Freelance photographer arrested on Capitol riot charges
FILE - Rioters storm the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A freelance photographer and local government official from Illinois has been arrested on charges alleging he joined a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol and pushed against a police officer’s riot shield, according to court records unsealed on Friday.
Patrick Gorski, 27, was arrested in Chicago on Thursday on charges including obstructing law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, a felony. A federal judge ordered him released on bond after his initial court appearance.
Gorski didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. An attorney who represented him after his arrest declined to comment on Gorski’s behalf.
Authorities allege that during the attack, Gorski climbed scaffolding, breaching police lines, and took photos and videos inside the building. He yelled at officers, pushed against an officer’s riot shield and was eventually forced out after being sprayed with a chemical irritant, authorities said.
When the FBI interviewed him, Gorski did not claim that he was working as a photojournalist during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and said he didn’t bring his professional camera to the Capitol. He told federal agents that he had worked as a photographer for the Chicago Fire Department and for Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign.
He has not professionally published any photographs of the Capitol riot, according to the FBI.
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An FBI agent’s affidavit says some of Gorski’s sports photographs are available through Getty Images and have been “picked up” by The Associated Press and USA Today. Authorities said Gorski has continued to take photos at some local sporting events in Chicago but hasn’t published any political photographs in the last five years.
Gorski is not an Associated Press journalist and has never been employed by the news organization, said Lauren Easton, AP’s vice president of corporate communications.
“We have distributed some photos he took for AP’s photo partners and member news organizations,” Easton said in a statement.
Gorski’s resume says he works as a building commissioner for the Village of Norridge, Illinois, and graduated earlier this year from Southeastern Illinois University with a master’s degree in public administration.
He attended then-President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6 before he marched to the Capitol in a group of people that included conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Owen Shroyer, who has hosted a show on Jones’ Infowars website.
On the west side of the Capitol, Gorski climbed up a wall onto stairs, helped another rioter onto the wall and removed a tarp covering scaffolding, according to the FBI. He climbed up and down the scaffolding before he helped pass a bike rack to other rioters, the agent’s affidavit says.
Gorski pointed and yelled at police officers outside the building. He also clapped and chanted, “Let us in!” After rioters broke through a police lines and sent officers retreating, Gorski hung a flag over the edge of a balcony.
Gorski used his phone to take photos or videos inside a tunnel entrance that police were guarding, according to the affidavit. He screamed at the officers, “This is our house!” as he pushed against an officer’s riot shield, the FBI said.
Gorski left the tunnel after several minutes and entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing door, taking more photos or videos inside the building, the affidavit says. An officer had to forcibly move Gorski from a doorway in another part of the Capitol, according to the agent. Gorski retreated after police sprayed him with a chemical irritant.
Approximately one year after the attack, the FBI received a tip that Gorski had posted photos of the riot in a group chat with friends.
More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the Capitol riot.
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