Ex-Capitol Police officer 'betrayed' oath by warning Jan. 6 rioter about Facebook posts, prosecutor says

TL;DR

WASHINGTON — An ex-police officer "betrayed" his sworn oath by warning a fellow Donald Trump supporter who entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 to remove his Facebook content about the attack, a federal prosecutor told a jury Tuesday.Michael Riley, a former Capitol Police officer charged last year with two counts of obstruction, warned rioter Jacob Hiles, who has since been convicted, on Jan. 7, 2021, that law enforcement was investigating people involved in the attack on the Capitol.According to a federal indictment, Riley wrote to Hiles on Jan. 7 saying he agreed with him on political issues and advised that he "Take down the part about being in the building" because law enforcement was "currently investigating and everyone who was in the building is going to [get] charged.Defense attorney Christopher Macchiaroli told jurors that Riley "never intended to obstruct a grand jury" and that he was a 25-year veteran of the Capitol Police who had helped respond to the pipe bombs that were found near the Capitol on Jan. 6.Macchiaroli went on to say that on the same day Riley talked to Hiles, he said "straight up acts of terrorism" took place on Jan. 6, hours after he helped sweep the Capitol for bombs as part of his role in the K-9 unit."

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