A retired Air Force lieutenant colonel was found guilty Wednesday on six charges -- including one felony for obstructing an official proceeding -- related to breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and attempting to interrupt the electoral certification of President Joe Biden.
Larry Brock, 55, entered the Senate chambers on the afternoon of Jan. 6 brandishing zip ties and wearing tactical gear; his plate carrier bore a skull patch with the Texas flag imposed into the design, indicating his home state.
Brock spent 37 minutes inside the Capitol building, where video footage showed him on the chamber floor, rifling through papers on senators' desks, and outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, according to court records. Images of him carrying plastic flex cuffs or "zip ties" became one of the foremost depictions of the chaos at the Capitol that day.
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In previous court filings, Judge John D. Bates -- who ruled on the guilty verdicts because Brock decided not to face jurors and instead have a bench trial -- pointed to the retired military officer's online conduct, citing "violent messages" on and around Jan. 6 as a substantial factor in his case.
"I bought myself body armor and a helmet for the civil war that is coming," Brock said in the weeks leading up to the siege, according to court documents. "Men with guns need to shoot there [sic] way in," he allegedly said on the day of the breach.
Brock's ex-wife, to whom he was married for 18 years, called the National Threat Operations Center days after the riot to identify him to authorities.
"I just know that when I saw this was happening I was afraid he would be there," she told investigators, according to court records. "I think you already know he was there. It is such a good picture of him, and I recognize his patch."
Military.com attempted to reach Brock's listed attorney, Charles Burnham, but did not hear back from him by publication.
Brock is one of 118 Jan. 6 defendants with military connections and held one of the highest ranks while he was in service among those defendants, according to the George Washington University's Program on Extremism.
Brock served on both active and reserve duty, retiring from the Air Force Reserve in 2014 after 25 years of total service, according to a summary of his records provided to Military.com by the Air Force.
Up until 2007, Brock was an A-10 Warthog pilot; he deployed twice, once to Afghanistan and once to Kuwait. Both deployments were while he was in the reserves and were for three months at a time, according to an Air Force spokesperson, who noted the records the service is allowed to publicly release may be incomplete. He earned five Air Medals, according to the Air Force.
Brock's last military job was as an admissions liaison officer -- a role that connects prospective applicants to officer commissioning sources like the Air Force Academy or Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps.
Brock will be sentenced in mid-February and faces a maximum 20 years in prison for his felony obstruction count. His five other charges are misdemeanors and range from disorderly conduct in the Capitol to entering and remaining on the floor of Congress; combined, they carry a maximum three and a half years in jail.
-- Drew F. Lawrence can be reached at drew.lawrence@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @df_lawrence.
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