ATLANTA — A father from Georgia who is alleged to have pushed a Capitol officer on Jan. 6, 2021 and two of his adult sons accused of entering the Capitol Building that day are now facing charges for participating in the riots.
Arrest warrants were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for William Gallagher and his sons Thomas and James Gallagher from Ellijay, Georgia.
The warrants allege that the father entered the Capitol building before his sons on Jan. 6, 2021 and was part of a crowd that pushed open the doors to the Capitol Rotunda after they'd been initially secured by Capitol Police.
"At approximately 2:38 p.m. EST, rioters began pushing the Rotunda Doors to open them from the inside. Despite the presence of U.S. Capitol Police officers guarding the doors, William Gallagher participated in that effort for approximately 90 seconds," the documents allege. "During that time... William Gallagher interfered with and impeded a U.S. Capitol Police officer guarding the Rotunda Doors."
The warrant further accuses Gallagher of grabbing the officer to "forcibly pull that officer off of the doors" and then, along with another rioter, pushing him out of the entryway.
"As a result, the Rotunda Doors were breached yet again, allowing rioters to stream into the U.S. Capitol Building," the document states. It adds that after this altercation, Gallagher "appeared to apologize to the officer."
William Gallagher's sons are alleged to have entered the building about 20 minutes after he did. The document later states at one point William Gallagher appeared to be sprayed by police with a "chemical irritant" and could be seen "blotting his eyes."
The sons are not accused of any specific act while inside the Capitol Building. The arrest warrants state they were in the building for approximately 27 minutes, while William Gallagher was inside for roughly 46 minutes.
"On the way out, all three individuals raised their fists in the air and chanted, 'USA,'" the arrest warrants add.
It states agents first interviewed William Gallagher on Jan. 26, 2021, and that as he met them at the front of his door he "spontaneously stated, 'I've been waiting for you guys.'" It's unclear what resulted from that interview or why three years passed before, the warrant states, agents again traveled to Ellijay on March 27 where they interviewed an employee of the gated resort community where the Gallaghers live.
William Gallagher faces five charges: obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building or grounds; parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building.
His sons face four charges, which are the same charges William faces except for the charge of obstruction.
The arrest of the three Gallagher men makes six arrests tied to Jan. 6 from Georgia this year. A 31-year-old man was arrested in January and two brothers were arrested in February. In total, more than 30 people have from Georgia or with ties to the state have been arrested for participating in the Jan. 6 riots over the past three years.
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