Former NFL linebacker Leander Antwione Williams was arrested Thursday and charged with allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Williams, 31, is facing charges including felony offense of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, and misdemeanor offenses of 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, act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.
Court documents allege that Williams was part of the first group of pro-Donald Trump rioters that breached the perimeter of the Capitol. At one point Williams pushed through a crowd and “confronted and overpowered Capitol Police officers.”
As Metropolitan Police Department officers attempt to control an area with metal bike racks, Williams allegedly attempted to grab one of the racks from an officer. He also allegedly “lunged at an officer, swatting at the officer’s hand” as the officer used spray to prevent rioters from advancing.
MPD body camera footage showed Williams move toward a bike rack barricade and later he allegedly grabbed a barricade and attempted to pull it away from the police line. MPD officers tried pushing him away, but Williams fought back and allegedly hit an officer in the head with “a forceful arm motion.”
Williams was eventually moved back down the step by officers. Williams then rejoined the rioters and allegedly pushed back against the bike rack line again. Nearly 20 minutes later, after the bike racks were removed, Williams allegedly grabbed and shoved officers from MPD and the Capitol Police in an attempt to get past the line.
Williams, according to the statement from the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, left the Capitol grounds in the evening.
Williams was a 2016 fifth-round draft pick by the Detroit Lions out of Georgia Southern. He played one season with the Lions and then the 2017 and 2018 seasons on the practice squads of the Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers.