Virginia cops, Olympian among arrestees
WASHINGTON — Federal authorities announced several new charges Wednesday against people accused of involvement in last week’s rioting at the Capitol, including a man said to have worn a pro-nazi sweatshirt, a five-time Olympic medalist and two police officers from southwest Virginia.
Many of the those charged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday face misdemeanors and were released on their own recognizance, with prosecutors asking only that they be temporarily barred from Washington.
“Things that are planned to happen in D.C. perhaps this coming week … there is obviously a concern there,” acting U.S. attorney Daniel Bubar said in court of asking defendants to stay away from the region.
But prosecutors aim to hold a man accused of threatening both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Dcalif., and District Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat.
Among those arrested and released Wednesday were Thomas Robertson, 47, and Jacob Fracker, 29, of Rocky Mount, Va., both officers with the Rocky Mount Police Department. They’ve been placed on administrative leave.
An arrest affidavit alleges the FBI had information that Robertson and Fracker were photographed in the Capitol between 2 and 8 p.m. Jan. 6 making an obscene statement.
Robertson was quoted on social media 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 … U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us.”
According to the affidavit by Capitol Police Special Agent Vincent Veloz, a now-deleted Facebook post by Fracker was captioned: “Lol to anyone who’s possibly concerned about the picture of me going around. … Sorry I hate freedom? … Not like I did anything illegal … y’all do what you feel you need to.”
Robertson told a local news station they were allowed entry by Capitol Police and didn’t participate in any violence. Both Robertson and Fracker said in court they were military veterans.
Robert Keith Packer, 56, of Newport News, Va., was identified by an acquaintance and other news outlets; several photographs taken at the Capitol appear to show him wearing a sweatshirt that read “Camp Auschwitz,” a reference to the infamous Nazi concentration camp.
The sweatshirt included the phrase “Work Brings Freedom,” a rough English translation of the German words that hung over one of the gates of the camp, where more than 1.1 million people were killed during the Holocaust.
An arrest warrant charges Packer with unlawful entry and disorderly conduct on restricted Capitol grounds, misdemeanors punishable by as much as a year in prison.
He was released on his own recognizance Wednesday afternoon, with orders to stay out of the District and to appear at a virtual hearing next week.
The Washington Post couldn’t
reach Packer, and a lawyer who recently represented him didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Klete Keller, a five-time Olympic swimming medalist, was charged just days after he was spotted on video wearing a Team USA jacket in the Capitol Rotunda. FBI agents used video and other evidence to confirm his presence inside the Capitol, records show.
District police Wednesday also arrested Nicholas Rodean of Maryland. Rodean, a former employee of Navistar Direct Marketing in Fredrick, was fired after being photographed in the Capitol with his company ID badge around his neck.
Others charged federally were William Pepe, arrested in New York; Andrew Williams, arrested in Florida; Josiah Colt, arrested in Idaho; and Kevin Loftus, arrested in Wisconsin, prosecutors said.
Williams is a firefighter in Sanford, Fla.; Pepe works for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Both were suspended without pay.
Williams’ attorney Vincent Citro didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But Citro said after Williams’ court appearance Wednesday that “the president and the Capitol Police encouraged despicable behavior. Mr. Williams took part in none of it,” Florida media reported.
CBS2 News in Idaho reported that Colt released a statement apologizing after he was photographed hanging from the Senate gallery balcony, saying, “In the moment I thought I was doing the right thing. I realize now that my actions were inappropriate and I beg for forgiveness from America and my home state of Idaho.”
Separately, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn filed a weapons charge against a self-described Proud Boys member who apparently didn’t travel to Washington but allegedly posted threatening statements on the social network Parler on and around Jan. 6 regarding Democratic Sen.-elect Raphael Warnock of Georgia.