GUN BARREL CITY, Texas — Editor's Note: The video above was published in January 2021 and regarding the arrests of two other East Texas men.
A Gun Barrel City man accused of being involved in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021 was arrested on both felony and misdemeanor charges Tuesday.
William Patrick Sarsfield III, 46, is charged with civil disorder (a felony) and related misdemeanor offenses. He is set to make an initial appearance in court Wednesday in the Northern District of Texas.
According to court information, Sarsfield was among people who repeatedly engaged in violence against law enforcement officers who were guarding the Capitol.
Sarsfield was involved in a confrontation with officers in the Lower West Terrace and tunnel areas of the Capitol. He entered the tunnel three different times to help other rioters push against police officers while trying to gain access to the Capitol building, according to the court documents.
The information states that while Sarsfield joined in on collective pushes, one police officer screamed in pain because the weight of the rioters pushed the officer between a shield and a door.
He is also accused of helping to pass stolen police shields into the tunnel.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case, and the FBI’s Dallas Field Office and the FBI’s Washington Field Office are investigating.
Two other East Texas men, Alex Kirk Harkrider, of Carthage, and Ryan Nichols, of Longview, have already been charged in connection with the Capitol riot.
Since the Jan. 6 riot, over 985 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, and about 319 have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.