SPOKANE — A Spokane man was charged in federal court Tuesday with illegally entering the U.S. Capitol Building during the Jan. 6 riot challenging the results of the 2020 election.
Elliot P. Williams, 21, was identified by a tipster who spotted him on a CBS news broadcast during the riot, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
Williams appeared in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington on four misdemeanor charges filed from the District of Columbia, where he will make future court appearances, according to court documents.
Williams did not enter a plea at Tuesday’s hearing, and he is not being held in detention. He was ordered not to travel to Washington, D.C., except for court appearances and to not travel outside the United States.
Williams is scheduled to appear virtually in a District of Columbia courtroom on Sept. 12. His public defender, Jay McEntire, said Williams does not have the financial means to travel to Washington, D.C., and will request noncustodial transportation for future in-person appearances.
McEntire said Williams had no prior convictions.
The informant, who knew Williams socially in Spokane, said they were positive it was Williams in the footage and wrote a tip to the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Threats Operation Center in February 2021.
The FBI compared the footage to Williams’ Washington state driver’s license photo and determined the man in the footage was likely Williams.
In September 2022, Williams agreed to an interview with the FBI. He said he flew to Washington, D.C., to participate in the “Stop the Steal” rally.
Williams attended President Donald Trump’s speech, then followed the crowd to the U.S. Capitol Building.
Before entering the building, Williams told investigators, he saw police use pepper spray and other crowd dispersal methods. Williams entered the Capitol building anyway, behind a large group of people, according to court documents.
Williams told investigators he saw a woman carried out of the building on a stretcher who appeared to have been shot.
He entered the Capitol Rotunda at about 2:35 p.m. and is seen on footage walking in private office space, according to court records.
Williams admitted he left the building to find a less crowded access point then returned, according to court documents.
He is seen re-entering and attempting to move farther inside the Capitol building as part of a “large mob,” according to court records.
Williams was eventually pushed out of the Rotunda by police at about 4:27 p.m. He was one of the last rioters to leave the Rotunda, according to court records.
He told police his cell phone died before he entered the Capitol, but following the incident Williams texted with other people who had been at the rally. Those texts included a conversation with Nicolas Moncada, a New York man who live-streamed himself taking part in the riot.
Moncada pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building in February, according to a local newspaper.
Williams made his first court appearance at the U.S. District Courthouse in Spokane on Tuesday afternoon.
Williams is charged with four misdemeanors: knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
