Patrick Gorski (U.S. Attorney’s Office).
A Chicago freelance photographer is accused of clashing with cops guarding the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Patrick Gorski, 27, faces charges of obstruction, trespassing, disorderly conduct and picketing in a Capitol building, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced in a press release.
Gorski attended Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally that day before marching to the Capitol building with a group that included conspiracy theorists Alex Jones and Owen Shroyer, according to court documents unsealed on Friday, the day of his arrest.
There, Gorski climbed a wall and took selfies, authorities said. He then allegedly entered the Inaugural scaffolding, helped remove tarps, and passed a bike rack to rioters. Later, on the northwest lawn, he joined rioters surrounding Capitol police officers, filming interactions and urging officers to “just go inside,” according to court documents.
Around 2:42 p.m., Gorski entered the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, the site of some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement that day, and joined others pushing against officers.
Gorski pushed to the front but was hit with pepper spray, court documents said. At one point, he screamed at officers, “This our house! This is our house!” as he lunged forward and pushed against an officer’s riot shield before leaving the Tunnel area, according to court documents.
At 3:14 p.m., he briefly went into the Capitol building, then went outside before trying to get back in at a spot where police had control, the documents said.
He finally retreated when he was hit with mace a second time, but remained on Capitol grounds until 6 p.m. when he left, authorities said.
He was eventually arrested after tips came into the FBI reporting him.
At one point, on Jan. 26, 2022, Gorski messaged an acquaintance accusing the person of reporting him to the FBI.
“Keep my mother f—ing name out of your mother f—ing mouth you don’t know me,” he told the acquaintance, according to court documents. “I don’t need people messaging me telling me this and that about what you said about me when I don’t even know you. Thanks.”
The court documents say the acquaintance denied knowing about anything and Gorski allegedly apologized, saying, “I just want to know what happened because it is really serious.”
In his interview with the FBI, Gorski did not claim to be working as a photojournalist on Jan. 6. He told agents he worked as a photographer for the Chicago Fire Department and did not bring his professional camera to Washington, D.C., court documents said.
He also allegedly mentioned working for the Trump Campaign during the 2020 election. In Facebook messages, he mentioned working for then-Vice President Mike Pence during the campaign. Gorski has taken photos of sporting events but has not published any political photographs in the past five years, although according to court documents, publishers like Getty and The Associated Press have used his photos.
In a statement, Lauren Easton, the AP’s vice president of corporate communications, said Gorski is not an Associated Press journalist and has never been employed by the news organization.
“We have distributed some photos he took for AP’s photo partners and member news organizations,” Easton said in a statement.
Gorski’s LinkedIn page says he works as a building commissioner for the Village of Norridge, Illinois, and recently graduated from Southeastern Illinois University with a master’s degree in public administration.
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