Three days after he was arrested by police officers restoring control in the wake of the U.S. Capitol riot, a veteran financial professional killed himself, according to authorities.
Christopher S. Georgia — who had been a registered representative of four wealth managers and a regional investment executive for a trust company over his 25-year career — spent the night after the insurrection in jail, D.C. Superior Court records show. Georgia, 53, was arrested Jan. 6 near the Capitol about an hour and 15 minutes past the emergency curfew, police say.
At his arraignment the following afternoon, authorities charged Georgia with unlawful entry on public property, according to court records. On Jan. 9, police in the north Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta found him dead in his home, an incident report from the department shows. Medical examiners in Fulton County later ruled the death a suicide by “a gunshot wound to the chest.”
Georgia’s attorney didn’t respond to requests for comment.
He had pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge days earlier in Washington, D.C., where five people died in the violent storming of the Capitol by supporters of President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Wealth managers and other financial firms, as well as trade groups, have halted political donations in the wake of the insurrection.
Despite repeated calls from Metropolitan and Capitol police to leave the area, Georgia and eight other men at the Peace Monument on the northwest side of the complex facing the National Mall “did not obey the warnings,” according to an arrest affidavit. Shortly after 7:15 p.m. police arrested the group when they didn’t follow three direct orders to disperse, officers say.
The judge at Georgia’s arraignment the next day at 1 p.m. issued a “stay away” order that isn’t public but likely required him to avoid the Capitol grounds before the trial. Authorities released Georgia ahead of a scheduled June 10 status hearing, court records show. At least 23 other listed co-defendants received the same charge, which carries up to six months in prison.
Two days after Georgia’s release, Alpharetta police received a call at about 11 a.m. from a woman saying her husband had died, the officer’s report shows. Emergency personnel dispatched to the scene reported that family members at the home were “extremely distraught.” Police found Georgia in the basement and two SKS rifles in the home, according to the records.
Georgia was most recently registered in the industry between May 2016 and January 2018 with Atlanta-based Carter, Terry & Co., a wealth manager and investment firm, FINRA BrokerCheck records show. His detailed BrokerCheck and SEC IAPD files still list him as an employee of the firm. Representatives of Carter, Terry didn’t respond to requests for comment.
A LinkedIn profile for a person with a name similar to Georgia’s led to inaccurate tabloid reports suggesting he worked as a portfolio manager for a large regional bank. The profile has since been removed, and Georgia’s actual profile lists his employer as U.S. Trust, the Bank of America company where he hasn’t worked since December 2015.
Georgia served as a regional investment executive of the trust company for 11 years, following four years as a registered rep with UBS and five with Bear Stearns, according to BrokerCheck. Earlier, he had a roughly six-year tenure with Ameriprise forerunners IDS Life Insurance and American Express Financial Advisors.
The mob at the Capitol last week included “Republican Party officials, GOP political donors, far-right militants, white supremacists, off-duty police, members of the military and adherents of the QAnon myth that the government is secretly controlled by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophile cannibals,” the Associated Press reported. A retired financial planner from Maine attended the protest but didn’t go into the Capitol, according to the Lewiston Sun Journal.
Experts say that suicide is a public health issue with warning signs such as talking about a desire to die, unhealthy sleep patterns and feelings of isolation. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the Crisis Text Line can help lead those at risk toward recovery, and they have resources for loved ones seeking preventive methods.
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