William Cotton biography: 13 things about US Capitol riot suspect from Hopkinton, Rhode Island

William B. “Bill” Cotton is a white man from Hopkinton, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He is the founder and director of the Rhode Island Patient Association. He is on the board of directors for the Rhode Island Head Start Association.
2. He is the registered agent for B&B Consulting, which is a medical marijuana consulting center in Warwick, Rhode Island.
3. He has two children.
4. In 1989, he was arrested for manufacture and sale of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) by the Portsmouth Police Department in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. He pled no contest to the charge and served time in prison and subsequent probation. 
5. In 1990, he was arrested for felony possession of a schedule 1 controlled substance by the Warwick Police Department. He pled no contest to the charge and served time in prison and subsequent probation. 
6. In 1999, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
7. In 2006, he became the first patient in Rhode Island to receive a medical marijuana card.
8. On January 11, 2016, 75th Rhode Island governor Gina Raimondo appointed him to Rhode Island’s parenting board for education.
9. On May 10, 2016, Rhode Island senators Stephen Archambault, Dominick Ruggerio and Joshua Miller recognized him for being a marijuana patient advocate and educator and the first medical marijuana patient in Rhode Island.
10. On June 30, 2017, his appointment to Rhode Island’s parenting board for education ended.
11. Wearing a Bryant University sweatshirt, he went to the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., USA on January 6, 2021. That day, Donald Trump supporters breached the building while a joint session of Congress was certifying the vote of the Electoral College and affirming Joe Biden‘s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
12. On December 7, 2022, he was arrested without incident. For his participation in the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, he was charged with entering a restricted building or ground, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a U.S. Capitol building or grounds and parading, and demonstrating or picketing in a U.S. Capitol building.
13. He was 53 years old when he was arrested on December 7, 2022. He appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Providence, Rhode Island.

(This is a developing story. More details are being added.)

If you have information about someone who participated in the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit relevant photos and videos to the FBI.