A federal judge dismissed the Jan. 6 Capitol riot case against Leander Antwione Williams, a former Detroit Lions linebacker, with prejudice in January, closing out a prosecution that began with his arrest in Georgia months earlier. Williams, now 31, had been accused of joining a mob of Trump supporters that attacked police and stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the day Congress met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.
From Arrest to Dismissal
Court records reviewed on courtlistener.com show an arrest warrant for Williams, dated Nov. 7, 2024, was returned executed on Nov. 14, 2024. The government later moved to dismiss the case, and the court record states that “the indictment against Defendant Leander Antwione Williams is hereby dismissed with prejudice,” an order issued by Judge Amit P. Mehta on Jan. 22, 2025, under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(a). The dismissal was reported locally by ClickOnDetroit.
Court filings show Williams was indicted on nine counts, according to the docket on courtlistener.com, while Georgia Public Broadcasting reported at the time of his arrest that he faced seven counts, including a felony charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers and a felony charge of civil disorder. The discrepancy between the court record and the media reports has not been resolved in available documentation. Williams was arraigned on Counts 1 through 9 and entered a plea of not guilty on all counts, per the court docket.
What the Charges Alleged
The U.S. Department of Justice said Williams was charged with a felony offense of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice. NBC News reported that Williams faced felony counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, and obstruction of law enforcement, along with three misdemeanor charges. ABC News reported that prosecutors alleged Williams was captured on police body camera footage pulling bike racks away from a police line and then striking an officer on the head.
Williams’s case was one of more than 1,561 brought in connection with the Jan. 6 riots, including more than 590 cases involving charges of assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to Atlanta News First. The White House clemency proclamation, signed on Jan. 20, 2025, commuted the sentences of certain people convicted of offenses related to events at or near the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to time served, according to the White House. That document does not identify Williams or establish that he received a pardon.
A Brief NFL Career
Before his arrest, Williams was best known locally for a short stint in the NFL. The Detroit Lions selected him in the fifth round, 169th overall, of the 2016 NFL Draft, according to Atlanta News First. He appeared in 14 games during his rookie season in Detroit and recorded 12 tackles before the Lions waived him in 2017, per that same outlet’s reporting.
Williams went on to spend time on the practice squads of the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks in 2018 before signing with the Carolina Panthers that same year. The Panthers waived him during final roster cuts in 2019, and he did not establish a long-term role with an NFL team after his time in Detroit.
