A US man who says he was only "following presidential orders" from Donald Trump when he stormed the US Capitol has been convicted by a jury that took less than three hours to reject his defence for obstructing Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
The federal jury also found Dustin Byron Thompson, 38, guilty of all five of the other charges in his indictment, including stealing a coat rack from an office inside the Capitol during the riot on January 6, 2021.
The maximum sentence for the obstruction count, the lone felony, is 20 years' imprisonment.
Thompson blamed Mr Trump and members of the former president's inner circle for the insurrection and for his own actions.
Testifying a day before he was convicted, he admitted he joined the mob's attack and stealing the coat rack and a bottle of bourbon, describing his behaviour as "disgraceful".
"I can't believe the things that I did ... mob mentality and group think is very real and very dangerous," he said.
"If the president is giving you almost an order to do something, I felt obligated to do that.
US District Judge Reggie Walton, who is scheduled to sentence Thompson on July 20, described the defendant's testimony as "totally disingenuous" and his conduct on the day of the riot as "reprehensible".
The judge also cast blame in Mr Trump's direction after the verdict was announced.
"I think our democracy is in trouble," he said, adding that "charlatans" like Mr Trump did not care about democracy, only about power.
"And as a result of that, it's tearing our country apart," the judge said.
Hundreds of Capitol riot cases are being prosecuted by the US Justice Department.
Thompson's trial was the third to go before a jury.
In the first two cases, jurors also convicted the defendants of all charges.
AP/ABC
