Police Ramming Jan 6 Rioter Convicted & Facing 10+ Years

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A Massachusetts man named Vincent Gillespie who participated in assaults on police during last year’s Trump-incited Capitol riot was convicted the day before Christmas Eve by a D.C. jury on several serious criminal charges for his involvement in that day’s violence.

Gillespie joined the mob’s stand-off with police in the Lower West Terrace area at the Capitol, which is where notably brutal violence was seen. A press release from the Justice Department focuses on actions Gillespie took there about two hours after rioters breached the Capitol building itself elsewhere. He used a stolen police shield to ram law enforcement, as the department described what he did. He also pulled a sergeant with the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department further towards the crowd, which could have subjected the officer to devastating assaults.

It’s in this same area where members of the crowd temporarily overpowered then-officer Michael Fanone and left him with serious injuries. “At some point during the fighting, I was dragged from the line of officers into the crowd. I heard someone scream, “I got one!” as I was swarmed by a violent mob,” Fanone previously explained of what happened there. He has also spoken of hearing someone shout for the mob to use his firearm against him, and his injuries included a heart attack and a concussion. He was also unconscious for several minutes, he told House investigators on the committee investigating the Capitol riot.

Gillespie previously rejected a plea deal that would have capped nonbinding guidelines for his sentencing at a little over four years. Now, with convictions including assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers and civil disorder, he could face up to 12 years or more (including at least eight for the assault charge and five for the civil disorder offense). He was arrested in February of this year and will face his sentencing in March of next year. Several charges he originally faced, including trespassing and disorderly conduct allegations, disappeared from the list when convicted late last week. Notes from court outline that four charges were the subject of a mistrial declaration. Those same updates include that prosecutors made an oral request for Gillespie to be detained ahead of his sentencing, which the judge denied.

The list of federal criminal charges for which the trial didn’t see an effective conclusion include a trespassing offense, two disorderly conduct charges, and obstruction of an official proceeding — the last of which is a felony that prosecutors have repeatedly used against rioters and that carries up to 20 years in prison if found guilty. The court directed that federal prosecutors file details by January 6 about how they would be seeking to handle the several charges left unresolved — possibilities it seems may include another trial.