A former police officer from southern Virginia pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to obstruct Congress in its electoral vote count on Jan. 6, 2021, and agreed to cooperate against a fellow officer who traveled to the Capitol with him and remains behind bars pending trial next month.
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Jacob Fracker and Thomas Robertson, were both officers on the Rocky Mount Police Department when they drove to the Capitol on Jan. 6, where prosecutors say they took selfies, made social media posts and gave media interviews. In one post, Fracker wrote, “Sorry I hate freedom? … not like I did anything illegal.” They were quickly identified by residents of Rocky Mount and arrested a week later. Both were fired from the Rocky Mount department. Robertson was later ordered held until trial because he kept acquiring firearms in defiance of a pretrial order not to do so. Both men were set for trial April 4.
A Black Lives Matter activist exposed the role two local police officers played in the Capitol insurrection. Their small town rapidly took sides.
Instead, Fracker pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy Friday, with an agreement to provide full cooperation to federal authorities. His plea agreement says he faces a possible sentence of 15 to 21 months in prison.
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Also Friday, a man elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates who recorded himself storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 pleaded guilty to a felony charge of civil disorder.
Derrick Evans, 36, of Prichard, W.Va., admitted to seeing and video-recording rioters overrunning police lines blocking the East Plaza, following the crowd up the Capitol steps and narrating events as the Rotunda Doors until they were breached.
“Here we go! Here we go! Open the doors,” Evans admitted saying on video he live-streamed on Facebook before deleting. “The door’s cracked. We’re goin’ in!”
Evans was arrested two days after the riot and resigned before taking state office.