KC Proud Boy shown wielding ax handle in video during televised hearing on Capitol riot
The ax handle-wielding Kansas City-area Proud Boy charged with conspiracy in connection with the Capitol riot appeared in a video Thursday during a televised hearing of the special House panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
William Chrestman, of Olathe, could be seen at least twice in a video showing the buildup to the riot as the angry mob of Trump supporters advanced on the Capitol, followed by some previously unseen footage of the breach itself.
In one clip, Chrestman can be seen in tactical gear marching toward the Capitol with a large group of Proud Boys, pumping a flag-wrapped ax handle in the air as the crowd chants, “Whose streets? Our Streets!”
In another scene, Chrestman and Arizona siblings Felicia and Cory Konold, who are co-defendants in the conspiracy case, are rushing toward the Capitol steps. Chrestman, still carrying the ax handle, is leading the group, holding Felicia Konold’s hand, with Cory Konold in the rear, his hand on Felicia’s backpack.
The three were indicted by a federal grand jury last year along with three other Kansas City-area Proud Boys — Louis Colon, of Blue Springs; Christopher Kuehne, of Olathe; and Ryan Keith Ashlock, of Gardner — who prosecutors say conspired to breach the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The indictment alleged that the Proud Boys “planned with each other, and with others known and unknown, to forcibly enter the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and to stop, delay, and hinder the Congressional proceeding occurring that day.” Chrestman also was charged with threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer and carrying a wooden ax handle while in the Capitol building and on the grounds.
All except Chrestman were released on a personal recognizance bond pending trial. Chrestman remains in custody without bond. Prosecutors allege that he was a key player in the insurrection.
Colon, described in court documents as a “first-degree member of the Proud Boys,” pleaded guilty in federal court in April to one count of civil disorder, a felony. The plea agreement requires him to cooperate with prosecutors and other law enforcement authorities in the investigation.
A sentencing date has not been set. Colon faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The Proud Boys — who describe themselves as a “pro-Western fraternal organization for men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world, aka Western Chauvinists” — are at the forefront of the federal investigation into the attack. Authorities have rounded up more than three dozen members from around the country, including several in leadership positions, on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to assaulting a federal officer to sedition.
The rare sedition charges came on Monday, when Henry “Enrique Tarrio,” the group’s former leader, and four other members already facing other charges were indicted for seditious conspiracy in what federal prosecutors say was a coordinated attack on the Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory.
In January, 11 members or associates of the anti-government extremist Oath Keepers, including founder Stewart Rhodes, also were indicted on seditious conspiracy charges. Three have pleaded guilty.
Thursday’s prime time hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol was the first in a series of televised hearings planned this month. The hearing included graphic testimony from Caroline Edwards, a Capitol Police officer who was seriously injured when rioters stormed the barricades on their rush to the building.
“What I saw was just a war scene,” she told the committee. “It was something like I’d seen out of the movies. I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were officers on the ground. They were bleeding, they were throwing up.”
She said officers endured “hours of hand-to-hand combat.”
“I was slipping in people’s blood,” she said. “I was catching people as they fell. It was carnage. It was chaos.”
This story was originally published June 10, 2022 at 7:18 AM.
