One other South Carolinian pleads responsible in Jan. 6 Capitol riot case

One other South Carolina man has pleaded responsible to a felony cost of assaulting an officer through the Jan. 6, 2021, riots, when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to attempt to forestall Joe Biden from changing into president.

Christopher George Rockey, 54, of Cross, in Berkeley County, admitted his guilt Wednesday in court docket in Washington earlier than U.S. Decide Rudolph Contreras.

In his responsible plea, Rockey admitted assaulting and interfering with a Metropolitan police officer throughout the Capitol whereas the officer was making an attempt to maintain order. In return for his responsible plea, seven different prison counts towards Rockey might be dropped, in line with court docket information.

The utmost penalty for interfering with a police officer on this case is eight years in jail and a advantageous of $250,000, in line with court docket information. Though Rockey will virtually definitely get some jail time, defendants often get far lower than the utmost.

At present, Rockey is estimated to get from 24 to 30 months in jail, in line with court docket information.

Sentencing is about for Nov. 12 in Washington earlier than Decide Contreras.

Rockey is represented by Brady Vannoy, a Moncks Nook lawyer, who was not immeidately accessible for remark.

Rockey is considered one of 27 South Carolinians arrested up to now within the Jan. 6 riots. Like many within the riot, he had attended then-President Trump’s “Cease the Steal” rally and proceeded to the Capitol with a mob of hundreds who broke by way of police barricades and entered the Capitol, which was closed to the general public that day, in line with court docket information.

Proof in his case exhibits him grabbing a police protect from an officer and hitting him within the face with it, in line with court docket information.

Rockey is the twentieth particular person from South Carolina to plead responsible to costs within the Capitol breach. One other man was discovered responsible after a jury trial.

Proof towards all South Carolina defendants who’ve pleaded responsible is overwhelming. It contains information from their cellphones, geolocation trackers, surveillance digital camera pictures and police physique cam movies and their very own selfies and different incriminating postings on social media, in addition to statements they informed buddies and kin, in line with court docket information.

On Jan. 6, 2001, tens of hundreds of individuals arrived in Washington to protest the presidential election and to take heed to speeches making false claims by Trump and others that the Nov. 3 election was rigged in favor of Democrats.

These claims had been thrown out of some 60 courts, in addition to the U.S. Supreme Courtroom.

Trump’s personal lawyer basic, William Barr, publicly said that the FBI had investigated claims of election fraud and located nothing that will have modified the election’s final result.

After Trump’s speech, a number of thousand protesters made their strategy to the Capitol constructing, breached the defenses and entered the constructing. On the time, the Home and Senate have been conducting a ceremonial however essential certification of the Electoral Faculty votes from every state. Members of Congress fled and didn’t return for six hours, till the constructing was secured.

Because the Jan. 6, 2001, Capitol breach, greater than 1,457 defendants have been charged in almost all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Roughly 517 have been charged with assaulting or resisting officers. Roughly 835

people have pleaded responsible to a wide range of federal costs, lots of whom confronted or will face incarceration at sentencing.

It’s the largest investigation in Division of Justice historical past and continues to be persevering with.

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