An Ohio man who claimed he was only “following presidential orders” from Donald Trump when he stormed the U.S. Capitol was convicted Thursday by a jury that took less than three hours to reject his novel defense for obstructing Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
The federal jury also found Dustin Byron Thompson, 38, guilty of all five of the other charges in his indictment, including stealing a coat rack from an office inside the Capitol during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The maximum sentence for the obstruction count, the lone felony, would be 20 years imprisonment.
Jurors didn’t buy Thompson’s defense, in which he blamed Trump and members of the president’s inner circle for the insurrection and for his own actions.
One juror who spoke to reporters only on condition of anonymity said, “Donald Trump wasn’t on trial in this case.”
The juror, a 40-year-old man, said as he left the courthouse, “Everyone agrees that Donald Trump is culpable as an overall narrative. Lots of people were there and then went home. Dustin Thompson did not.”
