A Capitol police officer has been charged by the FBI with two counts of obstruction after he advised a man who rioted on Jan. 6 to remove incriminating Facebook posts, HuffPost reports.
Authorities say Officer Michael Angelo Riley was on K-9 duty on Jan. 6, and even responded to reports of a bomb on Capitol grounds — but the following day, he told a Facebook friend to delete posts that showed him among the pro-Trump mob that rioted that day.
“[I’m] a capitol police officer who agrees with your political stance. Take down the part about being in the building they are currently investigating and everyone who was in the building is going to [get] charged,” Riley wrote. “Just looking out!”
From HuffPost:
While the rioter is only listed as “Person-1” in Riley’s charging papers, he is believed to be Jacob Hiles. Hiles was arrested on the same date as “Person-1” and like “Person-1” allegedly smoked weed inside the Capitol and has an interest in fishing. (In fact, he was a fishing charter captain in Virginia Beach, Virginia.) Hiles pleaded guilty last month, and his sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 6.
When the Capitol rioter told Riley he didn’t think he did anything wrong, Riley responded that people who went in the building would be charged. Later, on Jan. 13, Riley advised the rioter to “get off of social media.” Later, he told him that cops were “arresting dozens of people a day” and then set up a call with the rioter.
Read more at HuffPost.
