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A jury issued a unanimous verdict of guilty on all counts Monday for a former Virginia police officer charged in the January 6 Capitol riot.
Thomas Robertson, 49, of Ferrum, Virginia, was found guilty of a total of six charges following a trial in the District of Columbia. The jury found him guilty of five felonies: obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds while carrying a dangerous weapon, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building while carrying a dangerous weapon, and tampering with a document or proceedings. He also was found guilty of the misdemeanor offense of disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
Another off-duty officer and co-defendant, Jacob Fracker, 30, of Rocky Mount, Virginia, pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge on March 18, 2021. He is awaiting sentencing.
According to court documents, Robertson and Fracker, both officers with the Rocky Mount, Virginia Police Department, were off duty when they headed for Washington, D.C. in Robertson’s car on the morning of Jan. 6.
Both brought along their police identification badges and firearms but left those in their vehicle when they arrived in the Washington metropolitan area. They went to the Washington Monument area, where they attended a rally, and then headed to the Capitol, where a mob was gathering.
Both donned gas masks and approached the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol, where they joined an advancing mob of rioters. Robertson carried a large wooden stick and confronted members of the Metropolitan Police Department, who had arrived to provide back-up to U.S. Capitol Police officers who were defending the West Front of the Capitol from the mob.
Robertson and Fracker were arrested on Jan. 13, 2021. Prior to their arrests, federal law enforcement officers called them, informed them of their arrest warrants, and ordered them to turn themselves in later in the day. After learning he had been criminally charged for his conduct at the Capitol, Robertson took Fracker’s phone and destroyed it and his own phone to hide the evidence of their crimes.
Robertson has been awaiting his trial in jail since July, after investigators said they found a rifle and bomb-making material in his home and learned that he bought another 37 guns on the internet after his original arrest in January 2021. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
