Air Force Academy grad convicted of Capitol uprising, but keeps pension | tidings
Air Force Academy graduate Larry Brock Jr. will be sentenced for his part in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol in mid-February after a judge found him guilty in November of several felonies.
But the 1989 graduate and former Air Force reservist (he retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2014) will continue to collect his pension even if he is incarcerated, officials say.
Brock, 53 at the time of his arrest in his home state of Texas last year, was charged with six felonies in connection with the riot, which disrupted a joint session of the US Congress that had convened to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the electoral vote.
Brock’s charges: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive behavior in a restricted building or grounds; obstructing entry and exit to a building or restricted premises and aiding and abetting; entering and standing in the floor of the Congress; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and obstructing passage through Capitol grounds or buildings and aiding and abetting.
On November 16, Judge John Bates found Brock guilty of all six offenses after a three-day bench trial.
While Brock has claimed he just showed up and “found himself at a main entrance to the building,” according to a fundraising site on his behalf, Judge Bates called it “incomprehensible that Mr. Brock believed he was authorized” to was in the building. , Washington Post reported after the decision.
That fundraising page for his legal defense, created by Larry Brock Sr. and Lynda Davison, had raised $1,580 of a $20,000 goal by early December. He gave an innocuous explanation for Brock’s involvement, saying “police in uniform were escorting everybody” and Brock entered the building while a police officer “held the door open.” The site also claimed that Brock could be seen on video on the Senate floor “being a peacekeeper.”
Brock used a set of keys to try to open the door to the Senate chamber 21 minutes after Vice President Mike Pence made it to safety through that door. mail reported. His attorney claimed that Brock entered the Capitol with “an almost orderly procession” of demonstrators, that he was the victim of “tragic circumstances” and that he was unaware of the violence that occurred.
However, the government’s arrest affidavit contains photos of Brock wearing a gray and black military helmet over a military vest with a military patch and wearing chain ties while standing in the Senate chamber.
Two days after the Capitol attack, Brock’s ex-wife reported to authorities that she recognized Brock, to whom she had been married for 18 years. “I just know that when I saw this was happening, I was afraid he was going to be there,” she told the FBI, according to the affidavit. “It’s such a good picture of him and I know his patch.”
In addition, John Scott-Railton, a senior fellow at the Citizens Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, contacted the FBI saying he thought the man in a video of the uprising was Brock, he said. . The New Yorker.
“I used a variety of techniques to discover his identity, including facial recognition and image enhancement, as well as searching for contextual data from his military equipment.” The New Yorker quoted Scott-Railton as saying. Among the patches he wore was a yellow fleur de lis, the insignia of the 706th Fighter Squadron and a vinyl decal of the Texas flag superimposed on the skull logo of the Punisher, a Marvel character the magazine reported “has been adopted by the police and Army groups and, more recently, by white supremacists and QAnon followers.”
The magazine reported that Brock served in Afghanistan and in a non-combat role in Iraq; his decorations include three Meritorious Service Medals, six Air Medals and three Air Achievement Medals.
He also reported that Brock worked for Hillwood Airways, a private aviation company based in Texas, at the time of the uprising, but the Academy’s Alumni Association registry lists his employment as a pilot with American Airlines.
Federal Aviation Administration records show he is no longer a licensed pilot, and the FAA had not responded IndyAt press time it responded to a Freedom of Information Act request for its licensing history.
Thus, it is unclear whether Brock surrendered his license or had it revoked. It is worth noting that the FAA website states that “FAA regulations require airline pilots to undergo a medical examination with an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) every six months to five years, depending on the type of flight they do and their age.
As for his pension, Brock cannot be returned to active duty for purposes of a court-martial, which can freeze his pension if convicted because, “The Double Jeopardy Clause of the US Constitution protects the member from a court. military if already prosecuted in federal court for the same act or omission,” Air Force media operations officer Melony Bagwell explains by email.
Additionally, she notes that unlike regular members of the Air Force, an Air Force instruction “specifically requires the conduct [at issue] by the retired member of the Air Reserve Command was conducted while on active duty or on inactive duty for training.” Brock’s retirement date was May 31, 2014.
What’s more, she says, Brock won’t lose his pension if he goes to prison because federal law dictates which crimes result in the loss of pensions.
They include harboring or concealing persons; the collection, transmission or loss of defense information; collecting or providing defense information to assist a foreign government, or disclosing classified information.
Federal law also allows pensions to be terminated upon conviction for treason, rebellion or insurrection, seditious conspiracy, abetting the overthrow of the government, activities affecting the armed forces generally, activities affecting the armed forces during war, recruitment for service against States United States, registration to serve against the United States.
But as Bagwell notes, “Mr. Brock was not convicted of any offense listed in that statute. Mr Brock is still entitled to receive his pension payment.”
Military.com reported in late 2021 that some military personnel who participated in the uprising were still on active duty.
Others charged in the insurgency with local ties and the status of their cases, according to Justice Department records:
• Klete Keller, two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, pleaded guilty Sept. 29 to “obstructing an official process” as part of his involvement in the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol. Keller was originally facing seven charges, but six of those were dropped as part of a plea deal. Sentencing is pending.
• Thomas Patrick Hamner of Peyton, was sentenced Sept. 23, 2022, to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty May 17 to a felony count of interfering with a law enforcement officer. He was charged with five other charges to which he pleaded not guilty and is awaiting further proceedings. Following his prison sentence, Hamner will be placed on three years of supervised release. He must also pay $2,000 in restitution.
• Glen Wes Lee Croy of Colorado Springs was charged with disorderly conduct and pleaded guilty in a plea agreement to marching, demonstrating or picketing inside the Capitol. He was sentenced on November 5, 2021 to 90 days of home detention and 14 days in a community correctional facility. He also faces three years of probation and must pay $500 in restitution.
• Robert Gieswein, Divide, faces charges for allegedly assaulting a Capitol Police officer during the Jan. 6 riots. An arrest affidavit said Gieswein “attacked and intimidated U.S. Capitol Police officers with a spray can, makeshift barrier and baseball bat.” He intentionally joined the crowd of people who forced their way into the Capitol, the statement said. He was wearing a patch on his military-style tactical vest for the Woodland Wild Dogs, a private paramilitary training group he runs, according to the affidavit. He pleaded not guilty; the case is pending.
• Lisa Ann Homer, Colorado Springs, was charged with trespassing at the Capitol; disorderly and disruptive behavior on Capitol grounds; and marching, demonstrating, or picketing a Capitol building. She was sentenced in August to three years of probation and 60 hours of community service, and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and $500 in restitution.
• Jennifer Horvath is charged with trespassing into the Capitol building, disorderly and disruptive behavior and other offenses on Capitol grounds. She was sentenced on November 4, 2022 to 36 months of probation, including 90 days of home confinement and 14 days in a residential correctional facility. She was also ordered to pay $500 in restitution.
• Jacob Travis Clark of Colorado Springs was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive behavior in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a confined building; forcible entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and other crimes. His case is pending.