A still taken from body camera footage showing Leander Antwione Williams during the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Image courtesy the Justice Department
Nov. 14 (UPI) — A former NFL linebacker has been arrested and charged on allegations of participating in assaults on police officers defending the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, federal prosecutors said.
Leander Antwione Williams, 31, was arrested by FBI agents in Savannah, Ga., on Thursday, the Justice Department said in a statement.
He is charged in a criminal complaint with a a felony offense of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers and obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, along with misdemeanor offenses related to the insurrection.
According to court documents, Williams, who played for the Detroit Lions in 2016, was among the supporters of then-President Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol in a failed effort to prevent the 2020 election win of Joe Biden.
Federal prosecutors said that Williams was among the first group of rioters to breach the restricted perimeter of the Capitol grounds near the Peace Monument that day.
In the court document unsealed Thursday, Williams allegedly pulled on bike racks that police were using as an obstacle preventing rioters from reaching the Capitol building.
Prosecutors said that officers attempted to push Williams away from the barricade, but he in response “jumped up and brought his hand and arm down forcefully” on the head of a police officer.
He is also accused of swatting at the hand of an office who was pepper spraying the advancing rioters.
The court documents state that Williams remained on the Capitol grounds into the evening.
Prosecutors said they were alerted to Williams’ involvement by a tip from an individual who sent the authorities to the former professional football player’s Instagram account.
Images found on his social media account were compared with images taken during the assault to confirm Williams was involved in the event.
Williams was drafted in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions, for whom he played 14 games that season.
Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,561 people have been charged in connection to the insurrection, including more than 590 people who, like Williams, are facing offenses related to assaulting law enforcement.