Saturday marks three years since rioters stormed the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in an attempt to overturn the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory over former President Donald Trump.
In the years since this event – which has been called an insurrection by some, and led to Trump’s removal from some state’s 2024 presidential primary ballots – hundreds of participants have been arrested.
Nine of them are from Long Island and of them, most have pleaded guilty, been convicted at trial and sentenced. Two of the cases are unresolved. Here is a look at status of the local cases.
THOMAS FEE
Thomas Fee, of Freeport, was the first Long Islander arrested in connection with the case. He was apprehended just two weeks after the riot. Fee was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on capitol grounds. Fee eventually pleaded guilty to the charges.
CHRISTOPHER ORTIZ
Christopher Ortiz, of Huntington, was arrested just a week after Fee in January 2021. He was charged with charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful permission, engaging in disorderly conduct with intent to impede or disrupt government business or official functions, uttering loud, threatening, or abusive language in any of the Capitol buildings with the intent to impede, disrupt, or disturb a session of Congress or either House of Congress, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in any of the Capitol buildings. Authorities alleged that a voice heard in several videos of the riot was Ortiz’s. Ortiz eventually pleaded guilty.
JUSTIN MCAULIFFE
Justin McAuliffe, of Bellmore, was also arrested in January 2021. Federal court documents contained a photo which purported to show McAuliffe in the office of a congressmember on the day of the riot. He was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful permission and engaging in disorderly conduct with intent to impede or disrupt government business or official functions. McAuliffe pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 36 months of probation.
CHRISTOPHER WORRELL
Christopher John Worrell, a Greenport native,was living in Naples, Florida at the time of the insurrection, and was arrested in March 2021. Authorities alleged that Worrell had sprayed pepper spray at police officers. He was convicted of assault, obstruction and civil disorder charges, but disappeared in August 2023 before he was set to be sentenced. He was recently apprehended, and a Florida judge sentenced Worrell to 10 years in prison.
GREG RUBENACKER
Greg Rubenacker, of Farmingdale, was arrested in November 2021 and faced up to 10 charges related to the riot. A photo from federal court documents purportedly showed Rubenacker smoking a marijuana cigarette while inside the Capitol building. Rubenacker pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 41 months in prison plus three years of supervised release. He was also required to pay $2,000 in restitution.
FRANK ROCCO GIUSTINO
Frank Rocco Giustino, a Long Island massage therapist, was arrested in January 2022. He pleaded guilty to a charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. During a June hearing, Giustino derided his case as “an absolute clown show of a prosecution.” He failed to appear in court numerous times and was eventually arrested again in October of 2023 after failing to show upfor his sentencing. Giustino claimed he opposed the violence at the Capitol, but was apparently told by a federal judge that his behavior in court was “about the worst of any January 6th defendant I’ve had.”
JOHN O’KELLY
John O’Kelly, of East Williston, was arrested in October 2022. O’Kelly was charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers and interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder. Authorities said the 66-year-old man made his way to the Capitol grounds where rioters were fighting with law enforcement officers attempting to maintain a police barrier, emerged from the crowd and grabbed at the baton of an officer and tried to take the weapon. After the officer fought back and kept the baton in his possession, O’Kelly then took a step back and pushed a metal bike rack being used to secure the perimeter into the line of officers, prosecutors said. His case is still pending.
ERIC GERWATOWSKI
Eric Gerwatowski, of New Hyde Park, was arrested in November 2022 and pleaded guilty to interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, a felony. Prosecutors claimed that Gerwatowski had opened a door that Capitol Police had closed, allowing rioters to move deeper inside the Capitol. He had also claimed that “the commies are trying to steal the country.” He was sentenced to 24 months’ probation, 30 days home detention, $2,000 restitution to the Architect of the Capitol, and 60 hours of community service in lieu of any fines, for interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder.
PETER MOLONEY
Peter Moloney, of Bayport, was arrested in June 2023. Court documents claim that Moloney had used Black Flag Wasp, Hornet & Yellow Jacket Killer spray from his backpack and on Capitol police officers. Court documents also claim that, on two separate occasions, Moloney joined other rioters in surrounding and striking individuals that the mob believed to be members of the news media. Moloney is the owner of Moloney Funeral Home in Lake Ronkonkoma, and the funeral home put out a statement following his arrest. His case is also still pending.
Election Day 2024 is the first presidential election since the riot, and although both major parties have primaries and caucuses coming up, this election cycle appears all but set to be a rematch between Biden and Trump.
–With Associated Press
