Mechanicsburg Man Arrested for Attacking Cops With Flagpole on Jan. 6

A wealthy lawyer and developer from the Harrisburg suburbs became the 81st Pennsylvanian arrested for Jan 6. Lowell Gates was arrested for assaulting police officers with a flagpole and disrupting the counting of the Electoral College votes. 

A Harrisburg area attorney and property developer connected with the local Republican party was arrested Monday on felony and misdemeanor charges for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol in Washington D.C.

According to a press release issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ), Lowell Gates traveled to D.C. on Jan. 6 with a group of friends and attended the rally at the Ellipse where former President Donald Trump was speaking. Gates then walked to the US Capitol along Pennsylvania Avenue and entered the restricted grounds of the West Plaza. 

Video and body camera footage shows Gates using a flagpole as a spear and assaulting police officers with it. 

Gates was charged with two felonies, which included assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain offices using a dangerous weapon and obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder. 

He was also charged with three misdemeanors, which include entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds, and violent conduct in a Capitol building or grounds.  

In the days following the attack on the Capitol, Sedition Hunters, a group of internet sleuths seeking to identify those who participated in the insurrection, gave Gates the “#BrownJacketJabber” nickname on Twitter. 

Gates was previously arrested on unrelated charges in Aug. 2021 as he was discovered walking around his Mechanicsburg neighborhood without wearing pants.  He was charged with open lewdness.

Prior to the 2022 election, Gates hosted a fundraiser at his house for State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin), who was handedly defeated by Gov. Josh Shapiro in the commonwealth’s gubernatorial race last year. Campaign finance records show that his wife, and business partner, Linda Gates donated $20,000 to Mastriano for that event. 

Gates is also a frequent donor to Republican elected officials in Dauphin and Cumberland Counties, according to these records.   

Gates is the 81st Pennsylvanian to be arrested for his actions on Jan. 6. According to the DOJ, only Florida and Texas have had more residents arrested in connection to the insurrection. Thirty-six Pennsylvanians have been sentenced, with several others awaiting sentencing. Two others died by suicide while awaiting sentencing. 

Overall, according to the DOJ, more than 1,100 defendants have been arrested for the attack in nearly all 50 states and Washington D.C.