US former policeman convicted of storming Capitol on January 6

Former Rocky Mount officer Thomas Robertson found guilty of interfering with police, entering restricted area with a weapon, and obstruction

Rioters loyal to former president Donald Trump rally at the US Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. AP

A federal jury on Monday convicted a former Virginia police officer of storming the US Capitol with an off-duty officer to obstruct Congress from certifying US President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

Jurors convicted former Rocky Mount police officer Thomas Robertson of all six counts he faced from the riot on January 6, 2021.

They included charges that Robertson interfered with police officers at the Capitol and that he entered a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, a large stick.

His sentencing hearing was not immediately scheduled.

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.

Robertson did not testify at his trial, which started last Tuesday. Jurors deliberated for several hours over two days before reaching their unanimous verdict.

A key witness for prosecutors was Jacob Fracker, who also served on the Rocky Mount police force and regarded 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 co-operate with authorities.

He testified on Thursday that he had hoped the mob who attacked the Capitol could overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Robertson was charged with six counts: obstruction of Congress; interfering with officers during a civil disorder; entering a restricted area while carrying a dangerous weapon; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted area while carrying a dangerous weapon; disorderly or disruptive conduct inside the Capitol building; and obstruction.

The last charge came from his destruction after the riot of his and Fracker's mobile phones.

The town fired Robertson and Fracker after the riot. Rocky Mount is about 200 kilometres south of the Virginian capital of Richmond and has about 5,000 residents.

More than 770 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot. More than 250 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanours.

Robertson’s trial is one of four so far for Capitol riot defendants. Two others had their cases decided by bench trials before the same judge.