A former California police chief found with a hatchet in his backpack during the U.S. Capitol riot was convicted Thursday.

Driving the news: Alan Hostetter, 56, of San Clemente, California, whom prosecutors noted said at a December 2020 rally that former President Trump "must be inaugurated" and "traitors" executed, was convicted in a D.C. court of four felonies, including conspiring to obstruct Congress.

• The former La Habra, California, police chief who defended himself during his trial, in closing arguments peddled conspiracy theories about Jan. 6 and Trump's 2020 election loss, per the Washington Post.
• He was found guilty of conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, per a DOJ statement.

What they're saying: U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said Hostetter, an Orange County yoga instructor, "has a right to believe whatever he likes about the 2020 presidential election and to voice those opinions," NBC reports.

• "But the First Amendment does not give anyone a right to obstruct or impede Congress by making it impossible for them to do their jobs safely" or "enter a restricted area while carrying a dangerous weapon," Lamberth added.

By the numbers: Over 1,069 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50...

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