A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the obstruction conviction of a former U.S. Capitol Police officer who urged Jan. 6 rioters to remove incriminating social media posts and then deleted evidence of his own actions in trying to warn the mob.
Michael Riley, a 25-year veteran police officer who was on duty when the mob stormed the Capitol, was charged with directing rioters to “delete” Facebook posts that acknowledged they were inside the building and warned that “everyone who was in the building will be prosecuted,” and later tried to cover up the communications by deleting evidence of Facebook direct messages and calls.
A jury found Riley guilty of obstruction of justice for deleting his own messages and calls, but was unable to reach a verdict on the charge of counseling the mob, resulting in a mistrial and that charge being dismissed.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Friday to uphold Riley's conviction.
In his appeal, the former Capitol Police officer argued that the government had not proven that a grand jury hearing about his conduct was foreseeable and that he erased his contacts with the rioters to avoid such a hearing.
“The record is to the contrary,” Judge Cornelia Pillard said. The committee's 21-page decision states:“Riley is a veteran Capitol Police officer who is certainly aware of the role of grand juries in the criminal process and his own messaging indicates that he anticipated felony indictments against those who unlawfully entered the Capitol on January 6th.”
Pillard said the core of Riley's argument was “flawed” and therefore all of the arguments failed, the hearing panel ruled.
Riley was sentenced to two years' probation and four months' home detention. During his sentencing in April, he said his “poor judgment” had cost him his career and tarnished his reputation.
“You cannot imagine the extent of my regret and remorse for this situation,” Riley told the judge, according to the Associated Press.
