Ex-Cop Faces Jury Trial for Storming the Capitol
Former Rocky Mount, Va., police officer Thomas Robertson’s trial will be the first for somebody accused of entering the Capitol building during the Jan. 6 riot.
Landwebs
Jury selection for the trial of former Rocky Mount, Virginia police officer Thomas Robertson, charged with six counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, is scheduled to begin this week, reports the Associated Press. One of Robertson’s former colleagues, Jacob Fracker, was scheduled to join him on trial, but instead reached a plea deal and agreed to cooperate with federal authorities, which could involve testifying for the prosecution.
Robertson and Fracker drove with a neighbor to Washington on the morning of Jan. 6, bringing three gas masks along with them to use when they joined the growing mob that day. Robertson was carrying a large wooden stick and used it to impede Metropolitan Police Department officers who arrived to help Capitol police officers hold off the mob. After the riot, Robertson posted a string of Facebook messages that were “illustrative of a sincere commitment to violence,” prosecutors said. Robertson’s trial will be the first for somebody accused of entering the Capitol building during the riot.
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