Courtroom scuffle erupts after Capitol rioter resists detention order
U.S. Marshals and FBI agents had to forcibly detain 34-year-old Vitali Gossjankowski after he refused to surrender in court.
WASHINGTON — More than a half dozen U.S. Marshals, FBI agents and court security officers had to forcibly arrest a convicted Capitol rioter Monday after he refused to surrender following a judge's order sending him to jail while he awaits sentencing.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman revoked 34-year-old Vitali Gossjankowski's pre-sentencing release Monday after federal prosecutors brought
intimidating and harassing messages he'd sent to law enforcement to the court's attention. Gossjankowski was convicted of multiple felony counts in March, including assaulting police, for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Friedman initially allowed Gossjankowski to remain free under supervision until his sentencing date, which hasn't been scheduled. On Monday, he revoked that release — saying Gossjankowski posting the names, phone numbers and emails of law enforcement and prosecutors on social media, as well as calling for the "employment extermination" of the FBI's Washington Field Office, was inciting behavior.
"All of this is extremely troubling," Friedman said. "It's dangerous. It's putting others in danger, including prosecutors and law enforcement. I'm just stunned."
Gossjankowski, who is deaf and was enrolled at D.C.'s Gallaudet University on Jan. 6, 2021, visibly reacted when an ASL interpreter who participated in the hearing via Zoom communicated Friedman's decision. When the hearing ended, Gossjankowski began making low moaning sounds — and when a Marshal approached him to take him into custody, he resisted.
Other Marshals and FBI agents who were in the courtroom rushed to assist, leading to a scuffle in which Gossjankowski, whose large frame towered over several of the officers, dragged multiple men along with him as he tried to reach the courtroom door. As the scuffle threatened to knock over the defense tables, Gossjankowski's attorney attempted to convey him a message on a yellow legal pad while the ASL interpreter looked on helplessly from a monitor, until that too was knocked over.
The courtroom was eventually cleared and Gossjankowski was taken into custody with the assistance of nearly a dozen other Marshals and court security officers who quickly responded. A U.S. Attorney declined to answer whether the Justice Department would consider pursuing additional charges against Gossjankowski related to the scuffle, although prosecutors could be heard discussing whether to collect statements from officers involved in Gossjankowski's arrest.
Prosecutors asked Friedman to revoke Gossjankowski's release after, they said, he repeatedly made intimidating statements toward law enforcement on social media since his conviction. They claimed that behavior has escalated in recent weeks, culminating in a series of text messages sent to a DC Police detective assigned to the FBI task force that worked on Gossjankowski's case.
According to prosecutors, on Oct. 14 and 15 the detective, who helped arrange Gossjankowski’s FBI interview and arrest and who later testified during a hearing in the case, began receiving harassing messages from Gossjankowski’s phone number. The messages allegedly contained antisemitic, homophobic and racist epithets and suggested the officer should be violently sexually assaulted, according to the Justice Department’s filing.
In court Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Francesco Valentini showed Friedman even more messages from Gossjankowski's Instagram page in which he again referred to FBI agents and law enforcement in antisemitic and homophobic terms and called them "animalistic subhumans." The posts also contained the names, email addresses and phone numbers of prosecutors, law enforcement and even court staff involved in the case. At least one post urged Gossjankowski's followers to "inundate" Valentini's inbox with messages.
“His behavior has highlighted a complete lack of remorse, a complete failure to accept responsibility and a complete inability to comport himself with the basic requirements of release pending sentencing,” federal prosecutors wrote in their filing.
On Monday, Valentini argued Gossjankowski's behavior had crossed a line and warranted jail.
"What the defendant has done since [conviction] is not just vile, it is not just reprehensible, it is dangerous," he said.
Gossjankowski's sentencing has been delayed because after trial he asked for new counsel. An attorney, Matthew J. Peed, was appointed by Friedman in July to represent him. Peed told Friedman his client was angry because he believed his rights were violated during his arrest, when he claims he was "sexually frisked," and neither Peed nor Gossjankowski's former attorney had brought it to the court's attention.
"His rights, in his view, were extremely violated," Peed said.
Peed described the posts as a "release of steam" brought on by that anger, and said now that Friedman had been made aware Gossjankowski was unlikely to repeat the behavior.
Peed also suggested Gossjankowski's phone might have been compromised at the time the text messages were sent, although he stopped short of arguing it was hacked and didn't deny Gossjankowski had made similar posts on Instagram.
Friedman told prosecutors they should have sought additional restrictions from him after Gossjankowski's conviction, but that the behavior now was too serious to be dealt with by simply ordering Gossjankowski not to post about law enforcement. He noted the rise in threats against judges around the country, including two of his colleagues, Judges Emmet Sullivan and Amy B. Jackson, who had to receive 24/7 security after they received threats. Friedman said he felt he had no choice but to order Gossjankowski held until sentencing, where he will likely face additional prison time.
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/...ary-6/65-78238080-7f53-42a5-aa4f-cb58dfee695f
so this one likes to put up a struggle. he's gonna love where he'll be heading!
What a moron!
