A former California police chief was convicted on Thursday of joining the riot at the U.S. Capitol with a hatchet in his backpack and plotting to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
A judge in Washington’s federal court heard testimony without a jury before convicting Alan Hostetter, a right-wing activist and vocal critic of COVID-19 restrictions who defended himself at his bench trial with help from a standby attorney.
Hostetter used his closing arguments to spin conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.