LAFAYETTE, La. — Federal court records reveal new details on a Lafayette man that was arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 breach at the U.S. Capitol.
The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana announced on Twitter that Vaughn A. Gordon was arrested Thursday.
He is facing two federal charges:
- one count of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority
- one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol buildings.
Gordon made his first court appearance Thursday afternoon by video conference before Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Hanna, the statement read.
Vaughn A. Gordon of Lafayette, LA, was arrested today in connection with the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Gordon is scheduled to make his Initial Appearance at 3:30 p.m. via videoconference in the Western District of Louisiana before Magistrate Judge Hanna.
— US Attorney WDLA (@USAO_WDLA) January 14, 2021
Gordon also attended a pro-Trump rally in Baton Rouge over the weekend, where he gave an interview with our media partners at The Acadiana Advocate and confirmed that he was among the rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
According to an affidavit filed in federal court by FBI Special Agent Andrew Berger, Gordon posted several photographs to Facebook on Jan. 6 that appeared to have been taken inside the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, which were captured and provided to law enforcement.
The images show Gordon outside the U.S. Capitol wearing goggles and then inside the U.S. Capitol with the goggles around his neck, and wearing a backwards cap bearing “USA” with a caption stating, “Live inside the Congress building. It was worth the tear gas.”
Berger states that additional Facebook posts include one alleging that at some point officers ushered people into the building and that he was never asked to leave but was limited to
the Rotunda area of the building.
He told the crowd in Baton Rouge that he was hoarse from being tear gassed during the riot in Washington, D.C. He said he was able to wander the Capitol building for nearly two hours, adding he remained peaceful and didn't vandalize anything. Read more from The Advocate here.
The Advocate's article is cited in the affidavit.
Facing federal charges, Gordon was booked into the St. Martin Parish Correctional Center.
Court records show that Gordon was released on a personal recognizance bond on Thursday under the condition that he not leave the Western District of Louisiana without permission from the court.
Records state that the government is not moving for detention. All other records in the case have been sealed.
KATC reached out to the FBI who confirmed that its New Orleans Field Office arrested Vaughn Gordon, and that the Washington DC U.S. Attorney's Office is handling the case moving forward.
Gordon is scheduled to appear again before a federal judge at noon on Friday, Jan. 22 at the Federal Courthouse in Downtown Lafayette.
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