N.H. man pleads not guilty to Capitol riot charges

Chaos erupts outside the Capitol on Jan. 6. (Getty Images)

The Bridgewater, N.H., man arrested for his alleged role in storming the U.S. Capitol building during the Jan. 6 insurrection pleaded not guilty on Friday during a hearing in the United States District Court in Washington.

Thomas Gallagher, 61, is charged with four federal crimes: entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; violent enter and disorderly conduct in the Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Gallagher is currently barred from entering Washington D.C. and appeared in the court via video from New Hampshire. The court provided a public audio feed of the hearing.

Gallagher was arrested last week by FBI agents in New Hampshire on the federal charges after he had been initially arrested on Jan. 6 by Capitol Hill police. Gallagher was detained along with five other people for refusing to leave the Capitol building when ordered out by police, according to the affidavit filed by Capitol Hill Police Officer Joseph Bruno.

Gallagher was at the front of a group that was seen "making loud noises, and kicking chairs, throwing an unknown liquid substance at officers, and spraying an unknown substance at officers," Bruno wrote.

The Capitol insurrection was stirred up by then-President Donald Trump in an apparent attempt to stop the counting of the electoral college votes showing President-Elect Joe Biden won the election. Gov. Chris Sununu, a self-described "Trump guy through and through," has condemned the Jan. 6 attack and called the mob members domestic terrorists.

Gallagher is free, though he is only allowed in D.C. now for court hearings and other approved legal appointments related to the case. He is barred from possessing illegal firearms and must inform the court's pretrial services of any travel.

Damien Fisher writes for the New Hampshire news nonprofit INdepthNH.org