Another participant in the Capitol riot who opted to go to trial instead of accepting a plea agreement has been found guilty by a jury of all charges he was facing. The rioter, Dustin Thompson, is from Ohio and argued that his actions at the Capitol should be credited to Trump’s influence rather than his own decision-making. After the jury’s verdict was delivered, federal Judge Reggie Walton tore into Thompson for going along with Trump’s nonsense, commenting (per reporter Kyle Cheney) that “if somebody is weak-minded enough to buy in on what was being said and then come all the way from Ohio… and even doing it gleefully, I just have my real concerns about him.” Walton ordered Thompson to be held without bond ahead of his sentencing, which is set for July.
Thompson’s charges included the felony offense of obstruction of an official proceeding, which comes with a prison sentence of up to 20 years if found guilty, although substantially shorter sentences are certainly possible. At the Capitol, Thompson stole liquor and a coat rack, among other actions, and the rest of his charges included “theft of government property, illegally entering the Capitol, illegally protesting in the Capitol, and two counts of disorderly conduct in the Capitol,” as CNN summarized. On Wednesday, Thompson told the jury, “Besides being ordered by the President to go to the Capitol, I don’t know what I was thinking… I was caught up in the moment.” Ultimately, the jury didn’t buy it — and deliberated for under three hours before delivering their conclusions.
BREAKING: Peter Navarro and Daniel Scavino, Jr. cited for criminal contempt by House of Representatives for defiance of Select Committee subpoenas.
They will be referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution.
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) April 6, 2022
Thompson is the third Capitol rioter to be convicted by a jury on all charges. Others include Texas resident Guy Reffitt — who, besides his violent conduct at the Capitol, threatened his children in an attempt to keep them quiet about his involvement — and former Virginia police officer Thomas Robertson, whose charges included five felonies. Robertson also took drastic action after the riot in an attempt to help himself and a co-defendant escape accountability — according to the Justice Department, he “destroyed” their phones after learning of his charges. Subsequently, one of his charges was tampering with a document or proceedings. That co-defendant — fellow ex-Virginia police officer Jacob Fracker, who, like Robertson, was employed at the time of the riot but fired afterwards — ended up recently pleading guilty to a criminal conspiracy offense and testified at Robertson’s recently concluded trial. Police officers who participated in the defense of the Capitol also testified at the trial.
"We live in the greatest constitutional Republic in history. No citizen in our Republic can be a bystander. If we do not stand for our freedom and for our Constitution, we will lose them."
-Vice Chair @RepLizCheney— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) April 7, 2022
Meanwhile, other investigations into January 6 are continuing, including those by federal prosecutors and the House committee investigating the riot. The Justice Department was recently revealed to have expanded its probe into the violence to include the large outdoor rally in D.C. that preceded it.
"We have conducted more than 830 interviews and depositions… Those witnesses didn’t hide behind thin claims of executive privilege. Those witnesses followed the law. They did their patriotic duty.
Mr. Scavino and Mr. Navarro didn’t show up."
-Chair @BennieGThompson— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) April 7, 2022
Featured image by Tyler Merbler, available under a Creative Commons License
