A husband and wife from Ohio were arrested Thursday and charged in connection with last month’s U.S. Capitol riot after the FBI said it found evidence of their involvement on another defendant’s phone.
Bennie Alvin Parker, 70, and Sandra Ruth Parker, 60, accordingly became the latest additions to a growing list of more than 200 people facing charges related to the Jan. 6 rioting on Capitol Hill.
In a court filing unsealed following their arrest, the FBI said it found text messages and photographs implicating the Parkers while searching the cellphone of an Ohio woman facing related charges.
Roughly a month earlier, the FBI arrested Jessica Marie Watkins, also of Ohio, a U.S. Army veteran and alleged militia member accused of breaching the Capitol building during the Capitol invasion.
The FBI said in the latest filing that a search of Ms. Watkins’s phone revealed a contact listed as “Recruit Ben - OSRM,” an apparent reference to the Ohio State Regular Militia.
Investigators used public records to trace the phone number associated with “Recruit Ben - OSRM” to Mr. Parker, an FBI special agent said in an affidavit entered in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Parker and Ms. Watkins exchanged numerous text messages before, during and after the Capitol was stormed, the FBI agent said in the newly unsealed 28-page affidavit.
“I may have to see what it takes to join your militia, our is about gone,” Mr. Parker allegedly texted Ms. Watkins on Dec. 27, according to an exchange included in the court filing.
“Is any of your members going to Washington on January 6,” Mr. Parker allegedly said in another text about that time. “Sandy and I want to go but would like to possibly meet with you and go with you guys.”
The FBI said it obtained surveillance video from a hotel in Arlington, Virginia, that shows the Parkers interacting with Ms. Watkins and one of her co-defendants, Donovan Ray Crown, early on Jan. 6.
Photographs and videos taken on Capitol Hill later that day showed the Parkers among militia members “dressed in a uniform consisting of camouflaged-combat attire,” the FBI agent said in the court filing. One such photo was found on the phone, according to the special agent.
The FBI alleges Ms. Parker was among the mob that breached the Capitol building, while investigators believe her husband stayed in touch with the militia members from the grounds outside.
Days afterward, the FBI alleges Ms. Watkins sent a text message to Mr. Parker downplaying the possibility of them being arrested.
“I’ve been following FBI wanted list, seems they’re only interested in people who destroyed things. I wouldn’t worry about them coming after us,” Ms. Watkins allegedly said on Jan. 9.
Ms. Watkins and Mr. Crowl were arrested Jan. 17. A grand jury returned an indictment later that month charging them and a third co-defendant, Thomas Edward Caldwell, with conspiracy and other counts. More recently, a superseding indictment was unsealed a day after the Parkers were arrested that adds their names and four others to the list of co-defendants in the case.
The government has previously described Ms. Watkins as belonging to the Ohio State Regular Militia as well as being a “confirmed dues-paying member” of the Oath Keepers, a collection of militias.
Mr. and Mrs. Parker are accused of violating federal laws against conspiracy; destruction of government property and aiding and abetting; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; and trespassing. Court records show they appeared before a federal magistrate judge later Thursday and were released without bond.
C. Ransom Hudson, a lawyer for Mrs. Parker, declined to comment when reached by The Washington Times. Attempts to reach a lawyer listed in court filings as defending Mr. Parker were unsuccessful.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.