Former VA Police Officer Guilty Of Jan. 6 Riot-Related Charges: Report

WASHINGTON, DC — A former Virginia police officer was found guilty this week of multiple charges in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., according to a report.

Thomas Robertson, a former police sergeant, was found guilty of all six charges stemming from his involvement in the riot, CNN reported. Charges included impeding law enforcement officers, obstructing an official proceeding, entering and remaining in restricted grounds and tampering with evidence.

Thomas Robertson and co-defendant Jacob Fracker were both off duty from their jobs as officers for the Rocky Mount Police Department when they entered the U.S. Capitol along with other rioters on Jan. 6, according to police. Inside the building, a joint session of Congress was preparing to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

RELATED: 2 Virginia Police Officers Charged In Siege Of U.S. Capitol

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.

Fracker was scheduled to be tried alongside Robertson before he pleaded guilty last month to a conspiracy charge and agreed to cooperate with authorities.

Robertson and Fracker were photographed in the Capitol building making an obscene gesture in front of a statue of American Revolutionary War Gen. John Stark.

In social media posts, Robertson is quoted as saying, "CNN and the Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem and not some random small business ... The right IN ONE DAY took the f***** U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us."

Robertson also stated that he was "proud" of the photo in an Instagram Post that was shared to Facebook because he was "willing to put skin in the game," according to the FBI documents.

Following their arrests for their alleged part in the insurrection, Robertson and Fracker were both fired by the police department.

During the trial’s closing arguments Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Risa Berkower said Robertson went to Washington and joined a "violent vigilante mob" because he believed the election was stolen from then-President Donald Trump. He used the wooden stick to interfere with outnumbered police before he joined the crowd pouring into the Capitol, she said.

"The defendant did all this because he wanted to overturn the election," Berkower said.

Rollins conceded that Robertson broke the law when he entered the Capitol during the riot. He encouraged jurors to convict Robertson of misdemeanor offenses but urged them to acquit Robertson of felony charges that he used the stick as a dangerous weapon and that he intended to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote.

"There were no plans to go down there and say, 'I'm going to stop Congress from doing this vote,'" Rollins said.

A sentencing date has not been set.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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