A 30-year-old Virginia cop who posed for an “obscene” photograph at the Capitol Crypt during the Capitol riots last year pleaded guilty Friday to a felony conspiracy charge, said the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to court documents, Jacob Fracker of Rocky Mount, Virginia, took a selfie with 49-year-old Thomas Robertson, a fellow Rocky Mount Police Department officer while they were at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. They made what the Justice Department describes as an “obscene gesture” in front of a statue in the Crypt.
Vaulted space beneath the Capitol Rotunda has “long been called the Crypt because of its resemblance to similar areas in churches, which were often used for chapels and tombs,” said the Architect of the Capitol. Though first U.S. President George Washington and his wife Martha were supposed to be buried directly below the Crypt, they were instead buried at his estate, Mount Vernon. No one has been buried at the U.S. Capitol.
Fracker was off-duty when he and Robertson traveled to Washington D.C. to take part in the Capitol insurrection. Along with other rioters, they “disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.”
Prior to the riots, former President Donald Trump spoke at a nearby rally regarding his continued, unsubstantiated claims of election fraud during a rally. He lost the 2020 presidential election to current President Joe Biden.
Fracker and Robertson attended Trump’s rally near the Washington Monument, said the Justice Department.
Although they were off-duty, Fracker and Robertson both brought along their police identification badges and firearms to D.C. They left the badges and weapons in their car when they arrived in the metropolitan area.
By the time they reached the Capitol around 2:41 p.m., Fracker and Robertson put on gas masks and approached the Lower West Terrace of the building
“In his plea, Fracker admitted that by the time he and Robertson entered the Capitol, they had agreed to attempt to impede, stop, or delay the proceedings going on before Congress and that they aided, assisted, encouraged, and facilitated each other in the conduct,” the Justice Department Said.
Fracker and Robertson were arrested Jan. 13, 2021. Robertson has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Fracker faces up to five years in prison and a potential fine of up to $250,000. As of Friday, his sentencing day had not been set.
“A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors,” according to the Justice Department.
Fracker and Robertson are two of 775 individuals have been arrested for participating in the riot.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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