WASHINGTON — A former linebacker with the Detroit Lions and DC Defenders was arrested Thursday for allegedly assaulting police at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot.
Leander Antwione Williams, 31, was arrested in Savannah, Georgia, on felony charges of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding police, along with multiple misdemeanor charges. The criminal complaint against him, filed in federal court in D.C. on Nov. 7, was the first new Capitol riot case to be filed since former President Donald Trump won reelection to the White House.
According to charging documents, Williams can be seen in open source video and police bodyworn camera pulling bike rack barricades away from police and striking an officer on the head with his arm. Investigators said other video shows Williams grabbing and struggling with a USCP and MPD officer.
After helping the mob take the West Plaza, investigators said Williams joined in chants of “U.S.A.!” and then made his way to the Lower West Terrace, where other rioters fought with police for hours in an effort to enter the building. According to charging documents, Williams remained on Capitol grounds until the evening.
Williams was identified in part thanks to a distinct key fob and golf hat he wore during the riot. Investigators said they were able to match both to other publicly available photos of Williams, including some from his Instagram.
Williams played college football at Georgia Southern before being drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2016. After being waived in 2017, Wiliams was signed to the practice squads of the Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers. He was signed by the XFL’s (now the UFL) DC Defenders during mini-camp in December 2019, but waived two months later.
Despite the felony charges against him, it was unclear whether the case against Williams, or any other Jan. 6 defendant with charges pending, would proceed beyond late January when Trump resumes office. Trump has promised to pardon some or all of the more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the riot, although he has wavered on whether that would include defendants accused of violence.