Former Detroit Lion Antwione Williams charged in connection with Jan. 6 Capitol riot
(CBS DETROIT) - Former NFL star Antwione Williams, who was drafted by the Lions in 2016, has been charged in connection with his involvement in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the 31-year-old is charged with assaulting, resisting and impeding certain officers and obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder.
He also faces misdemeanor charges, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.
Authorities arrested Williams on Thursday in Savannah, Georgia, where he will appear in federal court, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
A criminal complaint details that Williams was allegedly among the first group of people who breached the restricted perimeter and even attempted to take a bike rake from an officer. The complaint alleges that when police pushed a crowd away from the Capitol, Williams "lunged at an officer and swatted at the officer's hand."
The complaint also alleges that Williams "moved forward and grabbed the barricade, this time with both hands, and pulled it backwards and away from the police line. [Capitol Police officers] attempted to push Williams away, and in response, Williams jumped up and brought his hand and arm down forcefully on [an officer's] head."
Williams was identified in 2023 after FBI agents received a tip and compared screenshots of the individual during the riot with photos posted on social media and an official photo on the NFL's website, according to the complaint. In August 2024, investigators reviewed credit card records associated with Williams showing a purchase made in the area.
Williams was a fifth-round pick in the 2016 NFL draft. The Lions waived him ahead of the 2017 season, and he was signed to practice squads for the Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks and the Carolina Panthers.
More than 1,500 people from across the country have been charged in relation to the riot.
President-elect Donald Trump has praised those who breached the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, as "patriots" and referred to them as "hostages" of a Justice Department "weaponized" against him. He has said that those who were arrested as a result of their actions during the Capitol riot should be freed, and he vowed to pardon a "large portion" of the more than 1,000 people who have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to crimes stemming from the Jan. 6 attack.