Anderson man becomes 9th South Carolinian charged in Jan. 6 Capitol riot

The federal government has charged a ninth South Carolinian linked to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Derek Cooper Gunby, 41, of Anderson, was arraigned Tuesday morning in Greenville at the downtown federal courthouse. His charges include violent entry and disorderly conduct.

Gunby was released on $25,000 unsecured bond.

Officials with the Federal Bureau of investigations were tipped off about Gunby’s involvement after they received information that the Anderson resident posted photos and videos of the riot on Facebook, according to court documents.

On Jan. 5, Gunby posted a photo of himself in a car on Facebook with the caption, “Halfway to the Capital.” On Jan. 6, Gunby posted photos from in front of the Washington Monument near where then-President Donald Trump was holding a rally to talk to his supporters. The monument is a short walk from the Capitol building.

At the rally, Trump spoke to thousands of his supporters in the wake of his election loss and repeated his false claim that Democrats had stolen the election. He called Biden’s victory “an egregious assault on our liberty” and urged the crowd to “fight.”

Trump was later impeached by the Democrat-controlled House for his involvement in the incident.

Law enforcement found surveillance footage from the moments after rioters breached the Capitol showing someone who appears to be Gunby walking around a hallway inside the building, according to court documents. Inside, he talked on his phone and used it to take pictures.

FBI agents interviewed Gunby on Feb. 1, where he admitted that he traveled to Washington to listen to Trump speak and he later entered the Capitol building, according to court documents. Gunby alledgedly showed the FBI agent a video he took while inside the Capitol.

More than 535 people from nearly all 50 states are facing charges arising from the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, where a pro-Trump mob broke through police ranks and stormed into the building and the U.S. House and Senate chambers as Congress was set to confirm Electoral College votes marking now-President Joe Biden the winner.

At least seven fatalities were linked to the attack, including protesters and a police officer, and some 140 police officers were injured, according to official and news accounts.

Before Gunby’s Tuesday arraignment, eight South Carolinians had been linked to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Of those, seven have been formally charged with crimes in connection with the riot and one has said in court documents he will plead guilty.

FBI documents have accused Jimmy Giannakos, 47, of Lexington County, with being at the riot, but he has yet to be charged with any offenses stemming the riot. In June, Giannakos was sentenced to 28 months in federal prison for threatening a former federal prosecutor for statements she made about a leader of the Proud Boys, an extremist group some of whose members have been charged in the riot.

Earlier this month, Andrew Hatley, agreed to plead guilty to some of the charges against him in connection with the riot. Hatley was initially charged with “uttering threatening, or abusive language, or engag(ing) 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 or either House of Congress.” Hatley’s plea hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14.

In July, a Hanahan couple, John Getsinger Jr. and Stacie Hargis-Getsinger, of Hanahan, were arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Charleston before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Gordon Baker in a initial proceeding where they were presented with the charges against them.

The four other South Carolinians facing charges in the Capitol riot and against whom charges are pending are:

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

▪ Elliott Bishai, 20, a York County man planning to enter the U.S. Army in the next few months.

▪ William Norwood III, of Greer, who 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.

▪ Nicholas Languerand, 26, of Little River, is charged with assaulting an officer using a deadly weapon, according to a review of charging documents.