Politics

Jury Trial Continues for January 6 Defendant & Police Officer Thomas Robertson

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April 7, 2022 — Now comes a jury trial in the case of USA vs. Thomas Robertson, et al in relation to the government’s sprawling January 6 Capitol Breach investigation. The government filed their initial Criminal Complaint against Mr. Robertson, a Rocky Mountain police officer on January 12, 2021 which you can read here:

The initial complaint was against Thomas Robertson and his fellow officer Jacob Fracker who attended the rally with him. Mr. Fracker would later request that the government separate the cases so he could take a plea deal. The government initially refused a plea deal, then said they had to take one together, then finally agreed to Mr. Fracker’s request.

The initial complaint stated that according to information obtained by the FBI, shortly after 2:00 pm on January 6, 2021 the defendants Thomas Robertson and Jacob Fracker were photographed in the Capitol building making an “obscene” statement in front of the John Stark statue. At the time, they were off duty from their jobs as police officers for the Rocky Mountain police, in Virginia.

“In social media posts, Defendant 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.’ He also stated 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.‘”

The complaint goes on to state that Robertson talked to Newsweek and admitted to sharing the posts with his fellow officers. He also reportedly said “he broke no laws, did not know about the violence, and had been escorted in by the Capitol Police.”

In June of 2021 the government sought to revoke the bail and release of Robertson and have him held in jail pending trial:

The government claimed he violated the terms of his release and were upset that he purchased numerous firearms.

In January of 2022 the government filed a Superseding Indictment, adding more charges against Robertson:

At this point, Mr. Fracker was still a co-defendant in the case.

Finally, after separating the cases and agreeing to give Mr. Fracker a plea deal, the government issued a Second Superseding Indictment against Robertson, adding “tampering” to his charges:

The government claims Robertson tried to “destroy, mutilate, and/or conceal a record, document, or other object, that is one or more cell phones, and attempted to do so with the intent to impede or impair the integrity or availability of the phone(s) for use in an official proceeding, that is the grand jury investigation into the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and the federal criminal prosecution of Robertson in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.”

Yesterday a member of the U.S. Capitol Police “riot squad” testified against Mr. Robertson at the jury trial:

The U.S. Capitol Police fired off flashbangs into a peaceful crowd, inciting the melee that took place and creating chaos, as seen in numerous videos.

I find this to be unfair, Robertson and Fracker were not part of the mob who was acting violent. This is like a form of collective punishment rather than the individual merits of each January 6 defendant. They are tainting the jury by playing these selective clips that were chosen for maximum emotional effect.

It’s interesting that the officer uses the word “platoon” as if he was still a member of the military and saw his fellow citizens whom he was sworn to protect as “enemy combatants.” Again, Robertson and Fracker were not part of that mob, they were not violent at all but the government wants to paint a narrative here.

He keeps using military terminology and again, this has nothing to do with the actions of Mr. Robertson that day and is designed to get an emotional response from the jury and a guilt by association conviction.

Mr. Robertson never used the “long stick” to assault anyone, as should be noted. Then we get to the testimony of Mr. Fracker, who was close friends with Robertson but is now testifying against him as part of his plea deal.

It seems that people are shocked that humans are complex and things aren’t black and white “good guy, bad guy” in the real world.

The government has released very select clips from January 6, and have still not released the full over 14,000 hours of CCTV footage that the public has a right to see.

This is a pretty important distinction here — Robertson claimed he was trying to help his friend and the officer says he may have been hit by Robertson accidentally. The intent is key here. Mr. Robertson is also a police officer and the jury must decide if he would intentionally harm another officer.

Once that footage is available, we will include it.

Remember, these are statements made by the crowd, not by Mr. Robertson or Fracker.

The USCP officer admitted Robertson never used the “long stick” in a threatening manor.

This is where the “tampering” charge comes from.

What is the purpose of the discussion of a walking stick?

This is probably because Robertson was holding it in a defensive, not offensive position as he was trained as law enforcement to do.

Is the DOJ now saying you can be in trouble for “not helping” people at an event where you have no official role? Did he have an obligation to assist them?

One must consider the credibility of the witness, and whether they have anything to gain by lying or have any grudges that might effect their ability to be honest with the jury.

This is absurd on it’s face. The government is making him say that as part of his plea deal, but are we actually expected to believe two police officers “conspired” to obstruct Congress? Where is the proof of this? Show us the plans and communications regarding this alleged plot and conspiracy.

If he seems uncomfortable it might be because he has been coerced by the government into lying about someone with whom he was very close.

As far as I know, you are allowed to have political opinions in America.

I think that is a reasonable fear.

This seems to be contradicted by the photo of the two together in front of the John Stark statue.

This is where we know that he was coached by the government on what to say because word for word they used that exact argument to try to convict January 6 defendant Matthew Martin yesterday, in a case they lost.

Fracker seems to be placing all the blame on Robertson.

Fracker appears to have been “re-educated” by the government.

Today’s Testimony

Now that we are caught up on the proceedings and testimony of the first day, we now begin with the testimony from today.

The trial has started off with a bang already.

The defense trying to establish this is gear they would commonly bring to any rally.

Does this sound like a conspiracy or a plan?

“You’re not always truthful in your social media posts, is that right?” Rollins asks Fracker. “I like to beef it up a little,” Fracker says. Later says he claimed he urinated in Speaker Pelosi’s office for “cool points.”

“At any time while you were in the Crypt was there an agreement between you and TJ to obstruct Congress?” Rollins asks. “Not a verbal agreement,” Fracker says. Rollins asks if he & TJ wanted to disrupt Congress. “It felt like everybody in that room wanted that,” Fracker says.

ollins: “You saw people that day doing violent acts.” Fracker: “Yes.” Rollins: “Were you doing violent acts?” Fracker: “No.” Rollins: “Do you think you should be treated the same way as those people doing violent acts?” Objection from DOJ sustained.

Getting more clarity on something the DOJ said yesterday, which was that Thomas Robertson gave Fracker $30,000. Fracker says that was to cover his wages and legal fees and help him provide for his family after they both got fired from the Rocky Mount PD.

Rollins now pressing Fracker on getting rid of his phone. Asks if there was really anything that incriminating on there? Says he uploaded most of the stuff on his phone to the cloud or social media anyway.

Rollins: “Do you really think you did anything greater than trespass?” Fracker: “Sitting here today, yes. At the time, no.” No further questions from Rollins.

AUSA Risa Berkower: “What did you want to happen that day?” Fracker: “I guess I wanted the election results overturned.”

Berkower plays a video of the mob confronting and pushing police out of the Crypt. Berkower: “30 seconds after you met up with TJ in that room, this is what happened, right?” Fracker: “Yes.”

Berkower: “When you left that day, you thought you had done enough, and the crowd had done enough, to overturn the election, right?” Fracker: “Yes.”

I think the questioning here regarding intent to overthrow the government is very transparent, promoting the government narrative to sear into the minds of the jury.

I have often questioned the legal representation that is available for the January 6 defendants. At times it seems they are not getting proper advice and representation.

Why didn’t you help police on Jan. 6, Berkower asks? Fracker: “I think, as a cop, I felt they should have been on our side. Like, marching with us.”

Fracker has been excused as a witness. DOJ certainly convicted him, at least, of a crime while he was on the stand (he’s pleaded guilty to conspiracy). Will be interesting if jurors speak after the trial to see how they viewed his testimony about Robertson.

With the jury out on a break, Judge Cooper says it was error for the defense to enter evidence about Robertson’s reputation/military history (specifically false claims about being a Ranger) but that it was invited error because the DOJ did not object.

Judge Cooper says if the defense enters evidence about Robertson’s reputation for peacefulness, the DOJ can rebut with evidence of instances that are contrary to that reputation.

We’re back from a short break and the DOJ has called FBI Special Agent Kathryn Camilleri. She’s the lead case agent on the Thomas Robertson case. Says she normally investigates international terrorism but, like many DOJ employees, was assigned to help w/ #CapitolRiot cases.

Camilleri says she’s reviewed hours of video of Thomas Robertson at the Capitol and never saw him limp once. Robertson’s attorneys have suggested he had the walking stick because of an injury he sustained while serving as a DoD contractor in the Middle East.

If he didn’t use the stick to hurt anyone, I don’t see why this is something they are so focused on.

Rollins cross-examining Camilleri now about the search warrants. Camilleri says as law enforcement officers, Fracker and Robertson should have known the FBI would want their phones, even before a warrant was issued for them.

Thomas Robertson’s attorneys now say they are going to call 0-1 character witnesses on his behalf (down from 3-4 they said they might call yesterday). If it’s one, it will take ~5 minutes. That will likely eliminate the need for the DOJ to put on a rebuttal case.

Now Robertson’s attorneys says it’s 2 character witnesses, each will take 5 minutes. Robertson will NOT take the stand in his defense. DOJ has decided not to call their second witness today, so the defense’s two will be the final testimony of the trial.

Defense’s first witness will be Rocky Mount Police Officer George Bobbouine. He describes Thomas Robertson as his best friend. First questions are about whether Robertson uses a walking stick. Bobbouine says Robertson got “blown up” in Afghanistan.

Bobbouine says he was going to go to D.C. with Robertson on Jan. 6 but he had to get his wisdom teeth taken out. That’s it for defense questioning.

AUSA Liz Aloi: “You haven’t seen any of the evidence in this case? So you don’t actually know what happened on Jan. 6, do you?” BOBBOUINE: “No.”

Final defense witness is Edward Lovato, who met Robertson while in the police academy. Lovato says he remembers Robertson using a cane and a walking stick after he was injured in Afghanistan.

AUSA Aloi asks Lovato the same questions as Bobbouine, gets the same answers and he is excused. Very brief rebuttal case coming from DOJ. The lead FBI case agent is coming back to the stand.

AUSA Berkower asking Special Agent Camilleri about communications between Robertson and a friend who’s also a former FBI agent. In the message, sent after J6, Thomas Robertson describes his physical fitness, says, “I’m as dangerous as I’ll ever be.”

The government rests its rebuttal case. Next up are jury instructions. Jurors are going to be excused until 3:15 while defense and DOJ hammer out some final disagreements.

Closing arguments will be TOMORROW morning. Jurors will get instructions today and then be dismissed for the evening.

That is all for today. I will continue to report on the case, and the closing arguments tomorrow.

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April 7, 2022 — Now comes a jury trial in the case of USA vs. Thomas Robertson, et al in relation to the government’s sprawling January 6 Capitol Breach investigation. The government filed their initial Criminal Complaint against Mr. Robertson, a Rocky Mountain police officer on January 12, 2021 which you can read here: The…

April 7, 2022 — Now comes a jury trial in the case of USA vs. Thomas Robertson, et al in relation to the government’s sprawling January 6 Capitol Breach investigation. The government filed their initial Criminal Complaint against Mr. Robertson, a Rocky Mountain police officer on January 12, 2021 which you can read here: The…