Athol man involved in U.S. Capitol breach found guilty on 4 charges

By DOMENIC POLI

Staff Writer

Published: 12-23-2022 6:00 PM

WASHINGTON D.C. — An Athol man was found guilty in U.S. District Court on Friday of felony and misdemeanor charges related to his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

A trial determined that Vincent J. Gillespie, 61, formerly of Greenfield and Easthampton, was guilty of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers; civil disorder; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings. Judge Beryl Howell has scheduled sentencing for March 17.

Supporters of then-President Donald Trump convened at the Ellipse within the National Mall, just south of the White House, on Jan. 6 for the “Save America” rally, where Trump and others continued their claims of widespread voter fraud and irregularities in the 2020 presidential election. Trump told supporters to march to the Capitol building, saying they would “never take back our country with weakness.” Trump also said at the rally that “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer at the time, also called for “trial by combat.”

Supporters marched to the U.S. Capitol and wreaked havoc, forcing their way inside in an attempt to disrupt the Electoral College certification of the 2020 presidential election. At least 138 police officers were injured in the violence, and four took their own lives within seven months of the riot. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was pepper-sprayed during the insurrection and suffered two strokes the following day, resulting in his death. Additionally, one woman was shot dead by a Capitol Police officer.

According to the U.S. District Court, the evidence at trial showed that from approximately 4:11 p.m. to 4:26 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, Gillespie was among rioters engaging in pushing, shoving, yelling and fighting with law enforcement officers in the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol.

“He struggled his way through the crowd, eventually maneuvering through the rioters to the line of police officers defending the Lower West Terrace’s exterior door,” the court reported Friday. “At one point, he gained control of a police shield and used it to ram the police. He then used two hands to grab a Metropolitan Police Department sergeant by the arm, yanking him toward the mob. He then screamed ‘traitor’ and ‘treason’ at the police.”

Previously reached by email, Gillespie declined to comment to the Greenfield Recorder but said his lawyers are Tim Watkins, Forest O’Neill-Greenberg and Aziza Hawthorne.

This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

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The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Athol Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police. Tipsters recognized Gillespie in photographs on the FBI Washington Field Office’s website.

According to the court, nearly 900 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states in the 23 months since the insurrection for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol. This includes more than 275 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation is ongoing.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.

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