BOSTON (WHDH) - A Massachusetts man has been arrested in connection with the breach of the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the Department of Justice announced Friday.
Vincent J. Gillespie, 60, of Athol, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, civil disorder, engaging in
physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and other related offenses, authorities said in a news release.
Gillespie was among rioters in the Lower West Terrance of the Capitol who engaged in pushing, shoving, yelling, and fighting with law enforcement officers, according to court documents.
Gillespie is said to have struggled his way through the crowd, eventually maneuvering through the rioters to the line of police officers defending the Lower West Terrace’s exterior door. At one point, authorities say he gained control of a police shield as he approached the officers.
Gillespie then used the shield to ram the law enforcement officers, continuing to scream “traitor” and “treason” at the police, the court documents indicate. He also allegedly grabbed a law enforcement officer by the arm and attempted to pull him into the crowd.
He is expected make his initial appearance Friday in the District of Massachusetts.
In the 13 months since Jan. 6, more than 750 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach.
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