Former NFL Player Charged in Connection with Capitol Riot

The charges highlight ongoing legal repercussions for individuals involved in the Capitol insurrection.

A former NFL player, Antwoine Williams, has been charged in association with the infamous January 6 Capitol riot that rallied supporters of then-President Donald Trump against the certification of Joe Biden's election. Williams, a 31-year-old defensive player originally from Georgia, is facing serious felony charges including civil disorder and assaulting police officers, in addition to various misdemeanor charges. His indictment was filed on November 7, marking the first related to the Capitol riot since Trump's election victory.

Williams gained national attention during his college career at Georgia Southern University before being drafted by the Detroit Lions, where he played a single season in 2016. Following his release from the Lions, he experienced short-lived engagements with various NFL teams. The court filings detail that he was identified from videos taken during the riot, where he was reportedly seen engaging in violent altercations with law enforcement, pulling on barricades, and striking an officer with a helmet. His involvement was significant, as he remained on the Capitol grounds well into the evening on the day of the riot.

Authorities were able to pinpoint Williams partly due to a distinctive golf hat and key fob he wore during the chaos, both of which were matched to online footage. A group of online vigilantes, dubbed "sedition hunters," utilized these visuals to track down rioters, giving Williams the nickname "RiotingGolfer" as they sought to document the identities of those implicated in the insurrection.

The January 6 event resulted in over 1,500 arrests as pro-Trump supporters forcefully entered the Capitol building in a bid to halt the certification of Biden’s electoral win. Trump has previously stated his intention to potentially pardon some individuals involved in the riots, though the parameters of such pardons remain ambiguous. As a consequence of Trump's declaration, several rioters have sought to delay their court proceedings, leading to mixed responses from judges overseeing those cases. Meanwhile, the FBI continues to pursue many individuals still unidentified from the riot.