Army Veteran’s Capitol Riot related sentence reduced

| September 8, 2024 | 32 Comments

Thomas Robertson was sentenced to seven years in prison for his actions at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Robertson was seen with a large wooden stick, was photographed near a statue of John Stark while making obscene gestures, and he also generated Facebook posts that didn’t help his case. Robertson became the first rioter to have his sentence reduced in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision regarding obstruction.

From Military Times:

Robertson, who declined to address the court at his first sentencing hearing, told the judge Wednesday that he looks forward to returning home and rebuilding his life after prison, AP reported.

“I realize the positions that I was taking on that day were wrong,” he said of Jan. 6. “I’m standing before you very sorry for what occurred on that day.”

Robertson served four years in the U.S. Army from 1991 to 1994, and then joined the Army Reserve in 2001, his attorneys wrote in court documents. He deployed to Iraq in 2008 and was injured by gunshot and mortar shrapnel in Afghanistan in 2011, the documents state. He underwent 10 surgeries for his injuries.

After recuperating, Robertson joined the police department in Rocky Mount, Virginia, and became a sergeant. He was off duty but still working for the police department when he joined the Capitol riot. The town fired him after his arrest.

In a Facebook post on Nov. 7, 2020, Robertson said, “I’ve spent most of my adult life fighting a counter insurgency. (I’m) about to become part of one, and a very effective one.”

Additional Reading:

Wentling, N. (2024, September 4). Judge reduces prison sentence for Army vet convicted in Capitol riot. Military Times. Link.

 

Category: 2020 Election, Crime, Veterans in the news

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Green Thumb

Lucky motherfucker.

He is sorry now, but not then.

Easier to avoid trouble most times versus looking for it.

26Limabeans

“injured by gunshot and mortar shrapnel in Afghanistan”

Why “injured” instead of “wounded”?
Asking for John Kerry

5JC

Most reporters don’t understand the military definitions or reasoning. To the rest of the world a wound is a type of injury.

5JC

The one charge that was thrown out he never should have been convicted of. The code is pretty clear about the elements of the crime and the prosecution never presented, much less proved he interfered with the proceeding.

Basically he went to prison for years for carrying a big stick into the capitol building. That could have easily been avoided and he sure as hell should have known better.

KoB

I’m less concerned about a bunch of people roaming thru the Capitol Building than I am about a bunch of people burning down cities…and getting away with it.

Ashli Babbit was unavailable for comment.

KoB

Kinda like this…

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David

More damage to the country from the denizens of that building than those invaders.

Blaster

Absolutely agree

26Limabeans

I grew up in the 50’s- 60″s when riots had looting, overturned
burning cars, gas masked cops with batons and firemen
hosing down the crowd. Todays kids are a bunch of pussies.

RCAF-CHAIRBORNE

Watercannons worked great in Northern Ireland. It would probably be the closest thing thing to a shower Antifa types have ever had!

jeff LPH 3 63-66

My Barber is Ret. NYPD and he was a member of the TPF (tactical patrol force) or also called hats and bats. The broke up the anti Viet-Nam protests by city hall back then and they did such a great job that they were disbanded. Heard it from my barber and another NYPD officer from the 115Pct. A nunber of years ago there was an incident where the FDNY was at a call and the engine used it’s deck gun to break up a crowd where I believe members of the rig were in danger.the Fire dept were told never to do that again. I should try and look that up on the PC.

jeff LPH 3 63-66

Tried looking up the above FDNY Engine water incident but couldn’t find it.

MustangCryppie
UpNorth

Try this one, https://nypost.com/2020/08/01/fdny-bans-use-of-hoses-to-disburse-rioting-crowds/
The reference is about half way through the article.

Odie

Well, we have been told walls don’t work, but the DC asshats were quick to put up a chain link barrier.

Compare this “insurrection” with the mostly peaceful protests that have taken place over the last few years, and get back to me.

Were there some actual, for real idiots involved? Absolutely. But I think you will find they were brought in to stir shit, and just cause troubles for those exercising what used to be a constitutional right. They call it the people’s house when it suits them.

Odie

Sums it up pretty well.

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SFC D

“I realize the positions that I was taking on that day were wrong,” .

I’m not sure if his positions were wrong, but his actions damn sure were.

fm2176

I have political opinions, some of which I share here. Being an avid fan of freedom and some level of financial stability, though, I don’t allow those opinions to cloud my judgement and risk what little I have. I like waking up when I want, eating what I want, venturing forth and buying things for the family and animals, owning what I want (especially guns), and spending time with the dogs as long as they decide to grace me with their presence. Oh, and interacting with the wife and kids when they and I want to (my oldest two take after me and will randomly call or text and then take weeks to call back or reply).

Military vet to police supervisor, and now what? Convicted felon, years lost with his family, and zero chance of reestablishing his former career. Further, his name is “out there”, meaning he’ll have some level of fame and/or infamy depending on one’s political alliance. He’s doubtlessly a hero and martyr to some but could easily become a target for others to ostracize or even physically attack.

Fortunately, I teleworked that day. The entire year leading up to that event was full of “mostly peaceful protests”, with the statues in Richmond being torn down and even demonstrations in my little part of Stafford County shutting down roads. I wanted nothing to do physically with anything pertaining to the 2020 election, and sat comfortably in my bathroom office, probably writing a Fragmentary Order for the pending Inauguration.

rgr1480

Off Topic but important: Paul Harrel is dead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-gZuFcEu0E

Popular YouTube firearms expert Paul Harrell announced his own death from pancreatic cancer at the age of 58 in a posthumous video. 
The late U.S. Army and Marine Corps veteran, who was known for his gun reviews, firearms instruction videos and 2nd Amendment advocacy, shared the heartbreaking update in final message to his fans that was uploaded to his YouTube channel Tuesday by his manager, Brad Nelson.

Fox news article:
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/popular-youtube-gun-expert-paul-harrell-announces-own-death-58-video-if-youre-watching-me-im-dead

Jimbojszz

He will be missed. Loved his videos.

fm2176

We all knew of his illness and were expecting this, but it doesn’t make it any easier to digest. Paul Harrell’s channel isn’t one that I habitually watch, but he was highly skilled, entertaining, and extremely knowledgeable. I think one of the last video series I kind of binged was where he was responding to some tactical training “guru” who’d talked smack about Paul’s tendency to shoot groceries.

The good news is his brother took the channel over and has been keeping the content coming. Paul had a unique sense of humor (as evidenced by his pre-recorded death video) that can’t be matched, but I’d rather see the channel continue than just become a backlog of aging content. He brought something to the table that others don’t. My younger coworkers love the likes of Demolition Ranch and Kentucky Ballistics, but I appreciate more of the Paul Harrell, Hickok45, and Jerry Miculek content than the 20s-30s YouTubers that tend to collaborate and live near each other (Brandon Herrera, Administrative Results, Garand Thumb, etc.).

The “GunTube” community (especially those previously mentioned) was able to rally around him and help push his channel over 1M subscribers earlier this year, and many of them have uploaded videos pertaining to his passing. Hickok45 released a fairly short but extremely sincere video about this, ending as always with “life is good”.

rgr769

If you all watch this video, you will see that officer Sicknick walks around the rotunda bending over picking up debris and signs left by the “insurrectionists” with full unimpaired movement. He is wearing his ballistic helmet. The reports he was hit with a fire extinguisher have been abandoned, they were debunked by video surveillance. Ditto with the claim a defendant sprayed him with bear spray. Sicknick died of two burst aneurysms in his brain, per the autopsy report. I have a father in law and a friend’s father who both died of the same malady, while under no stress whatever; one was sitting on his bed in the morning putting on his socks. The videos do show that Sicknick was in the area where the crowd was hit with CS by the cops which blew back on them. He spoke with his brother sometime after the above video while sitting in his office and said he was “fine.” Yet the Progs and media still perpetuate the myth he was killed in the “riot.”

SFC D

“Myth”? Nope. Blatant lie!

rgr769

What is the most egregious lie is that six police officers died of injuries sustained in the riot. They are counting cops that had heart attacks or committed suicide many weeks after J6. The MsM propaganda never stops.

SFC D

There was 1 death on January 6 and it wasn’t a cop.

rgr769

Actually, there were two. The second one was also an unarmed woman; she was beaten unconscious by a female capitol cop. She died in that tunnel where the crowd was confined by dozens of officers.

rgr769

Correction: Sicknick’s “natural” cause of death was blood clots in the two arteries that feed the base of the brain, two strokes. The autopsy also showed there wasn’t a single bruise on his body or any other evidence of any injury. Maybe the clot shot got him. There has been a shocking rise in clot caused death since the mRNA shots for The ChiCom virus, especially in those adults 18 – 45 years old.

Odie

Remember when big pharma asked for lawsuit shields before releasing the vaccine? It was granted, and here we are. I believe they knew the problems that would be associated with it, but needed message control.

KoB

And I do seem to remember that the research to come up with the clot shot is sealed for 75 years. I would imagine that anyone and everyone that took the shot(s) will be dead by then…if not much much sooner.

rgr769

I can guarantee I won’t make it to 150.

Odie

I would be a spry(ish) 139. Now, get off my lawn.