A federal jury has begun deliberating in the trial of an Ohio man who testified that he was following orders from then-President Donald Trump when he stormed the U.S. Capitol last year.
Jurors heard attorneys' closing arguments Thursday in the case against Dustin Byron Thompson. The 38-year-old man is charged with obstructing Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory and stealing a coat rack from a Capitol office during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Thompson is the fifth defendant to be tried among hundreds of Capitol riot cases. He is the first to mount a defense blaming Trump and members of his inner circle for the insurrection.
