GUN BARREL CITY, Texas — A Gun Barrel City man, formerly of Forney and Mabank, has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from his alleged actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
GUN BARREL CITY, Texas — A Gun Barrel City man, formerly of Forney and Mabank, has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from his alleged actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
William Patrick Sarsfield III, 46, of Gun Barrel City, Texas, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with civil disorder, a felony, and related misdemeanor offenses.
Sarsfield III was arrested February 14, 2023, in Texas and was set to appear in federal court the following day.
"His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election," read a statement from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
According to court documents and statements from the U.S. Justice Department, on Jan. 6, 2021, Sarsfield was allegedly "among rioters who repeatedly engaged in violence against law enforcement officers guarding the Capitol."
Sarsfield's alleged involvement centers around rioters confrontation with law enforcement officers in the Lower West Terrace and tunnel areas of the Capitol building.
There, federal investigators say, in a criminal complaint obtained by inForney.com, Sarsfield entered the tunnel at approximately 3:12 p.m., and made his way into the "mob of rioters who were coordinating pushes against police officers while yelling 'HEAVE HO!' and 'PUSH!'
"Sarsfield allegedly entered the tunnel three separate times to assist in the collective pushes against police officers as the rioters tried to gain access to the Capitol building," read a statement, in part, from the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting the case. "While Sarsfield joined in collective pushes, one police officer screamed in pain as the weight of the rioters’ pushes pinned him between a shield and a door. Sarsfield also assisted in passing stolen police shields into the tunnel."
On June 8, 2022, agents with FBI interviewed Sarsfield at his residence in Gun Barrel City, Texas. During that interview, Sarsfield admitted that he was at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, identified himself in several photos taken on January 6, 2021, and also admitted that he was present on the Lower West Terrace.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Dallas Field Office and the FBI’s Washington Field Office with assistance from the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the 25 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 985 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, approximately 319 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the FBI.