Kentucky man arrested, accused of participating in U.S. Capitol riot
A Kentucky man has been charged with felony and misdemeanor crimes after he allegedly participated in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
William Stover, a 46-year-old Elizabethtown man, has been charged with civil disorder, the FBI said in a release. Stover is also charged with a misdemeanor offense of entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building and impeding passage through the Capitol. He faces the charges in federal court in the District of Columbia.
“His actions and the actions of other disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election,” the FBI said in a news release.
Stover is one of more than 1,000 people who have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the Capitol’s breach, according to the FBI. The rioters were attempting to interrupt the certification of 2020 election results after President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump.
Stover was identified on surveillance footage and police body camera at the Capitol pushing against a police line, according to court documents. He also “aided other rioters in fighting against police officers” near an entrance to the Capitol building.
Around 3:16 p.m., Stover arrived at a tunnel entrance to the Capitol and joined with others in a push against a line of officers who were attempting to defend the building, court documents said. He allegedly hoisted himself up over the side of a tunnel and reached over the heads of the rioters to grab the helmet of the nearest police officer.
Stover then received a U.S Capitol Police riot shield, which he had handed to another rioter who climbed up behind him, who then took the shield to attack police, the release from the FBI said. Stover is also accused of remaining at the entrance to the tunnel while rioters fought police for nearly 20 more minutes.
Stover’s case is being investigated by the FBI’s Louisville and Washington, D.C., field offices. Stover made his initial court appearance in the Western District of Kentucky. He is one of more than 20 Kentucky residents who have been charged in relation to the breach. Kentuckian Peter Schwartz was sentenced in May to 14 years in prison for attacking officers with pepper spray.
At the time he was sentenced, Schwartz’s prison time was the most of any person convicted in the Capitol riot.
This story was originally published July 12, 2023 at 1:14 PM.
