An Ohio man who said he only “obeyed Donald Trump’s presidential orders” when he stormed the U.S. Capitol was convicted Thursday by a jury that took less than three hours to reject his new defense to thwart Congress. to attest to Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
The federal jury also found Dustin Byron Thompson, 38, guilty of all five of the other charges in the indictment, including stealing a hanger from an office in the Capitol during the January 6, 2021 riots. crime will be 20 years in prison.
Jurors did not buy Thompson’s defense, in which he accused Trump and members of the former president’s inner circle of rebellion and his own actions.
A juror who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity said: “Donald Trump has not been tried in this case.”
The juror, a 40-year-old man, said as he left the courthouse: “Everyone agrees that Donald Trump is guilty as a whole story. A lot of people were there and then they came home. Dustin Thompson didn’t.”
The testimony is “completely insincere”
Thompson himself, testifying on Wednesday, admitted that he joined the mafia attack and stole the hanger and a bottle of bourbon. He said he regretted his “disgraceful” behavior.
“I can’t believe the things I did,” he said. “The mafia mentality and group thinking is very real and very dangerous.”
However, he said he believed Trump’s false claim that the election had been stolen and was trying to defend him.
“If the president almost gives you an order to do something, I felt compelled to do it,” he said.
People loyal to Trump, who was defeated in the November 2020 presidential election, stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC (Leah Millis / Reuters)
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, who is due to senten Thompson on July 20, described the defendant’s testimony as “completely dishonest” and his behavior on Jan. 6 as “reprehensible.” The judge also blamed Trump after the verdict was announced.
“I think our democracy is in trouble,” he said, adding that “charlatans” like Trump are not interested in democracy, only in power.
“And as a result, it is tearing our country apart,” the judge said.
Prosecutors did not ask for Thompson to be detained immediately, but Walton ordered his arrest and he was handcuffed. The judge said he did not believe Thompson’s story and said he posed a risk of escape and danger to the public.
Thompson’s trial was the third of hundreds of Capitol riot cases prosecuted by the US Department of Justice. In the first two cases, jurors convicted both defendants on all charges.
Assistant Attorney General William Dreher said Thompson, a college destroyer who lost his job during the COVID-19 pandemic, knew he was breaking the law when he joined the mob that attacked the Capitol and robbed parliament in his case. of the Senate. office.
The prosecutor told the jury that Thompson’s lawyer “wants you to think you have to choose between President Trump and his client.”
“You don’t have to choose because it’s not President Trump’s trial. It’s the trial against Dustin Thompson for what he did in the Capitol on the afternoon of January 6.” Drecher said.
Trump supporters ascended the western wall of the US Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. More than 770 people have been accused of federal crimes stemming from the uprising. More than 250 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to crimes. (Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press)
Thompson’s lawyer, Samuel Shamansky, said his client had not shied away from taking responsibility for his behavior that day.
“This shameful chapter of our history is on television,” Shamanski told jurors.
But he said Thompson, unemployed and consumed by a constant diet of conspiracy theories, was vulnerable to Trump’s lies about stolen elections. He described Thompson as a “pawn” and Trump as a “gangster” who abused his power to manipulate his supporters.
“The vulnerable are seduced by the strong, and that’s what happened here,” Shamansky said.
WATCH Police describe the attack on the US Capitol:
U.S. Capitol Police Talk of Violence, Racism, January 6 Revolt
During a hearing on the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, front-line police testified about what happened to them during the riot, from physical to verbal attacks, including racial epithets. 2:01
Walton, a judge, barred Thompson’s lawyer from summoning Trump and former New York Mayor Rudolf Giuliani, Trump’s adviser, as witnesses in the trial. But the judge ruled that jurors could hear recordings of speeches made by Trump and Giuliani on Jan. 6 before the riot broke out. A recording of Trump’s speech was released.
Shamanski claims that Giuliani incited rebels by encouraging them to take part in a “battle trial” and that Trump provoked the crowd by saying that “if you do not fight hell, you will have no more state.”
Drecher told jurors that neither Trump nor Giuliani had the authority to “do legally” what Thompson did in the Capitol.
“I carried out presidential orders”
Thompson is charged with six counts: obstruction of the joint session of Congress to certify the vote of the Electoral College; theft of state property; entering or staying in a building or restricted area; conduct with a violation or violation of public order in a building or territory with limited access; disorder or destructive behavior in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
Obstacle is the only charge of a crime. The rest are crimes.
Thompson drove from Ohio to Washington, D.C., with friend Robert Lyon, who was also arrested less than a month after the riot. Lyon pleaded guilty in March to two crimes – theft of state property and hooliganism – and will be convicted on June 3rd.
Police in riot gear confront protesters gathering at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to prevent Congress from attesting to Joe Biden’s presidential victory (Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)
Thompson and Lyon set off with Uber to Washington on the morning of January 6. After Trump’s speech, they headed to the Capitol.
Thompson was wearing a bulletproof vest when he entered the building and went to the parliament office. The FBI said agents later searched Lyon’s cell phone and found a video showing a looted office, and Thompson shouted, “Wow!” Merika, hey! This is our house!”
“[Trump] don’t force you to go. He didn’t force you to walk every step of the way to the Capitol Building, did he? ”Drecher Thompson asked on Wednesday.
“No,” Thompson said.
“You chose to do that?” Drecher asked.
“I was following presidential orders, but yes,” Thompson said.
More than 770 people have been charged with federal riots. More than 250 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to crimes. Thompson is the fifth person to be tried on riot charges.
On Monday, a jury convicted former Virginia police officer Thomas Robertson of storming the Capitol with another off-duty officer. Last month, a jury convicted a Texas man, Guy Refit, of storming the building with a holster pistol.
A judge hearing testimony without a jury decides cases against two other defendants in the Capitol riots in separate trials. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden acquitted one of all charges and partially acquitted the other.
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