The son of famed American artist Gregory Gillespie has been charged in connection to the Capitol riot.
Vincent Gillespie, 60, was reportedly identified in half a dozen images taken on 6 January 2021 linking him to the violent attack at the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
Investigators claim Mr Gillespie was among a group of protesters trying to break into a tunnel near the Capitol's Lower West Terrace. The attack reportedly almost succeeded, according to Mr Gillespie.
“We were almost overpowering them,” Mr Gillespie, who had been bleeding from his head, told the Associated Press at the time. “If you had like another 15, 20 guys behind us pushing I think we could have won it.”
Federal investigators said Mr Gillespie's own words made it clear he had worked alongside other rioters to try to break the Capitol.
“I was with some other guys. And then we were starting to push against them and they were beating us and putting that pepper spray stuff in your eyes. But there were a bunch of people pushing behind us,” Mr Gillespie told the AP.
He went on to describe how close he believed he and the other rioters came to pushing further into the Capitol.
“What you guys need to know, and no one is going to listen to this, we were very f****** close," he said, adding that had only a few more people joined him "we would have just burst through it.”
Mr Gillespie told reporters at the time that he wanted his fellow rioters to "flood in" to the Capitol and "take it over."
"Own it for a few days. I'm not an anarchist, but you can't let stand what happened in this election," Mr Gillespie said, repeating Mr Trump's fraudulent claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
By the end of his interview with the AP, it seemed as though the reality of his actions – and the potential consequences – had dawned on Mr Gillespie. Though he had already given the reporters his name, he was hesitant to provide much information about his home.
"They'll come after me, man," he told a reporter. "I'm in Massachusetts."
He was right.
Mr Gillespie has joined the 775 people arrested in connection with the riot. He faces seven criminal counts including civil disorder, assaulting officers and disorderly conduct in the Capitol. He has pleaded not guilty.
