The Air Force major who stood on the Capitol steps in uniform demanding President Donald Trump’s removal has spent nearly two months alone in a cell, according to his lawyer.
Maj. Jason Watson is “still in solitary confinement 24 hours a day,” attorney Christopher Mutimer told CNN on Friday, Military.com reported.
“Even if he gets an hour to eat or to exercise, he’s alone,” Mutimer said. “He’s looking at having his liberty potentially taken away. ... He is looking at being removed from the military, losing his benefits and potentially spending significant time in jail.”
Watson, 40, was arrested by Capitol Police on July 1 after holding a sign reading “Impeach. Convict. Remove.” at a news conference where he called for Trump and Vice President JD Vance to be removed, citing U.S. military action in Venezuela, Cuba and Iran, Stars and Stripes reported. The D.C. attorney general’s office dropped the city’s charges, but Watson was taken from the courthouse directly into Air Force custody, Military Times reported. He repeated his criticism in a CNN interview on Aug. 17, and the next day the Air Force put him in pretrial confinement, citing probable cause of “continued misconduct.”
He now faces 10 specifications under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Three fall under Article 88, a seldom-used provision that makes it a crime for officers to use “contemptuous words” about the president. Mutimer has said Watson is the first major ever charged under it, and a CNN review found only two convictions under the article since the modern military code took effect.
Military law bars punishing anyone awaiting trial. Article 13 of the UCMJ says pretrial confinement can be no “more rigorous than the circumstances require,” and judges can credit time against a sentence if conditions cross that line. At a September hearing, officer Maj. Joshua Wendell said Watson is isolated because he can’t legally be held with civilians.
“He was placed in confinement because of the law, which puts him in solitary confinement,” Wendell said, according to Stars and Stripes.
Mutimer said the government is pushing ahead with a general court-martial, the military’s most serious trial forum, after the hearing officer recommended most charges go forward. The Air Force has not publicly confirmed a formal referral. Watson’s lawyers want a special court-martial instead, pointing to Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, who was court-martialed for publicly criticizing military leaders in 2021 and pleaded guilty to lesser charges after nine days in pretrial confinement.
The Air Force has said Watson is presumed innocent and did not respond to Military.com about his conditions.
“All that I could do was ask myself, what’s the highest price that I’m willing to pay?” Watson told CNN in an interview recorded before his arrest.
