Two off-duty police officers in Virginia have been arrested and charged in connection to the deadly breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Rocky Mount Police officers Jacob Fracker and Thomas Robertson were arrested Wednesday January 13, after they were photographed inside the Capitol making an obscene gesture in front of the John Stark statute, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced.
In a photo included as an exhibit in the criminal complaint, the men were seen posing in front of the statue with their fingers raised.
A social media post was also included in the complaint. In the post, Robertson said “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 f—— U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us.”
He also said he was “proud” of the photo in an Instagram post that was shared to Facebook because he was “willing to put his skin in the game.”
In a separate Facebook post, Fracker said “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.” That post has since been deleted but was also an exhibit to the criminal complaint.
According to the complaint, Robertson admitted to Newsweek that he and Fracker sent the photo to police department colleagues, and posted it to his own Facebook page after it was leaked.
The complaint also says Robertson claimed he broke no laws and was escorted in by police, “notwithstanding his previous posts that he had “attacked the government” and “took the f—— Capitol.”
The officers have been charged with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
