A West Virginia man accused of repeatedly kicking U.S. Capitol doors and throwing a hard object over and over in an attempt to gain entry has been arrested and charged by federal authorities.
Police officers were on the other side of the glass window in the door, attempting to secure the building.
John Gordon was arrested in Martinsburg on Friday on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the U.S. Capitol.
Gordon faces six federal charges. One is a felony charge of civil disorder. The others are misdemeanors: destruction of government property, entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and act of physical violence in a Capitol building.
Gordon was identified after photographs of U.S. Capitol riot participants were published to a Federal Bureau of Investigations website.
On March 3, 2021, a person providing an anonymous tip told investigators that Gordon might be the man in the photograph, according to a statement of facts filed by federal authorities.
A criminal search history showed that Gordon had several prior felony convictions in Pennsylvania and West Virginia for drug and firearms offenses, according to the statement.
That March, Tucker County Sheriff Jacob Kopec went to the apartment building in Davis where Gordon lived. Gordon agreed to an interview and admitted being at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.
Then in August, 2021, an FBI special agent interviewed a source who had a romantic relationship with Gordon. That source’s name wasn’t disclosed but is described as “A.A.”
That person confirmed that Gordon is the man in the FBI photo and said Gordon had kicked the Capitol doors but that the doors had been barricaded. A.A. also told the FBI agent that Gordon had thrown a weighted ball at windows. A.A. said Gordon had returned from the Capitol with a trash bag full of his clothing that had been covered in pepper spray.
Investigators then identified images of the man who had been identified as Gordon repeatedly throwing the object at the door. A separate YouTube video showed the man identified as Gordon and others repeatedly throwing an object at the North Door. Another video showed the same events from a different angle.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office and its Martinsburg, West Virginia Resident Agency, and the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
Hundreds of people face charges from the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
A mob storming the U.S. Capitol that day disrupted the constitutional duty of counting Electoral College votes and prompted the evacuations of representatives, senators and Vice President Mike Pence. One woman was fatally shot while trying to climb into the chambers, three others died from “medical emergencies” and more than 100 police officers were injured.
Of the thousands of protesters in Washington, D.C., that day, about 800 went into the Capitol, police have said.
Several more West Virginians were charged in that day’s events.
They include George Tanios, a Morgantown sandwich shop operator accused in the assault of three Capitol police officers with pepperspray; former state Delegate Derrick Evans of Wayne County, who resigned after being charged; former Parkersburg councilman Eric Barber; Jeffery Finley of Martinsburg, the leader of West Virginia’s chapter of the Proud Boy right-wing militant group; West Virginia National Guard member Jamie Lynn Ferguson; and college senior Gracyn Courtright of Hurricane.
Evans, Barber, Finley, Ferguson and Courtright all pleaded guilty. Tanios has a trial set for October, although lawyers in the case have acknowledged ongoing plea discussions.