The court heard several witnesses during the trial last week, including Washington police officers who were there at the time of the attack, federal agents and Robertson’s former police colleague and co-accused who testified as part of a deal with the government.
No conviction date has been set.
During the trial, a DC Metropolitan Police officer testified that a man carrying a stick, who prosecutors say was Robertson, hit him and another officer as they tried to pass through a mob of rioters during the duration of the attack. Prosecutors played several excerpts from the incident, including footage from police body cameras worn that day.
Prosecutors cited online posts allegedly written by Robertson a month before the attack, calling for an “open armed insurgency.”
“The defendant made that promise,” Assistant Attorney Elizabeth Aloi told jurors at the start of the hearing, saying Robertson used a large stick to block officers called in during the uprising. .
Robertson’s former Rocky Mountain police colleague, Jacob Fracker, testified that Robertson came with him into the Capitol, took a picture with him, and shouted and cheered for the crowd inside. Fracker also testified that he gave Robertson his cell phone after the couple was told to surrender and that Robertson had put the phone in an ammunition container and told him something like “the problem was solved”.
According to FBI agent Kathryn Camilleri, who investigated the two men, both Robertson and Fracker turned on new phones in the days following the uprising.
In the final debate on Friday, Robertson’s lawyers argued that he had no plans to go down and say, “I will stop Congress from doing this vote,” and went on to suggest that Robertson’s stick was just a cane.
Robertson has been awaiting trial in prison since July, after investigators said they found a rifle and a bomb-making material in his home and learned he bought 37 more weapons online after his initial arrest in January 2021.
This story has been updated with additional details.
