FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, October 19, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On November 20, 2021, Robert Kao went to the intersection near Verisign’s headquarters in Reston, Virginia, and poured gasoline over himself. When the police arrived, he sat in the public roadway and lit a lighter. Even though he held the flame up to himself, he did not ignite. Officers knocked the lighter out of his hand, threw him to the ground, and arrested him. Videos are available of the incident.

Mr. Kao was charged with violating a protective order while armed with a deadly weapon, threatening to burn a building, and attempting to maliciously burn or destroy an unoccupied building. (Fairfax Circuit Court case numbers FE-2022-151 and FE-2022-310) On October 19, 2022, the Fairfax Circuit Court dismissed two of the felonies after the government’s case-in-chief because the evidence was legally insufficient to sustain convictions. A jury found Mr. Kao guilty of the protective-order charge. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 3, 2023.

Mr. Kao, who previously did a 22-day hunger strike in June 2020 to shed light on his issue with Verisign, tried to self-immolate to protest civil-rights violations at Verisign. More details can be found on his change.org petition and his Twitter @VerisignProtest.

Damon D. Colbert
Law Office of Damon D. Colbert
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