‘FIRE AND BLOOD’

Texas Veteran Who Breached Capitol in Tactical Gear Convicted in Jan. 6 Trial

Larry Brock, who wrote that “the castle will be stormed” days prior to Jan. 6, 2021, was seen carrying plastic zip-tie handcuffs on the Senate floor.

An Air Force veteran from Texas was convicted on Wednesday of six charges related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including felony obstruction of Congress. Larry Brock, 55, spent 37 minutes inside the Capitol building during the riot, dressed in tactical gear and at one point carrying plastic zip-tie handcuffs. He walked around the Senate chamber that day, rifling through lawmakers’ desks and papers, prosecutors said. The retired lieutenant colonel’s verdict was returned after a three-day bench trial before a judge, who called it “unfathomable” that Brock didn’t know he was not allowed to be inside the federal building, as his defense attorney argued. Brock made a number of inflammatory comments on social media in the months prior leading up to Jan. 6, 2021 that prosecutors flagged throughout the trial, including that “fire and blood will be needed soon.” Five days before the riot, he wrote on Facebook that “the castle will be stormed.” On Jan. 5, he wrote: “Our second American Revolution begins in less than two days.” Brock is set to be sentenced next February, and faces up to 20 years in prison.