A federal jury on Monday convicted a former Virginia police officer of storming the U.S. Capitol with another off-duty officer to obstruct Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory.
Jurors convicted former Rocky Mount police officer Thomas Robertson of all six counts he faced stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, including charges that he interfered with police officers at the Capitol and that he entered a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, a large wooden stick.Robertson's jury trial was the second among hundreds of Capitol riot cases. The first ended last month with jurors convicting a Texas man, Guy Reffitt, of all five counts in his indictment.
A key witness for prosecutors in his case was Jacob Fracker, who also served on the Rocky Mount police force and viewed Robertson as a mentor and father figure. Fracker was scheduled to be tried alongside Robertson before he pleaded guilty last month to a conspiracy charge and agreed to cooperate with authorities. Fracker testified Thursday that he had hoped the mob that attacked the Capitol could overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“There were no plans to go down there and say, `I'm going to stop Congress from doing this vote,”' Rollins said. Robertson and Fracker drove with a neighbor to Washington on the morning of Jan. 6. Robertson brought three gas masks for them to use, according to prosecutors. Jurors saw some of Robertson's vitriolic posts on social media before and after the Capitol riot. In a Facebook post on Nov. 7, 2020, Robertson said “being disenfranchised by fraud is my hard line.”
The town fired Robertson and Fracker after the riot. Rocky Mount is about 25 miles south of Roanoke and has roughly 5,000 residents.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ex-officer convicted of storming U.S. Capitol to disrupt CongressA U.S. federal jury on Monday convicted a former Virginia police officer of storming the U.S. Capitol with another off-duty officer to obstruct Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory.
Read more »
Ex-Virginia officer convicted of storming Capitol to disrupt CongressFormer Virginia police officer Thomas Robertson was convicted of all six counts he faced from Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection
Read more »
'HORRIFIC ACT OF TERRORISM': Man found guilty of murdering British politician David AmessAli Harbi Ali was also convicted for a second offence of preparing acts of terrorism
Read more »
Ontario to expand access to antiviral COVID-19 drugs, testing, amid sixth waveChief Medical Officer of Health Kieran Moore spoke publicly for first time in weeks
Read more »
Ontario’s chief medical officer re-emerges after nearly month as province grapples with sixth wave of COVID-19Ontario Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore will speak publicly for the first time in nearly a month on Monday afternoon as the province grapples with a sixth wave of COVID-19.
Read more »