A retired U.S. Capitol Police officer who told a Jan. 6 rioter to take down his posts about storming the Capitol was sentenced to 120 days of home incarceration Thursday.
Michael Riley was found guilty in October of one of two counts of obstruction of justice. After the Capitol attack, he messaged Jan. 6 rioter Jacob Hiles, a boat captain he knew from Facebook, telling Hiles he was “a capitol police officer who agrees with your political stance” and saying Hiles should “Take down the part about being in the building they are correctly investigating and everyone who was in the building is going to be charged. Just looking out!”
Riley was convicted for deleting his messages with Hiles after he found out Hiles had been speaking with the FBI. The jury did not reach a verdict on whether Riley’s initial messages to Hiles were unlawful.