Another South Carolinian pleads guilty in Jan. 6 Capitol riot case
Another South Carolina man has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of assaulting an officer during the Jan. 6, 2021, riots, when thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to try to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president.
Christopher George Rockey, 54, of Cross, in Berkeley County, admitted his guilt Wednesday in court in Washington before U.S. Judge Rudolph Contreras.
In his guilty plea, Rockey admitted assaulting and interfering with a Metropolitan police officer within the Capitol while the officer was trying to keep order. In return for his guilty plea, seven other criminal counts against Rockey will be dropped, according to court records.
The maximum penalty for interfering with a police officer in this case is eight years in prison and a fine of $250,000, according to court records. Although Rockey will almost certainly get some prison time, defendants usually get far less than the maximum.
Currently, Rockey is estimated to get from 24 to 30 months in prison, according to court records.
Sentencing is set for Nov. 12 in Washington before Judge Contreras.
Rockey is represented by Brady Vannoy, a Moncks Corner attorney, who was not immeidately available for comment.
Rockey is one of 27 South Carolinians arrested so far in the Jan. 6 riots. Like many in the riot, he had attended then-President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally and proceeded to the Capitol with a mob of thousands who broke through police barricades and entered the Capitol, which was closed to the public that day, according to court records.
Evidence in his case shows him grabbing a police shield from an officer and hitting him in the face with it, according to court records.
Rockey is the 20th person from South Carolina to plead guilty to charges in the Capitol breach. Another man was found guilty after a jury trial.
Evidence against all South Carolina defendants who have pleaded guilty is overwhelming. It includes data from their cellphones, geolocation trackers, surveillance camera images and police body cam videos and their own selfies and other incriminating postings on social media, as well as statements they told friends and relatives, according to court records.
On Jan. 6, 2001, tens of thousands of people arrived in Washington to protest the presidential election and to listen to speeches making false claims by Trump and others that the Nov. 3 election was rigged in favor of Democrats.
Those claims had been thrown out of some 60 courts, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, publicly stated that the FBI had investigated claims of election fraud and found nothing that would have changed the election’s outcome.
After Trump’s speech, several thousand protesters made their way to the Capitol building, breached the defenses and entered the building. At the time, the House and Senate were conducting a ceremonial but necessary certification of the Electoral College votes from each state. Members of Congress fled and did not return for six hours, until the building was secured.
Since the Jan. 6, 2001, Capitol breach, more than 1,457 defendants have been charged in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Approximately 517 have been charged with assaulting or resisting officers. Approximately 835
individuals have pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges, many of whom faced or will face incarceration at sentencing.
It is the largest investigation in Department of Justice history and is still continuing.
