10th South Carolinian charged in Jan. 6 US Capitol riot

A 10th South Carolinian now faces federal criminal charges in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

James Douglas Lollis Jr., of Greer, is charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building, disruptive conduct in a restrictive building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading or demonstrating in a Capitol building.

The riots halted Congress’ joint session to certify the Nov. 3 election of Joe Biden as president and caused U.S. House and Senate members to flee the Capitol. The certification was the last step in formalizing Biden’s election.

Lollis was arraigned Wednesday morning in federal court in Greenville in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin McDonald and released on a $25,000 unsecured bond, according to court records.

Under terms of his bond, Lollis has to remove all firearms from his possession and not travel outside South Carolina without permission.

So far, the FBI has arrested more than 570 people from nearly all 50 states in connection with the storming of the Capitol, according to the U.S. Justice Department. It is the largest round-up of defendants in a federal criminal case in history, according to the department. Some 170 of those arrested face the more serious charges of assaulting an officer.

Lollis traveled to Washington with another South Carolinian, Derek Gunby, 41, of Anderson, who was charged Aug. 10 with violent entry and disruptive conduct at the Capitol.

An affidavit in Lollis’ case said that federal agents identified him from Facebook postings that Gunby made of the two in Washington on Jan. 6. The video was made after the riot as the two were in a Washington subway car leaving the Capitol.

“Gunby posted the photos below to his Facebook page indicating he was in Washington, D.C. with another individual, later identified as James Lollis Jr ... Lollis (was) ... wearing a white/light gray baseball cap with ‘1776’ on the front and a green neck gaiter,” the affidavit said.

Capitol Police body cameras and surveillance video cameras inside the Capitol also captured Lollis’ image and voice, the affidavit said.

“Once inside, it appears that he (Lollis) takes out his cell phone and holds it up presumably to record video or take photos,” the affidavit said.

Outside, the affidavit said video captured showing Lollis telling police, “Y’all on the same team we are, aren’t you? You’re not going to respond? You’re not on the same team?”

The affidavit also said that another body camera video captured Lollis yelling at officers, saying, “We got a man down here dying! His lips are purple! You need to get him now!”

Then, the affidavit said, video showed Lollis moving closer to officers and appearing “to get sprayed in the face with a liquid used by the officers to keep the crowd back. ... Lollis immediately turns around and heads back into the crowd.”

Moments later, “an officer can be heard saying, ‘Bring him up,’ directing the crowd to bring forward the individual who needed medical attention. Several of the rioters carry a person who appears to be unconscious towards the officers,” the affidavit said.

In Gunby’s video that he posted to Facebook, he shows Lollis and says, “Yeah, yeah. James here took a good bear mace can spray straight to the face,” the affidavit said.

The cases of all those arrested in the Jan. 6 riot are being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s office in the District of Columbia.

The Jan. 6 riot took place as hundreds of followers of then-President Trump, believing his and others’ false claims that massive election fraud had cost him a victory at the polls, stormed the Capitol to try to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.

More than 100 law officers were injured.

Here are the other nine people from South Carolina now facing charges:

▪ Nicholas Languerand, of Little River, was charged in April with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, assaulting an officer using a dangerous weapon, theft of government property and knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted government area

▪ Andrew Hatley, charged with uttering threatening, or abusive language, or engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct, at any place in the grounds or in any of the Capitol buildings with the intent to impede, disrupt, or disturb the orderly conduct of a session of Congress. He agreed to plead guilty at a Sept. 14 hearing to some of the charges against him in connection with the riot

▪ Hanahan couple, John Getsinger Jr. and Stacie Hargis-Getsinger, were arraigned in Charleston before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Gordon Baker

▪ Elias Irizarry, 19, a freshman at the Citadel military college in Charleston.

▪ Elliott Bishai, 20, of York County

▪ William Norwood III, of Greer, is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, violent and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, obstruction of justice and theft of government property

▪ George Tenney III, 34, of Anderson, is charged with interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder, obstruction of justice, knowingly entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and demonstrating in a Capitol building

▪ Gunby, 41, of Anderson County, is charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds

This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 3:40 PM with the headline "10th South Carolinian charged in Jan. 6 US Capitol riot."