Thomas Robertson

“The guy has spent his entire adult life serving his country,” says Mark Whitefleet, a fellow Rocky Mount police officer worked.  Several others in their department felt the same way.  What happened on January 6^th is common to other patriot’s stories, but his took a bizarre turn.  T.J. left Virginia for DC on the morning of January 6^th to show support for those who claimed too many voting issues, saying “I went there because I genuinely believe that there were election irregularities that needed to be fixed.  You have 19 bellwether counties that every president has won, for all of history, and Trump won 18 of those.”  Makes sense especially considering that the lack of enthusiasm for Biden was so weak that some of his rallies had little to no turn out. 

He made the trek with Rock Mount fellow officer, Jacob Fracker which turned out to be a fatal mistake.  They both went to the Capital along with another friend, and after Trump’s speech, they both got inside the building and walked around for less than ten minutes.  Fracker took a now infamous picture Thomas inside the capital that he posted on Facebook.   Turns out that later, once the two were heading to trial, the prosecution offered a lighter sentence to Fracker if he would pled to a conspiracy charge and testify against his friend.  He did and it was a deep blow to Thomas.  According to his wife, Samantha, Jacob Fracker used to jokingly call T.J. “Dad”. They were that close.  By now, Thomas must be swallowing hard not to be bitter, but he does feel betray by not only Fracker, but his country, “I am going to turn 50 and I have been shot on multiple continents and here I am, in my opinion, being politically persecuted,” said Thomas in a Skype interview with a news reporter. Many agree. 

The punishment does not fit the crime according to Stephen Saltzburg, a law professor at George Washington University, “The more serious cases are the ones who brought guns to the Capitol or who are charged with assaulting the police,” he said, “There is none of that here. Don’t get me wrong, there are some judges on the court who are going to say, ‘Anyone who was involved in the attack on the Capitol, that’s serious.’ But there are others who will say, ‘Come on, these charges don’t amount to more than serious trespassing.”  His crime was trespassing and ‘carrying a dangerous weapon’ which turns out, was a large wooden stick.

In April of 2023, a jury convicted Thomas of attacking the Capitol and attempting to obstruct Congress from certifying Biden’s electoral victory.  This “obstruction” charge comes from a financial law developed for Enron to prevent document shredding.  It’s “novel” use is now before the Supreme Court as it is completely misapplied.  It enables the DOJ to “stack” charges and maximize punishment for those who disagree with the DC judges and juries.   

Jurors found him guilty of all six counts.  Thomas did however get to appeal his case to a three judge Appellate Court.  In a 2 to 1 ruling, they upheld his sentence but the dissenting judge echoed the feelings of many J6 protestors

To give money to offset his legal bills and other expense, his wife Samantha created a givesendgo page.

A man without a single thing on his record, a man who has served his country his entire adult life, has been in solitary confinement for over a year and now sits on a prison term of over five years.

My husband, Thomas “TJ” Robertson was an off-duty law enforcement officer who was present at and entered into the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 to retrieve his friend from the crowd. He was attempting to do the right thing from the start. He left all weapons in his car before attending the protest. TJ has attended several protests which were all peaceful. This include the protest in Richmond, VA, where thousands gathered and not a single issue arose. The government has alleged that my husband essentially was part of some conspiracy to commit riotous (and violent) activity. This is simply untrue. TJ is not only a proud supporter of peace and protesting, he has actually attended and secured protests on the opposing political views while on duty. He believes strongly that every American has a right to voice their opinion. He does not care where you came from, or what color your skin is. He has spent his entire life supporting America as a Police Officer and as a Soldier in the United States Army. That day at the protest TJ did not hurt anyone or destroy any property. He was just attending peacefully. The government had one argument, he was carrying a walking stick, a so-called deadly weapon. He was carrying that walking stick because while overseas he was blown up, literally. He barely survived, and when he returned to the states it took over a year before he could even try and get back to normal activity.

With his retirement just a few years away, he was swept into the system. The very rights he has given so much to protect were taken from him. He has spent over a year in solitary confinement. He has just been transferred to a new facility and I am waiting on a phone call to know he is okay. A man with a heart the size of the moon is sentenced to years in prison for simply walking into a building to find his friend. I ask that if you wish to help, please send donation here and not to the jail. He has been disciplined for having numerous things sent to him. He is the definition of an American. He stands tall for those who cannot stand, he speaks for those without a voice, and he now is imprisoned for those actions. THANK YOU ALL for your love and support.