WASHINGTON — A Virginia man who wore a “Camp Auschwitz” sweater while joining the assault on the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan.6 pleaded guilty Tuesday to one misdemeanor count of parading.
Robert Keith Packer, of Newport News, Virginia, appeared virtually before U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols. Before Packer entered his plea, assistant U.S. attorney Mona Furst told Nichols he had seen some of the worst of the riot.
“He entered the building despite seeing broken doors and rioters fighting police,” Furst said.
Nichols spoke little during the hearing as Furst described his presence inside the Capitol near a group of rioters who had broken a sign bearing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s name and, a short time later, near the Speaker’s Lobby door when Ashli Babbitt was shot.
Packer was arrested in April 2021 thanks in part to the “Camp Auschwitz” sweater he wore that day. During a search of his residence, investigators found other racist Nazi materials, including swastika artwork, VCR tapes with photos of Adolph Hitler, a German eagle with a swastika and a folder entitled “White’s Only Material.”
Packer was scheduled to return to court on April 7 for sentencing. He faces up to six months behind bars, although other Capitol riot defendants sentenced for the same charge have more commonly received 30-45 days in jail or probationary terms.
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