Officers seen dancing at BLM rally later stormed Capitol
The sergeant proudly noted that he and his officer friend were ‘willing to put some skin in the game.’
Two police officers who once appeared to support Black Lives Matter activists in their rural Virginia town have been revealed to be among the insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6.
Rocky Mount Police Sergeant Thomas Robertson and Officer Jacob Fracker were charged just a week after the deadly insurrection that resulted in five people dead by the end of the day.
As previously reported, Robertson and Fracker were placed on administrative leave after they were photographed inside the building in front of a statue of General John Stark. One was pointing while the other was making an obscene gesture.
Robertson, 48, shared the photo on his personal Facebook page, where he wrote that he was “proud” of his actions, which, as he noted, showed that he and Fracker, 29, were “willing to put some skin in the game.”
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Last spring, the two were seen in a different photo. Robertson posed with Bridgette Craighead, an organizer from Rocky Mount, during the small town’s first-ever Black Lives Matter rally.
Craighead said the officers were kind, bought pizzas and McDonald’s Happy Meals. They danced the electric slide with protesters.
In a report Monday from The New York Times, Fracker and Roberson can be seen smiling and holding signs, one of which reads “Silence equals violence.”
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In his picture taken at the Capitol, on his Facebook page, Fracker wrote: “Lol to anyone who’s possibly concerned about the picture of me going around… Sorry I hate freedom? …Not like I did anything illegal…y’all do what you feel you need to…” The post has since been deleted.
Both men, who are also veterans, have been charged with disorderly conduct and disrupting the proceedings of Congress.
On Facebook, Fracker reportedly addressed Craighead, saying, “I can protest for what I believe in and still support your protest for what you believe in,” adding, “After all, I fought for your right to do it.”
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Craighead told The Times that since her exchange with the officers, she has received threats at the beauty salon where she works. The officers have claimed to receive threats too.
The jovial spirit in which they danced the electric slide together, side by side, has appeared to have passed.
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