Former Police Officer Found Guilty In Capitol Riot Trial

Thomas Robertson—a former Virginia police officer who was fired following the riot—was convicted on six counts, including obstruction of Congress and entering a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, Bill Miller, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, confirmed to Forbes.

Prosecutors said Robertson entered the Capitol building with a large wooden stick that he used to interfere with police officers.

Robertson pleaded not guilty, and his defense lawyers claimed he entered the Capitol to find Jacob Fracker—another former police officer from the small town of Rocky Mount with whom Robertson traveled to Washington the morning of the riot—and only used the wooden stick to help him walk, according to the Associated Press.

Fracker, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge related to the riot last month and agreed to cooperate with authorities, testified at Robertson’s trial and admitted to conspiring with Robertson to obstruct Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory—though he claimed there was no verbal agreement of such a plan, the AP said.

Prosecutors pointed to Robertson’s Facebook posts prior to the riot, in which he claimed he was about to become a part of an effective “counter insurgency.”