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Former Virginia police officer Thomas Robertson has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison. Robertson was one of the people to storm the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
His sentencing matches that of the first Capitol rioter, Guy Reffitt, who was convicted and ordered to spend 87 months in jail.
Washington, DC District Court Judge Christopher Cooper called Robertson's actions "striking and concerning." The judge also noted that Robertson was not taking accountability for what he did on the day of the riot.
Speaking at the trial, Cooper said:
"You think partisan politics is war. You continue to believe conspiracy theories. I sincerely believe you would respond to a call of duty if called to do something like this again."
Another police officer, Jacob Fracker, also testified at Robertson's trial. Fracker had accompanied Robertson that day, following which both were fired. He said Robertson was not only his sergeant, but also his mentor.
Robertson was a sergeant in the Rocky Mount police force in Virginia and became one of the hundreds of people to breach the US Capitol building.
"Will never surrender to be a political prisoner": Thomas Robertson's text message to a friend
In March, two months after the Capitol building riot, Robertson sent a text to his friend stating that he would never "surrender to be a political prisoner."
A month later, Robertson was convicted by a DC jury of all six counts. These included the felony of impeding law enforcement officers, obstructing an official proceeding, and tampering with evidence.
Prosecutors argued that Thomas Robertson had made preparations for the attack. They further presented the jury with a post the former cop wrote before January 6, 2021. In the post, Thomas Robertson urged for an "open and armed rebellion."
Meanwhile, DC Metropolitan Police Officer Noah Duckett also testified at the trial. Duckett claimed that Thomas Robertson attacked him and another officer with a stick that day.
Robertson arrived in Washington with Jacob Fracker, an off-duty police officer from Rocky Mount, and another man. While the third man wasn't charged, prosecutors urged Fracker's cooperation to get him six months probation instead of prison time.
Prosecutors further stated that this would be "with a condition of community confinement or home detention." He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 16.
Thomas Robertson is one of several defendants who refused to enter into a plea agreement and would rather go to trial.
After the attack on the US Capitol building, around 850 people were charged with federal crimes. Reports stated that 350 of them have pleaded guilty and more than 230 have been sentenced.
