Ex-Capitol Police Officer Found Guilty of Obstruction in Jan. 6 Case

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A jury found that the man, Michael A. Riley, 51, had deleted Facebook messages in which he offered advice to a Jan. 6 rioter about how to avoid getting caught, prosecutors said.

By Vimal Patel
Oct. 28, 2022

A former U.S. Capitol Police officer was found guilty on Friday of obstruction of justice for trying to cover up the fact that he had sent Facebook messages to a Jan. 6 rioter offering advice on how to avoid getting caught, the authorities said.

The man, Michael A. Riley, 51, could face up to 20 years in prison, following a trial in U.S. District Court in Washington, federal prosecutors said. A jury was unable to reach a verdict on another obstruction of justice charge related to Mr. Riley’s communication with the rioter, federal prosecutors said. It was not immediately clear whether prosecutors intend to retry him on that count.

Mr. Riley, a member of the agency’s K-9 unit with more than 25 years on the force, was the only Capitol Police officer charged with a crime in connection with the attack on the Capitol, when many of his fellow officers were beaten by a mob of Trump followers spurred on by the lie of widespread election fraud.

Christopher Macchiaroli, a lawyer for Mr. Riley, said Friday night that his client had not obstructed a grand jury proceeding and would appeal the guilty verdict if it stands. He said that the federal judge on the case, Amy Berman Jackson, had yet to rule on a motion for judgment of acquittal.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Riley was not working at the Capitol building during the attack, but he was aware it was taking place and responded after reports of an explosive device near the Capitol complex, according to a statement Friday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

The day after the attack, a Facebook friend of Mr. Riley’s with whom he had never exchanged messages posted images on the social media site of himself inside the Capitol during the attack, according to a federal indictment from October 2021. The indictment said that Mr. Riley did not know the man personally but had become acquainted through their mutual interest in fishing.

Rather than forwarding the information to the authorities, prosecutors said, Mr. Riley sent the rioter — who was not named in the indictment — a private message with advice about how to avoid being caught.

“I’m a Capitol Police officer who agrees with your political stance,” the officer wrote to the man, according to the indictment. “Take down the part about being in the building they are currently investigating and everyone who was in the building” is going to be charged, he wrote. “Just looking out!”

Mr. Riley and the man exchanged dozens of messages that day and hundreds in the following days, prosecutors said.

“I’m glad you got out of there unscathed,” Mr. Riley wrote at one point. “We had over 50 officers hurt, some pretty bad.”

On Jan. 20, 2021, the unidentified man turned himself in to the police and told them he had been talking with Mr. Riley, then warned the officer that federal law enforcement officials were aware they had been communicating.

“The F.B.I. was very curious that I had been speaking to you if they haven’t already asked you about me they are gonna,” the man wrote to Mr. Riley, according to the indictment. “They took my phone and downloaded everything.”

After receiving that message, Mr. Riley deleted all his Facebook messages with the man, and the next day, sent him a final Facebook message, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said the last message was Mr. Riley’s attempt at a cover story, in which he pretended to scold the rioter for his conduct.

“Another mutual friend was talking about you last night,” he wrote. “I tried to defend you but then he showed me a video of you in the Capitol smoking weed and acting like a moron. I have to say, I was shocked and dumbfounded, since your story of getting pushed in the building with no other choice now seems not only false but is a complete lie. I feel like a moron for believing you.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/28/us/j ... icted.html