A former N.F.L. linebacker was arrested in Georgia on Thursday on charges that he hit and pushed law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, one of the first insurrection-related arrests since President-elect Donald J. Trump won re-election, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said.
The former player, Leander Antwione Williams, 31, of Savannah, Ga., who played one season for the Detroit Lions, was among the first rioters to breach a police barricade that had been set up on the northwest side of the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, according to a complaint and arrest warrant prepared by Brad Fisk, a special agent with the F.B.I.
In addition to a felony count of assaulting officers and obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, Mr. Williams faces several misdemeanors relating to disruptive conduct at the Capitol.
Footage from the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, showed Mr. Williams near the front of a crowd a short distance from the U.S. Capitol.
The crowd’s efforts to approach the Capitol were temporarily stymied by a line of police barricades and several law enforcement officers, according to photos included in Mr. Fisk’s report. Then, just after 1 p.m., Mr. Williams was seen again near the front of the crowd, pushing through metal barricades as law enforcement officers retreated.
As he and the crowd continued to push toward the Capitol, Mr. Williams “grabbed and pushed two officers,” Mr. Fisk wrote.
In another instance, Mr. Williams “jumped up and brought his hand and arm down forcefully” on the head of a police officer, according to Mr. Fisk’s analysis of law enforcement officers’ body camera videos and publicly accessible footage.
Mr. Williams wore a mask during much of the day’s protest but took it off at one point “when suffering from the effects of chemical irritants,” Mr. Fisk wrote.
In December 2022, the F.B.I. received a tip that helped the authorities identify Mr. Williams.
In July 2023, when F.B.I. agents went to an address associated with the former football player, Mr. Williams came out and introduced himself, according to court records.
He had a car key fob on him at the time that matched his car. The fob also looked like the same fob that was attached to his pants on Jan. 6, photos in court records showed. Credit card records also placed Mr. Williams near the Capitol that day.
A lawyer for Mr. Williams did not immediately respond on Friday to a phone call and email requesting comment.
Mr. Williams, who goes by Antwione and is 6 foot 3 inches tall, played college football at Georgia Southern University, where he was a two-time All-Sun Belt Conference Honorable Mention selection.
In the 2016 N.F.L. draft, the Detroit Lions selected him in the fifth round. He recorded 27 total tackles and one fumble recovery in the 14 games he played that season.
Although he never played another regular season game, he did play several preseason games for other professional teams over the next two seasons.
In almost four years since the Capitol insurrection, more than 1,500 people have been charged for crimes related to the insurrection and nearly 600 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, the Department of Justice said.
While campaigning for re-election, Mr. Trump said that he would pardon defendants facing charges related to the insurrection.
After Mr. Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris this month, at least one defendant requested to have his sentencing date delayed because he expected clemency after Mr. Trump takes office on Jan. 20. That request was denied, but another federal judge in Washington agreed this week to delay the trial of a Kansas man accused of attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6.
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