Trial opens for police officer charged with storming Capitol

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jurors have heard conflicting explanations for why an off-duty police officer from Virginia entered the U.S. Capitol during last year’s riot. A federal prosecutor said Tuesday that former Rocky Mount police officer Thomas Robertson stormed the Capitol because he believed the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from Donald Trump and he wanted to interfere with the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory on Jan. 6, 2021. But a defense attorney said Robertson only entered the Capitol because he wanted to retrieve a fellow officer who had entered the building before him. That other former officer, Jacob Fracker, pleaded guilty to a riot-related charge and could be a key witness for prosecutors.