LOCK HIM UP NOW!
A former police officer arrested after the Jan. 6 riot was told to stay away from guns. He bought 34, feds say.
By Andrea Salcedo
July 2, 2021 at 7:22 a.m. EDT
In January, a federal judge agreed to release Thomas Robertson, a former Rocky Mount, Va., police officer facing multiple charges over his alleged participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
But Judge G. Michael Harvey’s release conditions were clear: Robertson could not own any firearms, destructive devices or dangerous weapons while his case was pending. If he owned any guns, he must relocate them within two days.
Days after his release, authorities found eight firearms at his home in Ferrum, Va., according to court documents. The judge gave Robertson a second chance, reminding him of his release conditions.
Then, last month, authorities found a loaded M4 carbine and a partially assembled pipe bomb while conducting an authorized search at his home, court records state. Robertson is also accused of buying 34 firearms online and “transporting them in interstate commerce while under felony indictment,” prosecutors said.
Now they are asking the judge to revoke Robertson’s release order and issue an arrest warrant for violating his pretrial release terms a second time.
“Because the defendant has shown utter disregard for the Court’s orders prohibiting his possession of firearms and other weapons during the time he has been on pretrial release, and because he has further flouted his release conditions through repeated violations of the federal firearms laws, the defendant presents a danger to the community that no release conditions will adequately mitigate,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Ann Aloi and Risa Berkower wrote in a motion filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Washington.
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On Jan. 6, prosecutors said, Robertson and Jacob Fracker, his then-colleague with the Rocky Mount Police Department, stormed the Capitol and posed for a photo in front of a statue of John Stark making an obscene gesture. Both men, who were off duty at the time, later sent the photo to their colleagues, the criminal complaint states. (Fracker has also pleaded not guilty.)
Shortly after, Robertson posted the picture on social media and said he was “proud” of the photo because he was “willing to put skin in the game,” court records state. In a Facebook comment on Jan. 8, Robertson wrote, “The next revolution started in DC 1/6/21. The only voice these people will now listen to is VIOLENCE. So, respectfully. Buckle armor or just stay at home.”
On Jan. 13, Robertson was arrested in Virginia and released pending trial under the judge’s terms forbidding him from possessing any guns and instructing him not to violate federal, state or local laws while on his release.
Four days later, authorities discovered and seized eight firearms inside his home while conducting a search. That day, court records state, authorities also found large amounts of ammunition, and what appeared to be equipment used for reloading ammunition, in a building located on his property. Soon after, Magistrate Judge Harvey reminded Robertson that he must adhere to the terms of his pretrial release at another hearing.
But days after he was indicted on Jan. 29, the FBI became aware of evidence indicating that Robertson was buying firearms online, court records state. Emails reviewed by the FBI after judges issued search warrants to examine Robertson’s Yahoo account indicate he paid thousands of dollars to buy an arsenal of weapons. Records from the website Gunbroker.com, also obtained by the FBI, showed Robertson spent thousands of dollars on multiple weapons he ordered through the site.
The owner of Tactical Operations, a Federal Firearms License broker in Roanoke that serves as an intermediary for online gun purchases, told agents in an interview that Robertson had 34 firearms waiting for him at the store.
The FFL owner told agents Robertson said he could not keep the guns at his home because of his current bond conditions, adding that Robertson had been in the store to handle several of the weapons as recently as one week earlier.
Robertson is due back in court on Aug. 3.
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/02/thomas-robertson-cop-arsenal-weapons-capitolriot/
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