The photo is included in a U.S. District Court criminal complaint citing William Chrestman, who participated in the U.S. Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021.
Source: US Department of Justice
Federal authorities arrested five people Thursday for conspiracy related to the January 6 uprising at the Capitol, several of whom were seen accompanied by members of the far-right Proud Boys group.
The five are accused of acting together to prevent police officers in the Capitol from controlling the crowd of Trump supporters and to impede an official congressional process that day.
A member of this group, William Chrestman, is accused of hitting a wooden ax handle or club when he yelled at Capitol police officers trying to guard the complex: “You shoot and I’ll take your f —— a– out! “
The other people charged in the case are Christopher Kühne, Louis Enrique Colon, Felicia Konold and Cory Konold.
The Konolds, who are siblings, are from Tucson, Arizona while the other defendants are from the Kansas City area.
Photo contained in a US District Court criminal complaint listing Christopher Kühne as a participant in the US Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021.
Source: US Department of Justice
The defendants are charged with conspiracy, civil disorder, obstruction of official process, trespassing on restricted grounds, and disorderly conduct on the grounds of the Capitol.
Chrestman is also accused of threatening to attack a federal law enforcement officer.
According to a criminal complaint containing still images of the defendants during the riot, investigators believe that “there may be more people involved in this conspiracy than” these defendants, “and the investigation is ongoing.”
The complaint said the five defendants were “not only close to each other during the riot, but also appeared to be gesticulating and communicating with each other before and during the Capitol to coordinate their efforts”.
The complaint does not state that the five people are members of the Proud Boys.
Photo included in a U.S. District Court criminal complaint listing Louis Enrique Colon as a participant in the U.S. Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021.
Source: US Department of Justice
However, it is noted that several of the defendants were in the vicinity of Proud Boy members that day.
It is also said that Felicia Konold claimed on video that she was “recruited into a Kansas City chapter” and displayed a challenge-type coin that “appears to have markings referring to them as Kansas City Proud Boys.” . “
The accused are the youngest of dozens of people charged with the riot. This disrupted a joint session of Congress that day to confirm the election of Joe Biden as president.
Former President Donald Trump is currently on trial in the Senate after being charged with incitement to insurrection by repeatedly making false allegations of electoral fraud and calling on supporters to oppose the confirmation of Biden’s victory.
Photo included in a U.S. District Court criminal complaint listing Felicia Konold as a participant in the U.S. Capitol Rising on January 6, 2021.
Source: US Department of Justice
The Proud Boys, a Western chauvinist group that supported Trump, encouraged members to take part in the January 6 demonstrations in Washington, including a Trump rally held immediately before the uprising.
Chrestman and Felicia Konold were seen marching near the Capitol with a large group of proud boys, including organizers of that group previously charged with riot-related crimes, Joseph Biggs and Ethan Nordean.
Chrestman was also featured in an open source video interacting with Proud Boys and communicating with Nordean near the Capitol before it was attacked.
The photo is included in a U.S. District Court criminal complaint identifying participants in the U.S. Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021. The participants circled in red are Christopher Kühne (L), Louis Enrique Colon (C) and William Chrestman (R).
Source: US Department of Justice