Worcester County Man Guilty In Jan. 6 Assault On Capitol Police: DOJ

ATHOL, MA — One of nine Massachusetts residents arrested and charged in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol was found guilty last week following a trial in Washington, DC.

Vincent Gillespie, 61, of Athol, was found guilty on charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, civil disorder, engaging in violence in a restricted building or ground and committing an act of physical violence in the Capitol.

According to federal prosecutors, Gillespie was part of a crowd that entered the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol and began fighting with police. Gillespie grabbed an officer's shield and hit him with it; he later pulled an officer into the rioting crowd, prosecutors said.

Gillespie will be sentenced on March 17, according to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Three other Massachusetts residents have faced various forms of punishment this month for their roles in the Jan. 6 riot.

On Dec. 2, ex-Natick Town Meeting member Sue Ianni was sentenced to a short prison term; On Dec. 8, Troy Sergeant, 38, of Pittsfield, was sentenced to more than a year in prison for attacking police; and Ashland resident and former Brigham and Women’s Hospital physician Jacquelyn Starer was arrested for assaulting police.

Four other locals are awaiting either trial or a conviction over Jan. 6: Mark Sahady of Malden; Kevin Allen Chase of Seekonk; Noah Bacon of Somerville; and David Lester Ross of Pittsfield. Brian McCreary, of North Adams, was sentenced in April to three years probation and 42 days of intermittent incarceration.