WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Twenty-one-year-old Hunter Robertson walked out of the U.S. District Courthouse in downtown D.C. on Wednesday after testifying in an attempt to take some of the heat off his father, Thomas Robertson.
“I think he’s being treated unfairly by all the court systems and the country,” Robertson told WUSA9 in an exclusive interview. “I think he’s being treated unfairly by everybody.”
The younger Robertson testified under oath that at least one of the guns investigators found in his dad’s home, an M4 rifle seen in court documents sitting on Thomas Robertson’s bandstand, belonged to him, not his father.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Ann Aloi told U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper the statement conflicted with what Robertson’s son told investigators at the scene of the search.
“Absolutely not,” Robertson said. “And I’ve never met with her before and I’ve never spoken with any agents about that issue before. That’s not true.”
Thomas Robertson was fired from his job as a sergeant with the Rocky Mount, Virginia Police Department after he was charged with four criminal counts, including two felonies, for allegedly entering the US Capitol with a fellow officer during the Capitol breach on January 6.
In January, a judge released Robertson on bond under the condition he would not possess guns or other dangerous weapons.
But, court documents say, when FBI agents searched Robertson’s home late last month, they found a loaded M4 rifle, large amounts of ammunition and a partially assembled pipe bomb.
The search came after the FBI discovered email records allegedly showing Robertson had purchased 34 more weapons from an online gun store and had them shipped to a nearby firearms dealer. The Department of Justice said that violated the terms of his release.
Prosecutors filed a motion to revoke that pre-trial release arguing Robertson’s quote “extensive and flagrant violations” make him a danger to the public.
"What we have here is a defendant who thinks he's completely above the law," Aloi said.
But Robertson’s attorney, Mark Rollins, told the judge all the weapons his client bought online are being stored at a private gun facility, not his home. Rollins argues that is still permissible under the language of the judge’s order.
Rollins also said the partially assembled pipe bomb was only in Robertson’s home for training purposes. In his previous job, Robertson trained other officers about explosive devices.
After listening to both sides Wednesday, Cooper said he had been “thrown a curveball” by the new arguments, many of which were not included in court briefings, and he needed to take some time before ruling.
A frustrated Hunter Robertson said he believed prosecutors were simply trying to make an example out of his dad.
“Being in the courtroom, seeing everything that’s happening to him, and after substantial evidence, he didn’t do anything wrong,” Hunter Robertson said. “They are still just trying to mess with him and I just think that’s unfair.”
According to the DOJ, this is not the first time Robertson has violated the terms of his pretrial release.
The DOJ says a previous search of his property uncovered eight guns and a large amount of ammunition he wasn’t supposed to have. In that incident, the judge gave Robertson a second chance.
This time, he was ordered held at a Central Virginia jail while the motion to revoke his release for good is being decided.
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