BOSTON (AP) — The son of a renowned American painter was convicted Friday of four counts of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Vincent Gillespie, 61, of Athol, Massachusetts, was found guilty of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers; civil disorder; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, prosecutors said.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 17.
Investigators said Gillespie pushed, yelled at and fought with police, maneuvering to a line of officers defending the Lower West Terrace’s exterior door. At one point, Gillespie took control of a police shield and used it to ram officers, they said. - ADVERTISEMENT -
He grabbed a Metropolitan Police Department sergeant by the arm, yanking him toward the mob and screamed “traitor” and “treason," according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
A lawyer representing Gillespie did not immediately return a request for comment.
A video interview Gillespie conducted with The Associated Press at the time of the riot was used as evidence by prosecutors during the trial, along with security video from the Capitol and police body cameras.
Although he was quick to give his name when asked by the AP reporter on the scene interviewing him, Gillespie hesitated before saying where he was from. “They’ll come after me, man,” he said, hesitating before adding, “I’m in Massachusetts.”
Poster Comment:
Paul Revere is pissing on Ted Kennedy's grave, or something like that.
Vincent Gillespie, 61, of Athol, Massachusetts, was found guilty of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers; civil disorder; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, prosecutors said.
Good Lord. The guy's almost as old as me. What'd he really do? Leave a little skid mark on the Capitol floor with the rubber tip on his cane?