Jan. 6 Rioter’s Sentence Reduced to Comply with Supreme Court Ruling
WASHINGTON — A federal judge knocked 15 months off a Jan. 6, 2021, rioter’s criminal sentence this week after a Supreme Court ruling revised an interpretation of a law used to convict him.
It was the first of what is expected to be many reduced sentences for Donald Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Former Virginia police officer Thomas Robertson had his sentence reduced from 87 months to 72 months.
One of six charges against him was obstruction of an official proceeding. He and other insurrectionists were trying to block Congress from certifying the electoral college vote that gave the presidential victory to Joe Biden.
The Supreme Court ruled in June that the obstruction charge applies only to altering government records, not violent political confrontations.
“Reading [the provision] to cover all forms of obstructive conduct would override Congress’s careful delineation of which penalties were appropriate for which offenses,” the court’s majority opinion said.
By that time, about 350 protesters had been sentenced to prison on charges of obstruction of an official proceeding. The charge carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence.
Robertson’s attorney cited the Supreme Court ruling in his appeal and said his client had been a “model inmate” in the past three years, which should create additional evidence for a shorter sentence.
The reduced sentence addressed only the criminal charge, not the facts of Robertson’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021.
He forced his way into the Capitol wearing a gas mask and carrying a wooden stick. Jurors agreed with prosecutors that he intended to use the stick as a weapon against police.
The jury also heard evidence Robertson might have planned civil disorder long before the insurrection.
Months earlier, he posted on Facebook with a message saying he spent his life “fighting a counter insurgency,” and that he soon would be part of a “very effective one.”
After the insurrection, he told a friend he was prepared to fight and die in a civil war, in part because he believed Trump’s conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from him by voter fraud.
U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper said at the second sentencing hearing this week that he continued to believe Robertson’s actions were seriously wrong. He described them as “a real harm.”
He added that he “struggled” to see how the obstruction of an official proceeding conviction could be sustained after the Supreme Court’s ruling in June.
Prosecutors had argued that the 87-month sentence should continue because of the gravity of his offense.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi said the “damage done to the country must not be treated as just another crime.” Robertson wanted to start a “rebellion and attack the nation’s democracy,” she said.
She added, “His offense targeted the peaceful transfer of power. There’s no reason to second guess that decision.”
Robertson was a sergeant in the Rocky Mountain, Virginia, police department and a former Defense Department contractor who was shot in the right thigh in Afghanistan in 2011.
He initially said he was carrying a stick at the Capitol to help him walk because of the thigh injury.
You can reach us at [email protected] and follow us on Facebook and Twitter
We're proud to make our journalism accessible to everyone, but producing high-quality journalism comes at a cost. That's why we need your help. By making a contribution today, you'll be supporting TWN and ensuring that we can keep providing our journalism for free to the public.
Donate now and help us continue to publish TWN’s distinctive journalism. Thank you for your support!
