ATHOL — An Athol man was arrested Friday for assaulting law enforcement officers after he allegedly rammed officers with a police shield during the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said 60-year-old Vincent Gillespie is charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers; civil disorder; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and other related offenses.

He was taken into custody in Athol and is being brought to federal court to address the criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia.

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Gillespie is one of more than 750 people charged in relation to the Capitol breach, which disrupted a joint session of congress while it was counting the electoral votes from the presidential election.

Court documents allege that on Jan. 6, Gillespie was among rioters in the lower west terrace of the Capitol who shoved, yelled at, and fought with law enforcement officers.

 

After making his way to a line of police defending the terrace’s door just after 4 p.m., police body cameras allegedly show Gillespie gaining control of a police shield and using it to ram the officers, screaming “traitor” and “treason” at the police.

 

 

 

He also allegedly grabbed a law enforcement officer by the arm and tried to pull him into the crowd.

Gillespie was identified as #141 in the FBI Washington Field Office’s photos of Capitol rioters.

His case is being investigated by the FBI and its Boston Division's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 750 people have been arrested for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 235 charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

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