A former Capitol Police officer was sentenced to 120 days of home detention Thursday in connection with his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, The Washington Post reports.
Michael A. Riley, 51, was found guilty of obstruction of justice in October, the Department of Justice announced in a news release.
Prosecutors said the day after the insurrection (Jan. 7, 2021) Riley learned that a friend had posted on a social media account that they were inside the Capitol on Jan. 6., and rather than report them to authorities, Riley sent the rioter a private message with advice on how to avoid detection.
According to the DOJ, his message said: “im 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 charged. Just looking out!”
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“Riley then continued to exchange hundreds of friendly private Facebook messages with the rioter, but when he learned that the rioter had told the FBI about being in touch with a Capitol Police officer, Riley deleted all of those messages from his account,” the DOJ said.
“Riley then came up with a cover story and sent a new message to the rioter, pretending that he had only later learned that the rioter had smoked weed inside the Capitol and pretending that he was scolding the rioter for his conduct.”
Riley, who has more than 25 years of law enforcement experience, responded to pipe bombs that were left outside the Democratic and Republican party headquarters with a K-9 unit.
He also provided medical aid to an officer injured amid the insurrection.
The Post’s Tom Jackman reports that Riley’s lawyer cited his client’s “spotless career with the Capitol Police as a reason for U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to impose probation, while prosecutors asked for 27 months in prison.”
