Ohio man convicted on federal charges for role in January 2021 siege at US Capitol

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - An Ohio man was found guilty of several felonious and misdemeanor charges stemming from the violent Jan. 6, 2021 breach at the U.S. Capitol building.

According to the Department of Justice, Dustin Byron Thompson was convicted on April 14 on one count of felonious obstruction of an official proceeding and five other misdemeanor offenses, including theft of government property and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, following a trial in Washington, D.C.

The 38-year-old Columbus man illegally entered the Capitol during a joint Congressional session to approve the presidential electoral votes in favor of Joe Biden and stole and stole an ornate coat rack, federal investigators said.

According to federal documents, Thompson unlawfully entered the Capitol building while wearing a bulletproof vest and stole a bottle of bourbon from the Senate Parliamentarian’s Office. He was directed out of the building by U.S. Capitol police officers, but he re-entered again later and stole the coat rack.

The Department of Justice said Thompson also shared a photo and video of himself posing with the coat rack and a video of himself inside a ransacked office.

Thompson was stopped by Capitol police while waiting for an Uber nearby, but he was able to escape, leaving the coat rack behind.

Investigators said Thompson was eventually arrested on Jan. 25, 2021 in Ohio.

Sentencing for Thompson is scheduled for July 20, 2022.

Thompson’s 28-year-old co-defendant Robert Anthony Lyon, also of Ohio, pleaded guilty in March 2022 to similar charges. He is awaiting sentencing.

Nearly 800 individuals from all 50 states have been arrested since Jan. 2021 in connection to the Capitol breach.

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