Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 57
- Location
- Americus, Georgia
- Charges
- Obstruction of an Official Proceeding; Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building; Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building
- Case status
- Pleaded not guilty; Convicted; Dismissed in part or full; Sentenced
Case Summary
A couple of months before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the FBI National Threat Operations Center received a tip. According to court documents, the caller said William Calhoun Jr., a Georgia attorney, was making threats on social media and encouraging people to storm Washington, D.C., and peacefully protest while openly carrying firearms. The caller read some of the messages, including one that allegedly said, "We are going to kill every last communist who stands in Trump's way." Federal investigators believe Calhoun was part of the first group of rioters who breached the Capitol building, based on photographs and posts they found on Calhoun's Facebook page. In one post he said, "Patriots have taken the Capitol Building. We overran multiple police barricades and swarmed the building. We busted through – thousands of us swarmed in.” He also said he was "among the first" who "kicked in Nancy Pelosi’s office door and pushed down the hall toward her inner sanctum.” The judge presiding over the case said Calhoun was "seduced by a dangerous and violent ideology," citing his social media threats to "wage a civil war against Democrats, communists, the Deep State, and BLM-Antifa."
Case History
Calhoun pleaded Not Guilty to all charges. Found Guilty on all charges in a Bench trial on 3/21/2023. Sentenced on 8/4/2023 to 18 months of incarceration; 24 months of supervised release; $2,000 restitution; $170 special assessment. On 10/28/2024, the USCA vacated the Obstruction conviction. On 1/22/2025, the court grants the government’s motion to dismiss the case with prejudice.
Sources
- Primary Documentation
NPR Jan. 6 Defendant DatabaseNPR - Primary Documentation
Underlying court recordCourt record linked by NPR - Supporting Reporting
NPR video evidence pageNPR
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.