DULUTH, Ga. — A metro Atlanta man was arrested and charged for entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the Justice Department announced Wednesday, after his friend said he'd entered the Capitol with him when he was being arrested last summer.
It's unclear why the case against John Gould, of Duluth, took so long to materialize, but a Department of Justice documents states his friend Jonathan Laurens said they entered the Capitol together when Laurens was arrested on June 30, 2021.
Laurens pleaded guilty in his case in February. According to the DOJ, a complaint for Gould was issued last Friday and he was arrested on Tuesday.
Gould becomes at least the 26th person with ties to Georgia to be arrested in connection to the Capitol riots.
According to a DOJ statement of facts document, Gould entered the Capitol with Laurens and wandered around for roughly 40 minutes.
During that time, according to the document, he entered the Rayburn Reception Room and took a photo of himself in the mirror and also joined a group that "attempted to force their way into the House Chamber."
The document does not explicitly state he entered the House Chamber, though one of his charges is "entering or remaining on the floor of Congress."
His four other charges include entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
So far, 10 individuals from Georgia have pleaded guilty in their cases and three have received sentences.