Son of prominent American painter convicted in January 6th Capitol attack

BOSTON (AP) — The son of a prominent American painter was found guilty Friday on four counts of participation in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Vincent Gillespie, 61, of Atholl, Massachusetts, was convicted of assaulting, resisting, and obstructing a police officer. Civil Disturbance; Engagement in physical violence in an off-limits building or premises. Acts of physical violence on the Capitol grounds or inside the building, prosecutors said.

A verdict is scheduled for March 17.

Investigators said Gillespie pushed, yelled at, and quarreled with police before running to the line of officers guarding the exterior doors of Lower West Terrace. At one point, they said, Gillespie took control of a police shield and used it to assault officers.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, he grabbed the Metropolitan Police Sergeant’s arm and pulled him toward the mob, yelling “traitor” and “traitor.”

A lawyer representing Gillespie did not immediately return a request for comment.

Video interview conducted by Gillespie Associated Press video of the riots, along with security videos from the Capitol and police cameras, were used as evidence by prosecutors during the trial.

When asked by an AP reporter at the scene of an interview, he was quick to name his name, but Gillespie hesitated before saying where he was from. said, and after some hesitation, added, “I’m in Massachusetts.”

Vincent Gillespie is the son of the famous post-war American artist Gregory Gillespie, whose self-portraits, fantastical landscapes and geometric abstractions are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It contains. other museums. Gregory Gillespie died in 2000.

Footage from the AP shows a blushing Vincent Gillespie prowling outside the Capitol building defiantly speaking about his role in the attack.

“We pretty much overpowered them,” Gillespie, who could see blood on his scalp in the clash, told the AP journalist. “

The trial began on Monday, with jurors beginning deliberations on Thursday and ending on Friday. At trial, Gillespie testified in defense.

“He testified that the events of January 6 were fun and enjoyable,” said Niki Kristof, 44, the head of the jury in Washington, DC. deliberation time. ”

Christoph cited what she described as overwhelming photographic and video evidence against Gillespie.

AP found Gillespie pouring water into his eyes outside the Capitol.

He said he was among those trying to break through the opening and storm the building.

“I was with other guys. And we started pushing on them and they were beating us and had that pepper spray in their eyes. There were a lot of them,” Gillespie told AP.

“You guys should know, and no one would listen to this, we were very (expletive) close.” If more people were behind him, ” There’s a second door and we would have broken through it,” he said.

He added in the video that he hopes it will be “flooded” with people attacking the building.

Take it over. Take it over. Own it for a few days. ‘, apparently referring to the false claim that former President Donald Trump’s election was stolen.

Investigators said Gillespie attended the meeting and was informed of Gillespie’s identity by former neighbors and others, including a town employee of Atholl who pays taxes at City Hall. A witness identified him from images taken at the riot.

Gillespie is one of nearly 900 people arrested in nearly every 50 states in connection with the Capitol storming, in which pro-Trump mobs tried to stop proving Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.