Ex-Virginia police officer sentenced to more than 7 years in jail for role in Jan. 6 riot
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a former Rocky Mount, Va., police officer to 87 months in jail for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, matching the longest prison term handed down for one of the convicted rioters to date and illustrating how former members of law enforcement and the military participated in the violent insurrection.
At a two-hour sentencing hearing for former Virginia police Sgt. Thomas Robertson in U.S. District Court in Washington, Judge Christopher Cooper told Robertson that as a member of law enforcement he took an oath to obey the law. But citing witness testimony and text messages, the judge said that Robertson had told a close friend that he was prepared to fight a “civil war.” Even after his arrest and initial release on bail, the judge said Robertson destroyed evidence and kept a sophisticated rifle and “explosive device” at his home in violation of the court’s order. Federal authorities ultimately re-arrested Robertson and learned that while on bail, he had arranged to buy more than 30 more guns in violation of the judge’s order.
“You were not some bystander who just got swept up in the crowd,” Cooper said Thursday. “It really seems as though you think of partisan politics as war and that you continue to believe these conspiracy theories.”
more:
http://www.aol.com/news/ex-virginia-police-officer-sentenced-230102644.html
Do something positive.
| 
