Who is Vincent Gillespie, son of renowned painter convicted in January 6 Capitol attack?

Vincent Gillespie, son of renowned postwar American artist Gregory Gillespie was convicted on Friday, December 23, on four counts of participating in the assault on the US Capitol that was carried out on January 6, 2021.

As per the prosecutors, Gillespie was found guilty on four counts – assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; civil disorder; and an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

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A video interview conducted with Gillespie with the AP during the riot served as evidence in the trial, alongside security video footage from the Capitol and police cameras. His sentencing is scheduled for March 17, 2023.

Who is Vincent Gillespie?

Vincent Gillespie was born in 1961 in Athol, Massachusetts to eminent American artist Gregory Gillespie.

According to reports, he had participated in the US Capitol assault in January 2021 for which he was arrested and charged after pieces of evidence and witnesses were gathered. According to the police authorities, he had “pushed, yelled at, and fought with police, maneuvering to a line of officers defending the Lower West Terrace’s exterior door. At one point, Gillespie took control of a police shield and used it to ram officers.”

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During the riots, he was spotted by AP cameras, pouring water onto his eyes, apparently to help ease the pain from chemical spray. “I was with some other guys. And then we were starting to push against them and they were beating us and putting that pepper spray stuff in your eyes. But there were a bunch of people pushing behind us,” Gillespie told The AP, further adding, “What you guys need to know, and no one is going to listen to this, we were very close. We were almost overpowering them. If you had like another 15, 20 guys behind us pushing I think we could have won it.”

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Following his arrest, Gillespie was ordered by a judge to stay away from Washington, except for court-related business. He was also forbidden from possessing a firearm or other weapons.

Gillespie is one of nearly a thousand people who were arrested across the 50 US states in connection with the Capitol assault in which the pro-Trump mass tried to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.