Self-professed patriot Sean Watson, whose home on Sul Ross Avenue has attracted lots of attention in recent months, stands firm in his beliefs, and fully expects the FBI to come knocking at his door again.

On Feb. 4 FBI agents showed up at his Alpine home with a search warrant, and confiscated his computers and cell phone. But first, they cuffed him and had him down in the dirt in front of his house.

“I came out with my hands up,” said Watson. “Right here in my own yard, guys had M-16s pointed at me, and were shining lights in my eyes. There were cop cars everywhere. It was so ridiculous just for a search warrant. I would have given everything to them if they had just asked.”

Watson freely admits he was among those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, and on Jan. 5 he was arrested by Metropolitan Police in Washington, D.C., at a Black Lives Matter protest. For that, Watson was charged with crossing a police line, a misdemeanor. He paid a small fine, and was released the following day.

Of the activities on Jan. 6, Watson estimated a half-million people amassed on the National Mall.

“We were there just chanting and singing the National Anthem,” he said. “The Capitol police started throwing flash-bangs and tear gas into the crowd. Then they started hitting us with pepper spray, and they were beating people with batons. Women, children, and older people were getting hurt. We were peaceful, and they attacked us. We weren’t tearing anything up. And I know for a fact that there were some ANTIFA people agitating.”

FBI agents first interviewed him on Jan. 20. He had taken videos and photos of the protest and entry into the Capitol, and turned those over to the agents.

He’s expecting the FBI will arrest him later this week. He said those arrested before him have been charged with felony trespass, obstruction, and “all kinds of crazy stuff.”

Said Watson, “Everyone who’s already been through this has been arrested, and I’m expecting a felony. I was part of the group who went into the Capitol. They’re going after us, thousands of people. Do they go after the BLM people as they burn and loot the cities? No. ANTIFA is rioting and looting in D.C. They’re breaking windows, setting stuff on fire, and no one is doing anything. Nothing happens to them, and they call me a terrorist!”

While some in Alpine object to the colorful signs and slogans on his house, pro-Trump before the November election and anti-Biden after, Watson maintained, “It’s my peaceful protest. It’s my property, and my protest. I’m not going to stop. I’m expressing myself.”

Watson has set up a legal defense fund on a Christian funding website, givesendgo. com/seanwatson. After his defense, all access funds will go to charities.

Watson had lived in Washington, D.C., for five years while in the U.S. Army stationed at Walter Reed Medical Center. Originally from San Antonio, he has been in Alpine for six years.