Former NFL linebacker Antwione Williams has been charged with two felonies in connection with the attack on the Capitol in 2021 NBC News reports.
The 31-year-old who was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2016, was allegedly one of the first rioters to breach the Capitol during the attack, a criminal complaint by the US Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC states.
He was arrested in Savannah and was charged with felony counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, and obstruction of law enforcement.
Williams was also charged with three misdemeanors related to entering and remaining on restricted Capitol buildings and grounds, disorderly conduct and acts of physical violence.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Williams “confronted and overpowered” Capitol Police officers at a perimeter line, tried to grab a bike rack from an officer attempting to clear a plaza, swatted riot-control spray from another officer, and “struck an officer on the head with a forceful arm motion.”
A video shows Williams lunging at an officer who was “deploying spray to prevent rioters from taking one of the bike racks” being used to hold back the crowd, according to the complaint. Williams later “grabbed and pushed two officers” while rioters were trying to push past police lines.
Images from the riot and Williams’ social media account led FBI agents to the linebacker, who is now a part of the UFL.