Olathe Proud Boy ordered released Friday to stay in custody while government appeals
A Kansas City-area Proud Boy who on Friday was ordered to be released pending trial on conspiracy charges involving the Capitol riot will remain incarcerated for at least a few more days.
Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge James O’Hara on Saturday ordered a hearing to be held Tuesday regarding federal prosecutors’ request to stay the execution of his release order for William “Billy” Chrestman of Olathe.
Prosecutors filed the motion after O’Hara ordered Chrestman’s release Friday.
“Respectfully, the United States contends there is no condition or combination of conditions to reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant or reasonably assure the safety of the community,” the prosecutors said.
Chrestman and two other Kansas City-area Proud Boys — Christopher Kuehne of Olathe and Louis Enrique Colon of Blue Springs — were charged last week with conspiracy, civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Chrestman, an Army veteran, also is charged with threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer and using and carrying a dangerous weapon during the commission of the offense. He could be seen on numerous videos alongside other Proud Boys during the insurrection, dressed in tactical gear, leading chants and wielding an ax handle inside the Capitol.
Colon, 44, is a former Blue Springs police officer and Kuehne, 47, is a retired Marine Corps officer. The two were released on their own recognizance last week. All three men are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 26.
In his release order Friday, O’Hara said Chrestman’s freedom came with strict conditions.
“The government has failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that, if released, the defendant is likely to engage in further conduct of the sort that occurred at the Capitol on January 6, 2021,” O’Hara wrote. “The bottom line is that the court believes very stringent conditions on the defendant’s release...can and will reasonably assure against the risks of flight, danger to the community at large, and obstruction of justice.”
Chrestman would be placed on electronic monitoring and under “home incarceration,” meaning he would be restricted to his residence at all times with few exceptions. All travel must be approved in advance, and he must post a $10,000 cash bond, the judge ruled. That’s most of the $10,500 in cash that Chrestman told the judge he had stashed in a safe at his home.
Prior to Chrestman’s release, O’Hara wrote, the Pretrial Services Office must verify that all firearms have been removed from his home and from any vehicles parked at or near his residence.
At a hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas, federal prosecutors argued that Chrestman, 47, was a flight risk and a danger to society and should remain locked up. In a Feb. 12 court motion, they alleged that he was the leader of a cell of Kansas City-area Proud Boys that breached the Capitol.
“Releasing Defendant Chrestman to rejoin their fold and plan their next attack poses a potentially catastrophic risk of danger to the community,” the motion said.
Chrestman’s attorneys argued against his pretrial detention, saying that former President Donald Trump — not the rioters — was responsible for the insurrection.
The rioters were “actively misled” by Trump, Chrestman’s attorneys said in a Feb. 16 court filing. “...Trump told the assembled rabble what they must do; they followed his instructions. Then, he ratified their actions, cementing his symbiotic relationship with the rioters.”
Chrestman’s attorneys said the Olathe man was not a serious flight risk, chances were slim that he would attempt to obstruct the prosecution and he was not a danger to the community.
In Friday’s ruling, O’Hara said that “the court finds no need to get dragged into the ongoing public debate about whether President Trump can or should be held accountable, criminally or civilly (or perhaps both), for inciting the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. That’s for other courts to decide later.”
He said the government has a strong case against Chrestman and that “his ultimate conviction is highly probable, with a significant prison sentence to follow.”
O’Hara said that although things could change when a grand jury convenes in the District of Columbia, the offenses Chrestman currently is charged with do not involve narcotic drugs, a “crime of violence” as narrowly defined by federal law, terrorism, sex trafficking, firearms, explosives or destructive devices.
“Nevertheless, the court cannot and will not turn a blind eye to the fact that the clear intent and result of defendant’s violent conduct was to disrupt the peaceful and orderly transition of presidential power for the first time in the United States since the torch passed from President Washington to President Adams 224 years ago,” he wrote. “This factor, therefore, weighs heavily in favor of detention.”
Among the factors the judge said weighed in favor of Chrestman’s pretrial release were that he remains in contact with his three daughters, ages 6, 17 and 19; has no significant criminal history; no record of drug or alcohol abuse; and until getting laid off about a year ago, was regularly employed for 14 years.
In regard to Chrestman’s mental and physical condition, O’Hara wrote that “arguably, one could infer from the defendant’s admitted ‘profound lack of judgment’ that he is mentally unstable, or at least stupid and gullible.”
“But there’s no direct evidence in the record that the defendant suffers from any significant mental or physical problems.”
