SC man sentenced to 18 months in prison for assaulting police in Jan. 6 Capitol riot
A South Carolina man who attacked police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot was sentenced to 18 months in prison Tuesday by a federal judge in Washington.
Christopher George Rockey, 55, of Cross, in Berkeley County, had pleaded guilty in June to “assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer” in June before Judge Rudolph Contreras, who sentenced him Tuesday.
“I accept 100% of the responsibility for my actions on that day. I never intended for anything that happened to take place. I never envisioned myself on the wrong side of the law,” Rockey said in a presentencing memorandum filed with the court.
Rockey, a supporter of former President Trump and a former Marine who saw combat in Iraq, also agreed to pay $2,000 in restitution for his part of the approximately $2.9 million in damages done by the mob to the Capitol the day of the riot. More than 100 police were injured by the mob.
Prosecutors had sought 27 months in prison because, they said, he was part of an attack on the Capitol “to stop the peaceful transfer of power” in a presidential election.
Brady Vannoy, the Moncks Corner attorney who represented Rockey, said his client apologized to the judge Tuesday. The judge apparently took Rockey’s apology, his military service in the Marines and disabilities from that service into consideration in giving him a sentence more lenient that prosecutors wanted, Vannoy said.
Vannoy said he had informed Rockey that with incoming President-elect Donald Trump pledging to pardon or commute sentences of some or all rioters, a delay in Tuesday’s hearing might be possible.
“He didn’t want that. He is a stand-up guy. He said, “No, I have done wrong. I want to answer for my conduct now. I don’t want any delays’,” Vannoy said. “Now if he is offered a pardon or a commutation, he’s obviously going to take it.”
In his guilty plea, Rockey admitted assaulting and interfering with Metropolitan police officers on the Upper Terrace of the Capitol while officers were holding the line against an advancing crowd of angry rioters.
In return for his guilty plea, seven other criminal counts against Rockey were 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. Rockey was estimated to get from 24 to 30 months in prison, according to court records.
Rockey is one of 29 South Carolinians arrested so far by the FBI in the Jan. 6 riots. He is one of five to get prison terms ranging from 18 to 57 months. Twelve have gotten short terms in jail ranging from 14 to 120 days. Four have gotten probation. Other defendants have yet to plead guilty, go to trial or be sentenced.
Like many in the riot, Rockey had attended then-President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally and proceeded to the Capitol with a crowd of thousands that became a mob who broke through police barricades and entered the Capitol, which was closed to the public that day, according to court records.
He had entered the Capitol and spent about 30 minutes inside before exiting to an upper portion on the building’s north side. During the riot, he wore a helmet, camouflage pants, reinforced gloves and goggles. He also carried pepper spray and a two-way radio. His confrontations with the police took place after he exited the Capitol and went to the north side of the building, where a mob was battling law officers, according to court records.
At the time, officers were telling the crowd to move back, but rioters were yelling “traitor” and “hold the line” and “push,” according to court records.
“The defendant’s decisions to confront the officers were part of an effort by the mob to stop law enforcement from advancing and clearing the Upper Terrace of rioters,” a statement of facts about the case in court records.
In all, approximately 1,560 people have been arrested in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report earlier this month. The arrests are part of the largest investigation ever in Justice Department history. FBI agents have arrested many of the defendants, including the ones arrested in South Carolina. Approximately 960 have already pled guilty to felonies or misdeanors.
Trump supporters had been told that Democrats committed fraud and stole the election from Trump. Despite some 60 court cases in battleground states, audits and recounts of votes, no significant voting fraud was ever found. Trump, now president-elect, continues to assert without evidence that the election was stolen from him.
A sentencing memo by Vannoy on Rockey’s behalf called his participation in the Capitol riot “the worst decision of his life.”
“Since that time, he has constantly lived on the edge of destitution; he is nearly broke, is disabled, shamed and understandably fearful about the potential of spending years in prison.”
Vannoy said Tuesday after the hearing that Rockey is a proud Marine Corps veteran who served with honor in Operation Desert Storm and he still suffers from the psychological wounds received in service to our nation. “It has been a privilege to represent him.”
