestic violent extremists and conspiracy groups like QAnon from their platforms.

AWS removed far-right social media space Parler from its services, causing it to go temporarily offline. 

Since then, many of these far-right groups have jumped to online spaces like Gab.

These alternative hosting companies hold terms of service that allow hate speech and other unfavorable content to flourish on their platforms. 

The most well-known of these alternative hosting sites is Epik, backed by CEO Rob Monster, who over the years has provided services to several hate-speech-filled message boards like neo-Nazi site The Daily Stormer and 8chan. 

In some cases, Epik has stepped in to provide these services after far-right spaces were dropped by their original web hosting providers. 

For example, after it was revealed that the perpetrator of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting used Gab to post hate speech, the site was subsequently dropped by GoDaddy. Still, Epik stepped in to provide domain hosting services so Gab could stay online.

After being dropped by AWS, it also stepped in to provide Parler with domain hosting services. 

"What we're seeing now is some of the more reputable companies saying that we're not going to be a part of that, we're not going to let our systems be abused," said Bret Schafer, Media, and Digital Disinformation Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. "There is a huge ecosystem that allows disinformation to be monetized, and I think the more reputable companies are seeing this as a challenge to their business."

Jack Bratich, author and Rutgers University professor, said one worry he has about the pairing of companies like Epik and Gab is that it not only makes these companies financially dependent on each other, it also allows them to push different potentially dangerous ideologies even further. 

"I think there's something bigger going on socially and culturally around these media platforms... that expands beyond both the financial incentives," Bratich said. "This is tied to a kind of development of a kind of Christian nationalism and a desire for a kind of a theocracy in the U.S. People like [Rob] Monster, who owns Epik, have been pretty forthcoming about that."

Tyler Adkisson at Newsy first reported this story.

This week marks the end of another long and busy year in the world of news.

2021 was a year filled with political turmoil and extreme weather events, with the specter of the coronavirus constantly lingering in the background.

But 2021 also showed the best of humanity — people coming together to uplift others when times got tough.

Re-live some of the biggest moments from 2021 in the timeline below.

Jan. 6 — Supporters of President Donald Trump storm the U.S. Capitol as Congress certifies presidential election results. Five people died in the riots, and a week later, Trump would be impeached for the second time in his only term in office.

Jan. 20 — Under increased security in Washington, Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States.

Feb. 13 — Trump is acquitted in the impeachment trial stemming from his actions amid Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol. Seven Republican senators voted to convict Trump, though he easily avoids conviction by a total of 10 votes.

Feb. 13 to Feb. 17 — Winter storms cause weeklong power outages in Texas, killing more than 200 people.

Feb. 18 — In a heart-pounding and gripping landing sequence, NASA rover Perseverance completes its 300 million mile journey by successfully landing on Mars.

March 16 — A gunman kills eight people — including six Asian women — at several Atlanta-area spas. The shootings draw more attention to rising instances of hate crimes against people in the AAPI community that began with the arrival of COVID-19 in 2020.

April 11 — Police officer Kim Potter fatally shoots motorist Daunte Wright in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, sparking protests. In December, that officer, Kim Potter, would be convicted of two counts of manslaughter.

April 15 — Daily COVID-19 vaccinations peak in the U.S. as age restrictions are lifted. The daily vaccination rate would dip in the summer, but begin to rise in the later months of 2021 as boosters are approved and mandates go into effect.

April 20 — Ex-officer Derek Chauvin is convicted of George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis. Floyd's death in 2020 sparked months of protests against police brutality and systemic racism; activists greet Chauvin's conviction with cheers.

May 6 — Hackers shut down Colonial Gasoline Pipeline with a ransomware attack, leading to gas shortages in some regions. The hack is the highest-profile ransomware attack in a year that saw a disturbing increase in such incidents.

June — Delta variant arrives in the U.S., spelling the start of a summer surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the delta variant would cause a steady rise in cases and deaths starting in June, leading to a peak in early September.

June 24 — A condo tower collapses in Surfside, Florida, killing 98 people.

Aug. 10 — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announces his resignation amid sexual harassment allegations. He announced his resignation a week after New York AG Letitia James published a damming report that spelled out several workplace harassment and sexual harassment charges against Cuomo.

Aug. 30 — The last U.S. troops leave Afghanistan, marking the end of America's longest war. The withdrawal grew chaotic in the final weeks after the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan fell to the Taliban.

Sept. 1 — A controversial "fetal heartbeat bill" takes effect in Texas that bans nearly all abortions in the state. The newly-conservative Supreme Court later declines to take action to pause the law while lower courts sort out lawsuits levied in an attempt to stop it.

Oct. 18 — Former Sec. of State Colin Powell dies of COVID-19 at the age of 84.

Nov. 5 — Ten people die, and hundreds are injured in a crushing crowd at Travis Scott's Astroworld music festival in Houston.

Nov. 19 — Kyle Rittenhouse is acquitted of all charges stemming from fatal shootings that took place in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse was just 17 at the time of the shooting and not legally allowed to own a gun, but jurors determined he acted in self-defense.

Nov. 24 — Three Georgia men are convicted of the 2020 murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was out for a jog in his hometown of Brunswick, Georgia. The men had accused Arbery of a series of break-ins in the area; jurors determine the men were not justified to detain Arbery on the grounds of a since-repealed citizen's arrest law.

Dec. 10 — Tornadoes kill dozens of people in western Kentucky and surrounding states.

Dec. 11 — A day after losing his home in those Kentucky tornadoes, Jordan Baize inspires millions across the country by playing "There's Something About That Name" on his family piano, which survived the storms.

Dec. 23 — Kim Potter is convicted of manslaughter from the April shooting of Daunte Wright.

Dec. 29 — Ghislaine Maxwell is convicted of sex trafficking charged linked to her involvement with Jeffrey Epstein.

Video above: Executive privilege move won't open a Pandora's box, White House says

Former President Donald Trump on Monday sought to block the release of documents related to the Jan. 6 insurrection to the congressional committee investigating the attack, challenging the decision of President Joe Biden.

In a federal lawsuit, Trump said the committee request was "almost limitless in scope," and sought records with no reasonable connection to that day. He alleged the committee is seeking potentially millions of presidential records that he asserts are covered by a broad range of privileges, including those that cover presidential communications and conversations between lawyers and a client.

The committee’s request was a "vexatious, illegal fishing expedition," unprecedented in scope and "untethered from any legitimate legislative purpose," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit takes aim at the core oversight functions of Congress, saying the records being sought by lawmakers are not for "legitimate legislative purpose" and the committee does not have the powers of a law enforcement agency. It seeks an injunction to bar the archivist from producing them. Biden has said he would not block the release to the committee, because the Jan. 6 attack was such an unprecedented event that executive privilege should not factor in.

Lawmakers are seeking the documents as part of its investigation into how a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6 in an effort to halt the certification of Biden’s win.

The committee demanded a broad range of executive branch papers related to intelligence gathered before the attack, security preparations during and before the siege, the pro-Trump rallies held that day and Trump’s false claims that he won the election, among other matters.

Trump's lawsuit says the "boundless requests included over fifty individual requests for documents and information, and mentioned more than thirty individuals, including those working inside and outside government." The suit says the request could include "conversations with (or about) foreign leaders, attorney work product, the most sensitive of national security secrets, along with any and all privileged communications among a pool of potentially hundreds of people."

The lawsuit was filed by Jesse Binnall, an attorney based in Alexandria, Virginia, who represented Trump in an unsuccessful lawsuit late last year seeking to overturn Biden’s victory in Nevada. Trump and his allies have continued to make baseless claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election.

A House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has issued its first subpoenas, demanding records and testimony from four of former President Donald Trump's close advisers and associates who were in contact with him before and during the attack.

In a significant escalation for the panel, Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., announced the subpoenas of former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino, former Defense Department official Kashyap Patel and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. The four men are among Trump's most loyal aides.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., wrote to the four that the committee is investigating "the facts, circumstances, and causes" of the attack and asked them to produce documents and appear at depositions in mid-October.

The panel, formed over the summer, is now launching the interview phase of its investigation after sorting through thousands of pages of documents it had requested in August from federal agencies and social media companies. The committee has also requested a trove of records from the White House. The goal is to provide a complete accounting of what went wrong when the Trump loyalists brutally beat police, broke through windows and doors and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden's victory — and to prevent anything like it from ever happening again.

Thompson says in letters to each of the witnesses that investigators believe they have relevant information about the lead-up to the insurrection. In the case of Bannon, for instance, Democrats cite his Jan. 5 prediction that "(a)ll hell is going to break loose tomorrow" and his communications with Trump one week before the riot in which he urged the president to focus his attention on Jan. 6.

In the letter to Meadows, Thompson cites his efforts to overturn Trump's defeat in the weeks prior to the insurrection and his pressure on state officials to push the former president's false claims of widespread voter fraud.

"You were the president's chief of staff and have critical information regarding many elements of our inquiry," Thompson wrote. "It appears you were with or in the vicinity of President Trump on January 6, had communication with the president and others on January 6 regarding events at the Capitol and are a witness regarding the activities of the day."

Thompson wrote that the panel has "credible evidence" of Meadows' involvement in events within the scope of the committee's investigation. That also includes involvement in the "planning and preparation of efforts to contest the presidential election and delay the counting of electoral votes."

The letter also signals that the committee is interested in Meadows' requests to Justice Department officials for investigations into potential election fraud. Former Attorney General William Barr has said the Justice Department did not find fraud that could have affected the election's outcome.

The panel cites reports that Patel, a Trump loyalist who had recently been placed at the Pentagon, was talking to Meadows "nonstop" the day the attack unfolded. In the letter to Patel, Thompson wrote that based on documents obtained by the committee, there is "substantial reason to believe that you have additional documents and information relevant to understanding the role played by the Defense Department and the White House in preparing for and responding to the attack on the U.S. Capitol."

Scavino was with Trump on Jan. 5 during a discussion about how to persuade members of Congress not to certify the election for Joe Biden, according to reports cited by the committee. On Twitter, he promoted Trump's rally ahead of the attack and encouraged supporters to "be a part of history." In the letter to Scavino, Thompson said the panel's records indicate that Scavino was "tweeting messages from the White House" on Jan. 6.

Thompson wrote that it appears Scavino was with Trump on Jan. 6 and may have "materials relevant to his videotaping and tweeting" messages that day. He noted Scavino's "long service" to the former president, spanning more than a decade.

The subpoenas are certain to anger Republicans, most of whom have been content to move on from the insurrection and have remained loyal to Trump even after denouncing the attack. Only two Republicans sit on the panel, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger.

In July, the committee held an emotional first hearing with four police officers who battled the insurrectionists and were injured and verbally abused as the rioters broke into the building and repeated Trump's lies about widespread election fraud.

At least nine people who were there died during and after the rioting, including a woman who was shot and killed by police as she tried to break into the House chamber and three other Trump supporters who suffered medical emergencies. Two police officers died by suicide in the days that immediately followed, and a third officer, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, collapsed and died after engaging with the protesters. A medical examiner later determined he died of natural causes.

The Metropolitan police announced this summer that two more of their officers who had responded to the insurrection, officers Kyle DeFreytag and Gunther Hashida, had also died by suicide.

The Department of Homeland Security says it's aware of a "small number of recent online threats of violence" connected to Saturday's far-right rally in Washington, D.C.

Its local director said no one wants a repeat of the January 6th insurrection when thousands of rioters stormed the Capitol.

"We do not tolerate hate, violence, or the criminal actions of those who committed the insurrection on January 6th," said director Christopher Rodriguez.

About 700 people are expected to attend the "Justice for J-6" rally in support of the protesters who were arrested after attacking the U.S. Capitol back in January.

As a precautionary measure, temporary fencing has been reinstalled and police have requested that national guard troops remain on standby.

This story was originally reported by Newsy.com.

Never did Karlin Younger expect an everyday chore to spark a federal investigation. But the lunch break she decided to use to do laundry on Jan. 6 did just that in our nation's Capitol.

"I was doing a now infamous load of laundry, just changing it over from the washer to the dryer," she recalled.

It was that load, the Wisconsin native who now lives and works in D.C., was taking back to her building when she looked down and saw something odd.

"My first reaction was, 'This has got to be trash,' until I kind of leaned closer and saw that it was, in fact, something that looked like a bomb.

She noticed the piping, wires and a timer pointed to the number 20.

"You're on that edge of, 'I don't want to bother anybody, I want to make sure this is real,'" she recalled from her home in Washington. "You don't want to go down as the person who evacuates a city block for a hoax. But at the same time, there was just enough of that gut instinct that said, 'This isn't a place you put a hoax, I have to have somebody check this out.'"

She decided to alert a security guard nearby. The bomb had been placed next to the headquarters of the Republican National Committee.

Younger would later learn it was the first of two pipe bombs discovered that day, the same day a mob attacked the United States Capitol in support of President Donald Trump and his false claims alleging the election was "stolen."

Investigators found the other potentially deadly device near the Democratic headquarters about a quarter-mile south of Younger's building.

Federal investigators published a wanted poster with an image of the person they believe planted both bombs. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward to find the person.

For younger, the personal reward was knowing she was in a position to help.

"I mostly say I just got really lucky," she said. "The lesson I've learned is really to just trust your gut and if you see something, say something."

Related video above: State Capitols step up security amid threats

Federal officials are investigating people who took part in the riot at the U.S. Capitol to determine whether they should be barred from traveling on airlines.

The assessments are one of several steps federal agencies are taking to increase security before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration next week. The Transportation Security Administration said Friday it will put more air marshals on some flights, and travelers will see a noticeable increase in police officers, bomb-detecting dogs and random screening at all three major airports in the Washington, D.C., area.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske said his agency is “processing hundreds of names with law enforcement agencies for a thorough risk assessment.” He said TSA was working “to ensure those who may pose a threat to our aviation sector undergo enhanced screening or are prevented from boarding an aircraft.”

Another federal official said the assessments involve people who took part in the Jan. 6 siege at the Capitol, which left five people dead and forced Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress to leave the Senate and House chambers and seek shelter for several hours.

The assessments could result in rioters being added to the federal no-fly list, the person said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that weren't made public.

The FBI said earlier this week it was considering adding Capitol rioters to the federal no-fly list but stopped short of saying that individuals were being scrutinized. The TSA vets airline manifests and notifies airlines when a ticketed passenger appears to be ineligible to fly.

Airlines and Washington-area airports also have promised tighter security after last week’s riot at the Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump. Each of the nation's seven largest airlines say they will temporarily prohibit passengers flying to Washington from putting guns in checked bags.

Earlier this week, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it will take a tougher enforcement stance toward passengers accused of interfering with or assaulting airline crew members or other passengers. That decision followed a number of incidents on planes of people refusing to wear masks, yelling at other passengers, and in a few cases harassing members of Congress at airports.

Peter Heneen, a deputy from the Polk County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office, was arrested on Tuesday after Heneen allegedly sent threatening messages about the Capitol riot to a colleague.

Sheriff Grady Judd said Heneen sent a colleague messages during the riot, and that member of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported the messages to superiors.

“That night, he [Peter Heneen] entered into communication with another deputy, a friend of his,” Judd said. “He started saying some absolutely frightening things. That deputy was worried about his mental state and the very next day he reported to work he told his lieutenant.”

Judd said that one the messages said, “'You need to shoot the blank back. F the feds. Shoot the fed.' The next statement was 'Need to make the streets of DC run red with blood of the tyrants.'"

Heneen faces second-degree felony charges of written threats. Heneen is also facing termination.

"I am angry beyond words,” Judd said. “I am proud of my witness who is my deputy as I could ever be because he stood up and said that's not the way this system work."

Seven Democratic senators on Thursday asked the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate the actions of Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley “to fully understand their role” in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

Thousands had gathered that day as Congress voted to formally certify President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in November. Hawley and Cruz led objections in the Senate to Biden’s victory, despite the widespread recognition that the effort would fail.

In the end, Congress certified Biden’s Electoral College victory, but not before thousands marched to the Capitol at Trump’s urging, overwhelmed security and interrupted the proceedings. In the end, the violence led to five deaths, injured dozens of police officers and caused extensive damage to the Capitol.

The Democratic senators said the question for the Senate to determine is not whether Cruz and Hawley had the right to object, but whether the senators failed to put loyalty “to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or Government department.” They also said the investigation should determine whether Cruz, of Texas, and Hawley, of Missouri, engaged in “improper conduct reflecting on the Senate.”

“Until then, a cloud of uncertainty will hang over them and over this body,” the Democratic senators wrote in a letter to the leaders of the Senate Ethics Committee.

The Democratic senators said Cruz and Hawley announced their intentions to object even though they knew that claims of election fraud were baseless and had led to threats of violence.

“Their actions lend credence to the insurrectionists’ cause and set the stage for future violence. And both senators used their objections for political fundraising,” the Democratic senators said in their letter.

Cruz and Hawley have condemned the violence on Jan. 6. Cruz called it a "despicable act of terrorism.” Hawley said those who attacked police and broke the law must be prosecuted.

Cruz helped force a vote on Biden's victory in Arizona, while Hawley helped force one on Biden's victory in Pennsylvania.

“Joe Biden and the Democrats talk about unity but are brazenly trying to silence dissent," Hawley said in a prepared statement. “This latest effort is a flagrant abuse of the Senate ethics process and a flagrant attempt to exact partisan revenge."

“It is unfortunate that some congressional Democrats are disregarding President Biden’s call for unity and are instead playing political games by filing frivolous ethics complaints against their colleagues," said a Cruz spokesperson, Maria Jeffrey Reynolds.

Those Democrats requesting the investigation are Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

PHOENIX — An Arizona man who sported face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns when he joined the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge.

Jacob Chansley is now seeking release from jail while he awaits sentencing.

Chansley was among the first wave of pro-Trump rioters to force its way into the Capitol building and was widely photographed in the Senate chamber with a flagpole topped with a spear.

Chansley pleaded guilty to charges "obstructing an official proceeding." One prosecutor estimated Chansley would face 41 to 51 months in prison under sentencing guidelines.

He had previously been arrested on charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. He has been in jail for nearly eight months.

In July, a judge refused to release Chansley from jail ahead of his trial, noting that he was a flight risk.

Chansley, who goes by the moniker "QAnon Shaman," refused to eat in the early days of his incarceration, and his lawyers eventually requested he be given organic food while in jail. Lawyers say his "shamanic belief system and way of life" required him to eat only organic food.

A federal judge granted his request for organic food on Feb. 3.

In a closed-door session Tuesday with the House Appropriations Committee, acting D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Robert J. Contee said a third officer who responded to the U.S. Capitol's riot has died.

According to testimony, Contee said D.C. Metro Police Officer Jeffery Smith and Howard Liebengood, a U.S. Capitol Police Officer, both "took their own lives in the aftermath of that battle."

Before Contee's testimony, Smith's death had not been disclosed, according to Politico and FOX News.

"We honor the service and sacrifices of Officers Brian Sicknick, Howard Liebengood, and Jeffery Smith, and offer condolences to all the grieving families," Contee said during the testimony.

Five people died during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick succumbed to his injuries he sustained while responding to the riot.

According to The Associated Press, interim U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman apologized to Congress for the failure to prepare for the riots in prepared testimony.

They were there to "Stop the Steal" and to keep the president they revered in office, yet records show that some of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol did not vote in the very election they were protesting.

One was Donovan Crowl, an ex-Marine who charged toward a Capitol entrance in paramilitary garb on Jan. 6 as the Pro-Trump crowd chanted "who's our president?"

Federal authorities later identified Crowl, 50, as a member of a self-styled militia organization in his home state of Ohio and affiliated with the extremist group the Oath Keepers. His mother told CNN that he previously told her "they were going to overtake the government if they...tried to take Trump's presidency from him." She said he had become increasingly angry during the Obama administration and that she was aware of his support for former President Donald Trump.

Despite these apparent pro-Trump views, a county election official in Ohio told CNN that he registered in 2013 but "never voted nor responded to any of our confirmation notices to keep him registered," so he was remov ed from the voter rolls at the end of 2020 and the state said he was not registered in Ohio. A county clerk in Illinois, where Crowl was once registered, also confirmed he was not an active voter anywhere in the state.

Crowl was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of destruction of government property and conspiracy for allegedly coordinating with others to plan their attack. He remains in custody after a judge said, "The suggestion to release him to a residence with nine firearms is a non-starter." In an interview cited by the government, Crowl told the New Yorker that he had peaceful intentions and claimed he had protected the police. Crowl's attorney did not provide a comment about his client's voting record.

Many involved in the insurrection professed to be motivated by patriotism, falsely declaring that Trump was the rightful winner of the election. Yet at least eight of the people who are now facing criminal charges for their involvement in the events at the Capitol did not vote in the November 2020 presidential election, according to an analysis of voting records from the states where protestors were arrested and those states where public records show they have lived. They came from states around the country and ranged in age from 21 to 65.

To determine who voted in November, CNN obtained voting records for more than 80 of the initial arrestees. Most voted in the presidential election, and while many were registered Republicans, a handful were registered as Democrats in those jurisdictions that provided party information — though who someone votes for is not publicly disclosed. Public access to voter history records varies by state, and CNN was unable to view the records of some of those charged.

Among those who didn't vote were a 65-year-old Georgia man who, according to government documents, was found in his van with a fully-loaded pistol and ammunition, and a Louisiana man who publicly bragged about spending nearly two hours inside the Capitol after attending Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally. Another was a 21-year-old woman from Missouri who prosecutors say shared a video on Snapchat that showed her parading around with a piece of a wooden sign from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. And a Florida man previously convicted of attempted murder who was accused by the government of refusing to leave the Capitol likely did not have the option to cast a ballot because of his unpaid court fines.

Jessica Stern, a Boston University professor who has spent around 30 years researching extremists, said that while she hasn't spoken with the individuals involved in the events at the Capitol, from her interviews with other violent extremists, she believes a number of factors could have been at play. They could have believed the system was rigged, as the "Stop the Steal" movement claims, in which case there would be no point in voting. They could be more attracted to the theater, violence or attention they would get from a demonstration like the one at the Capitol than to actually achieving their purported goal — in this case, different election results.

Stern speculated that it was a combination of these reasons, adding that feelings of anger and humiliation often draw people to extremist groups and violence. She said that for someone to actually cast a vote, "you would have to believe in the ethic of voting more than you thought it was a waste of time...and see it as a moral imperative. You have to believe the system works for everyone, that it's for the good of the country."

Jack Griffith, a 25-year-old from Tennessee, trumpeted his arrival in Washington DC with a Facebook post saying, "THE CAVALRY IS COMING!!!!," using the hashtag "#MAGA," according to court documents. Shortly after leaving the Capitol on Jan. 6, he posted a message of disappointment. "I hate to be that guy, but The New World Order beat us," he wrote. "Trump was our greatest champion, and it still wasn't enough. He tried his very best. He did so much, but he's only one man...I even helped stormed(sic) the capitol today, but it only made things worse...Why, God? Why? WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN US? Unless...Trump still has a plan?"

These online missives describing his participation in the Capitol siege were later used by the Department of Justice to build a criminal case against him. Griffith faces a number of charges, including violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Election data from Tennessee and Alabama, where public records show Griffith had lived, showed that he had voted in the 2016 and 2018 elections but not the 2020 presidential election. The public defender who initially represented him declined to comment. Another attorney listed as representing him now did not respond to requests for comment.

Court records detail how University of Kentucky senior Gracyn Courtright posted a series of images on Instagram showing herself marching with a large American flag and another with her arms raised in triumph outside the Capitol, with the caption, "can't wait to tell my grandkids I was here." Later, she posted a photo of herself in a belly baring shirt with the caption, "Infamy is just as good as fame. Either way I end up more known. XOXO."

Courtright, who was charged with crimes including knowingly entering a restricted building, was also identified on surveillance footage lugging a congressional "Members Only" sign around the Capitol, according to court records. "idk what treason is," she wrote in a conversation shared with the FBI by a tipster, who had confronted the college student in a series of Instagram messages. Courtright is not registered in Kentucky, where she attends school, according to election officials. She is registered in her home state of West Virginia, but records show she did not vote in the 2020 election. Her attorney told CNN that Courtright did not dispute the fact that she did not vote in the election but declined further comment.

In a string of social media posts he shared straight from the Capitol, Edward Jacob Lang of New York portrayed himself as ready for a revolution. "1776 has commenced," he wrote in one that was cited by the government, showing him standing on the steps of the Capitol. "I was the leader of Liberty today. Arrest me. You are on the wrong side of history," read another. After leaving the Capitol, he continued to encourage followers to join the "patriot movement" with him. "GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH," he posted.

Federal prosecutors said that video footage from Jan. 6 shows Lang attempting to attack police officers with a baseball bat, donning a gas mask and riot shield. He now faces a variety of federal charges, including assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees, civil disorder and violent entry. A recent ProPublica story also revealed how Lang had used the online messaging app Telegram in an attempt to radicalize "normies" and convince them to join local militia groups — encouraging people in the days after the Capitol riot to stock up on guns and prepare for war.

Though state records show that Lang is registered to vote and had participated in a couple of past elections, county and state officials confirmed to CNN that he did not vote in the November election. Lang's attorney said in a statement that Lang claimed from jail that he submitted an absentee ballot, saying, "Mr. Lang has always represented himself as a Libertarian...He is not a devout Trump supporter, but believes that those taking office will not uphold citizens' First and Second Amendment rights."

New York law requires absentee ballots to be postmarked by election day and received within the following week in order to be counted. When asked about Lang's claim that he sent in an absentee ballot, the Sullivan County Board of Elections directed CNN to file an open records request in order to receive any information. The request had not been responded to before the time of publishing.

Lang's attorney also said the 25-year-old was a "naive, impressionable young man" who had been provoked by Trump's rhetoric. He cited Sen. Mitch McConnell's statement that "the mob was fed lies" and said he hoped that Lang and others would not be considered guilty "due solely to their associations, beliefs and presence."

Related video: McConnell points finger at President Trump in Capitol riot

A man who identified himself with the name of Lang's father refused to talk with a reporter, saying, "We hate CNN. We're pro-Trump, goodbye." In a statement to a local newspaper, Lang's father attributed his son's actions at the Capitol to "a substance abuse problem."

Arie Perliger, a professor at University of Massachusetts Lowell who specializes in right-wing domestic terror, said that he was not surprised to hear some of the rioters had not voted, particularly militia members like Crowl, since militia membership is often rooted in a distrust of government. Still, he said he was concerned that it could reflect a growing erosion of faith in the American democratic process, which is a "risk we need to think about."

"When we see that significant ideological groups are stopping participating in the Democratic process, that may mean they are looking for other ways to participate, and those other ways could be more violent," said Perliger, who oversees a database of right-wing extremist acts of violence in the United States. "We should be concerned if we see a growing number of ideological groups are reducing their involvement in electoral politics."

Bruce Springsteen and Jeep call for unity in 2-minute long Super Bowl commercial

Updated: 10:11 PM EST Feb 7, 2021

Bruce Springsteen issued a call for common ground, unity and political centrism in a 2-minute long ad for Jeep set to run during the Super Bowl on Sunday.The ad, featuring wide-shot vistas of the American countryside, open roads and slow-motion shots of "The Boss," centers on a tiny chapel in Lebanon, Kansas, that purportedly sits in the geographical center of the continental United States."All are more than welcome to come meet here in the middle," the "Thunder Road" singer says in a voiceover. "It's no secret the middle has been a hard place to get to lately, between red and blue, between servant and citizen, between our freedom and our fear. PGlmcmFtZSBzdHlsZT0nd2lkdGg6MTAwJTsgaGVpZ2h0OjgwMHB4Oycgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS9lbWJlZC9EMlhZSC1JRXZoSSIgZnJhbWVib3JkZXI9IjAiIGFsbG93PSJhY2NlbGVyb21ldGVyOyBhdXRvcGxheTsgY2xpcGJvYXJkLXdyaXRlOyBlbmNyeXB0ZWQtbWVkaWE7IGd5cm9zY29wZTsgcGljdHVyZS1pbi1waWN0dXJlIiBhbGxvd2Z1bGxzY3JlZW4+PC9pZnJhbWU+"Now fear has never been the best of who we are, and as for freedom, it's not the property of just the fortunate few, it belongs to us all. Whoever you are, wherever you're from, it's what connects us, and we need that connection. We need the middle," he says.Ambient music plays throughout the commercial, interspersed by Springsteen's speech. Over the course of the ad, the camera shows Springsteen doing various nondescript activities: writing in a notebook, driving, drinking a hot liquid, rubbing dirt in his hands, opening a door, lighting a candle and putting on a hat."We just have to remember the very soil we stand on is common ground, so we can get there. We can make it to the mountaintop through the desert, and we will cross this divide. Our light has always found its way through the darkness. And there's hope on the road up ahead," Springsteen says.The ad then ends with a dedication: "To the ReUnited States of America."

Security footage from the Capitol insurrection was shown to senators on Wednesday during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

The newly released security video was captured from within the Capitol on Jan. 6 and showed how close Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other members of Congress came to encountering the rioters.

Among the most dramatic videos shown was from outside of the Senate, which showed Officer Eugene Goodman rushing toward Sen. Mitt Romney who was outside the chamber. Goodman helped Romney get away from the rioters moments before they reached the area outside of the Senate.

"In this security footage, you can see officer Goodman running to respond to the initial breach. Officer Goodman passes Senator Mitt Romney, and directs him to turn around in order to get to safety," said impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett, who is a Democratic delegate from the US Virgin Islands. "On the first floor, just we meet them, the mob had already started to search for the Senate chamber. Officer Goodman made his way down to the first floor where he encountered the same insurrectionists we just saw watch breached the Capitol."

Goodman is then seen coaxing the rioters away from the Senate chamber. Plaskett said senators were still inside the chamber at that moment.

Then, Plaskett showed footage of Vice President Mike Pence being ushered away from rioters at 2:26 p.m. ET. Plaskett then showed videos posted on social media by rioters demonstrating that they were intending to kill Pence.

Plaskett said that rioters were within 100 feet of reaching Pence.

Then, Plaskett showed security video of the hallway outside of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. The footage showed Pelosi’s staffers barricading themselves seven minutes before rioters reached the speaker’s lobby.

"We know from the rioters themselves, that if they had found Speaker Pelosi, they would have killed her," Plaskett said.

Five people died amid the riots, including a Capitol Police officer. More than 140 officers were injured, Capitol managers said on Wednesday.

The Department of Homeland Security warned state and local authorities Friday about an increase in calls for violence online tied to election-related conspiracy theories, according to a law enforcement source.

In an effort to prevent online threats from manifesting in violent acts, DHS issued a public safety notification to reach law enforcement throughout the United States.

"[D]HS is providing awareness of reports regarding an increasing but modest level of activity online calling for violence in response to unsubstantiated claims of fraud related to the 2020 election and the alleged 'reinstatement' of former President Trump," the public safety notification said, according to the source.

The notification was first reported by ABC News.

The warning, which does not contain a specific threat, comes amid a resurgence of false claims about the 2020 election, pushed in part by Mike Lindell, MyPillow CEO and a close ally of former President Donald Trump, who has emerged as one of the most vocal proponents of these conspiracy theories.

"As public visibility of the narratives increases, we are concerned about more calls to violence. Reporting indicates that the timing of these actives may occur during August 2021, although we lack information on specific plots or planned actions," the notification says, according to the source.

For weeks, the federal government has been aware of online narratives focused on reinstatement, particularly on platforms associated with promoting conspiracy theories, like QAnon, and forums where extremists tend to engage, the source said.

While "modest," there is a concern that those conspiracy theories are being "woven into calls for violence," the source added, pointing to the need for greater awareness of the issue throughout the U.S.

In the current threat environment, DHS is especially concerned that lone offenders and small groups of individuals would potentially view these narratives as justification to act out violently, according to the source.

Some of the online rhetoric directly references Jan. 6. There are also calls for violence in Washington, D.C., and state capitols across the country, the source said.

In additional to the Lindell-backed false claims, another conspiracy theory relates to the upcoming FEMA test of the nationwide emergency alert system, according to the source, with some viewing it as a so-called "go code."

The notification is based on the department's "assessment of the current threat environment in its similarity to situations to 2020 and 2021 that manifested in acts of violence and destructive behavior by individuals and groups, including the 6 January 2021 breach of the US Capitol," according to the source.

Dissemination of the notification will be followed up with additional meetings between the FBI, DHS and state and local law enforcement to evaluate the threat and assess whether more is needed to mitigate the risk, the source said.

Capitol Police is currently investigating 35 officers for their actions during the Jan. 6 insurrection of the Capitol, a spokesperson for the Capitol Police said in a statement on Friday.

Of the 35 officers, six are being suspended with pay.

The investigation is separate from a proposed inquiry that Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced earlier this week. Pelosi is calling for a “9/11 type commission” to look at what caused the Capitol insurrection, and the failures that ensued to protect the Capitol. The unprecedented security failure prompted the chief of the Capitol Police, House sergeant at arms and the Senate sergeant at arms all to resign.

While many videos documented the heroism of officers working to protect members of Congress during the Jan. 6 counting of the Electoral College, some questioned the actions of officers amid the riot. In one video, an officer could be seen wearing a Make America Great Again hat. A separate photo showed an officer taking a selfie with a rioter.

“Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman has directed that any member of her department whose behavior is not in keeping with the Department’s Rules of Conduct will face appropriate discipline,” the Capitol Police said in a statement.

Five people died amid the riot, including a Capitol Police officer. More than 140 officers were injured. The insurrection interrupted the counting of the Electoral College, and forced the Senate, House and Vice President Mike Pence to be moved to a secure location as a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump seized the Capitol building.

The Department of Justice said this week that 250 people have been charged in connection to the Capitol riot.

Despite the admonishment of some members of the Capitol Police, there have been bipartisan calls to honor those who labored to protect the Capitol on Jan. 6. Last week, the Senate voted to award Officer Eugene Goodman a Congressional Medal of Freedom. Also last week, Pelosi announced that she plans on introducing legislation to bestow the Congressional Gold Medal to the Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies involved in protecting the Capitol.

Video above: McConnell slams Trump moments after acquitting him

Less than a month after excoriating Donald Trump in a blistering floor speech, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that he would “absolutely” support the former president again if he secured the Republican nomination in 2024.

The Kentucky Republican told Fox News that there's still “a lot to happen between now" and the next presidential election.

“I've got at least four members that I think are planning on running for president, plus governors and others,” McConnell said. “There's no incumbent. Should be a wide open race.”

But when directly asked if he would support Trump again were he to win the nomination, McConnell responded: “The nominee of the party? Absolutely.”

McConnell's remarks underscore an awkward balancing act he sought to maintain since Trump lost the election, reflecting the reality that McConnell’s own path back to power in the Senate hinges on enthusiasm from a party base that still ardently supports Trump.

McConnell's comments precede an annual gathering of conservative activists that this year is expected to showcase Trump's vise-grip hold on the GOP base.

Trump, along with most other leading 2024 presidential prospects, is set to address the Conservative Political Action Conference, which will be held in Orlando this year because of coronavirus restrictions. McConnell, a regular at the annual conference, will not be on the program following his condemnation of Trump.

Shortly after voting to acquit Trump at his second impeachment trial, McConnell delivered a scalding denunciation of Trump from the Senate floor, calling him “morally responsible” for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. In turn, an angry Trump blistered McConnell as a “dour, sullen and unsmiling political hack.”

The 36-year Senate veteran had an expedient relationship with Trump while he was in office. He made a habit of saying little about many of Trump’s outrageous comments.

But together they secured key Senate victories, such as the 2017 tax cuts and the confirmations of three Supreme Court justices and more than 200 other federal judges.

Their relationship soured after Trump’s denial of his Nov. 3 defeat and relentless efforts to reverse the voters’ verdict with his baseless claims that Democrats fraudulently stole the election.

It deteriorated further last month, after Republicans lost Senate control with two Georgia runoff defeats they blamed on Trump, followed by the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters. The day of the riot, McConnell railed against “thugs, mobs, or threats” and described the attack as “this failed insurrection.”

Still, McConnell likes to pride himself on playing the “long game,” which was the title of his 2016 memoir. And his comments on Thursday may yet prove prescient.

Recently, Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, a longtime Trump opponent, predicted the former president would win the nomination if he ran again.

“I don't know if he'll run in 2024 or not, but if he does, I'm pretty sure he will win the nomination,” Romney said during an online forum hosted by The New York Times.

A member of the Oath Keepers militia group charged with plotting with other extremists in the attack on the U.S. Capitol disavowed the anti-government group in a court hearing Friday, telling the judge she is “appalled” by her fellow Oath Keepers and “humiliated” by her arrest.

Jessica Watkins, one of nine members and associates of the far-right militia group charged with planning and coordinating with one another in the Jan. 6 siege, said she plans to cancel her Oath Keepers membership and has disbanded her local Ohio militia group. Watkins’ remarks came before the judge ordered her to remain behind bars while she awaits trial.

“I did it out of the love of my country but I think it’s time to let all of that go,” the Army veteran who ran an Ohio bar said during the hearing held via videoconference. “I’m not a criminally minded person... I am humiliated that I am even here today,” she added.

Judge Amit P. Mehta said Watkins was “not just a foot soldier” but actively involved in the planning and organizing of the attack and is too dangerous to be released. More than 250 people have been charged with federal crimes so far as a result of the Jan. 6 insurrection. The case against those affiliated with the Oath Keepers is the largest conspiracy case brought by prosecutors so far in the attack.

Watkins’ comments were surprising as defendants rarely, if ever, address the court during routine hearings over things like detention, because everything they say can be used against them by prosecutors.

Watkins, from Champaign County, Ohio, was part of the “stack” formation used by military infantrymen that was seen seen marching up the Capitol steps wearing tactical gear as the mob descended on the building, authorities say. Prosecutors say she and other Oath Keepers prepared in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6 as if they were going to war — recruiting others and training members — with the goal of blocking the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.

Prosecutors said in court documents that Watkins communicated with other extremists during the attack over an encrypted channel on the walkie-talkie app Zello, saying: “We have a good group. We have about 30-40 of us. We are sticking together and sticking to the plan.” Prosecutors say an unknown man said on the channel: “You are executing citizen’s arrest. Arrest this assembly, we have probable cause for acts of treason, election fraud.”

Watkins’ renouncement of the Oath Keepers stands in sharp contrast to a message authorities say she sent after the attack to the leader of the Oath Keepers about a media report that portrayed the Oath Keepers negatively. Prosecutors say Watkins said: “If he has anything negative to say about us OATHKEEPERS, I’ll let you know so we can sue harder. Class action style. Oathkeepers are the [expletive]. They rescued cops, WE saved lives and did all the right things.”

Authorities have revealed chilling allegations in the case against the Oath Keepers, like a text message in which one man suggested getting a boat to ferry “heavy weapons” across the Potomac River. Prosecutors say the Oath Keepers also discussed stationing a “quick reaction force” with weapons outside D.C. to assist.

On Friday, the judge pressed prosecutor Ahmed Baset over whether authorities have evidence that the Oath Keepers actually had a ”quick reaction force” set up outside the city on Jan. 6. Baset replied “that’s our understanding,” but didn’t provide anymore details before the judge brought the attorneys into a private virtual conference room to discuss the matter further.