D.C. judge orders Olathe Proud Boy held without bond until trial in Capitol riot case
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday reversed a Kansas judge’s decision to release an Olathe Proud Boy pending his trial in the Capitol riot case and ordered him to remain in custody.
William “Billy” Chrestman will be transported from Kansas to Washington, D.C., by the U.S. Marshal’s Service, where he will be held without bond until his trial in the case, Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell of the District of Columbia ordered at a hearing via videoconference.
Prosecutors allege that Chrestman, 47, was a key player in the Capitol insurrection. Many others who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 — including two other Proud Boys from the Kansas City area — have been released on their own recognizance pending trial.
A back-and-forth over Chrestman’s incarceration began Friday when Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge James O’Hara of the District of Kansas ordered that Chrestman be released pending his trial on charges of conspiracy and other offenses.
O’Hara, who said the decision was “a very close call” and that he believed the government’s case against Chrestman was overwhelming, placed conditions on Chrestman’s release that included in-home incarceration and electronic monitoring.
But on Saturday, prosecutors in Washington, D.C., where the charges against Chrestman originated, filed an emergency motion with the court in the District of Columbia to stop Chrestman’s release pending a review of O’Hara’s decision.
The Washington, D.C., prosecutors argued that Chrestman should remain in custody “because not only did the defendant violently enter the U.S. Capitol without lawful authority, but he also went in carrying a dangerous weapon, that is, an axe handle, that he concealed initially with a flag.”
They said the evidence against Chrestman “weighs strongly in favor of detention.”
“Dozens of videos and photographs exist to prove the defendant’s participation in the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021,” prosecutors said in their motion. “As the Magistrate Judge in Kansas stated, the amount of evidence against the defendant is overwhelming, to the point where ‘ultimate conviction is highly probable.’”
Howell granted prosecutors’ motion and at Tuesday’s hearing approved their request for pretrial detention. The judge ordered Chrestman to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather in the District of Columbia on Friday unless he is indicted before then. A grand jury investigation is currently underway.
To date, federal prosecutors have charged more than 240 people from 40 states in connection with the riot, and authorities continue to make arrests. Nine of those charged are from Missouri and four are from Kansas.
Chrestman and two other Kansas City-area Proud Boys — Christopher Kuehne of Olathe and Louis Enrique Colon of Blue Springs — were charged Feb. 10 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.
A fourth man who prosecutors say was part of the Kansas City group, Ryan Keith Ashlock of Gardner, was arrested Monday on similar charges and later released on his own recognizance.
According to a probable-cause affidavit, Ashlock, 21, spoke to federal authorities on Feb. 11 and admitted driving to Washington, D.C., with some members of the Kansas City Proud Boys group, lodging with some of them and coordinating their efforts to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6. He told authorities that he left the grounds after police pepper-sprayed him and did not enter the building with the others, the affidavit said.
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.
If convicted of all charges, Chrestman faces a maximum 46 years and six months in prison and more than $1 million in fines.
Like Chrestman, Colon, 44, and Kuehne, 47, and Ashlock are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday via Zoom.
Chrestman’s attorneys have argued against his pretrial detention, saying he 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.
They also said 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.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2021 at 3:22 PM.
