PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An 80-year-old Chester County man is facing charges in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Just days after the attack, federal authorities said they received a tip from a witness that Gary Wickersham of West Chester was inside the Capitol building during the riot. Wickersham texted another witness that he was there, according to the criminal complaint.
Based on the information they were given, the FBI matched Wickersham’s driver’s license photo with screenshots of Capitol surveillance video from that afternoon.
When interviewed by the FBI on Jan. 15, authorities said Wickersham admitted to traveling to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6. He told them he was inside the U.S. Capitol for about 15 minutes.
He also told authorities that he thought many of the protesters were Antifa, but he believed “he was authorized to enter the Capitol because he pays his taxes,” the complaint reads.
It continues: “[Wickersham] believes that the entire event was staged, and that law enforcement purposefully did not have enough resources there so that supporters of the former president could overrun the Capitol and be subsequently labeled as ‘intruders.’ ”
He is charged with knowingly entering a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority as well as violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.