Missouri couple who entered Capitol through broken window plead guilty in Jan. 6 case
A St. Joseph couple who documented their breach of the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot — including a photo of the woman climbing through a broken window — have pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count.
Steven and Kimberly Dragoo, who both were charged in June with four misdemeanors, entered guilty pleas Friday to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. The hearing took place before Judge Beryl A. Howell in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The two are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 17. They face a maximum six months in jail, five years’ probation and a $5,000 fine. They also agreed to pay $500 restitution each for damage to the Capitol, which the government says was more than $2.9 million.
Their plea agreements, which came just two months after they were charged, were reached faster than any of the other 18 Missouri residents who have entered guilty pleas to date.
Steven Dragoo, 65, and Kimberly Dragoo, 54, were originally charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
In signed statements entered with their guilty pleas, the couple said they had flown to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, to protest Congress’ certification of the Electoral College. That day, the statements said, Kimberly Dragoo posted a now-deleted picture on Facebook of the two on a plane going to D.C. The post said, “Washington DC Trump Rally #Stop the Steal Here we go.”
The next morning, their statements said, the Dragoos attended the rally on the Ellipse. About 1:30 p.m., they headed to the Capitol with other protesters. While on the Capitol grounds, the documents said, Kimberly Dragoo posted videos on her Facebook account in which she narrated what she was seeing on the northwest side of the building.
“In one video,” the statements said, “Kimberly Dragoo stated, ‘They stormed the Capitol…We got stuck in the crowd for like an hour…I’m not getting back in it again.’” Smoke was visible throughout the video, the documents said, along with temporary fencing marked with large lettering that said, “AREA CLOSED.”
In another video posted on Kimberly Dragoo’s Facebook page, she could be heard saying, “This part is all barricaded” and “These people all went through it…They’re not supposed to be up here.”
Flash bang diversionary devices were going off during the video, according to the statements, and loud emergency vehicle sirens were wailing in the background. Police cars arrived, and gray smoke was seen rising from the area.
From another location, the documents said, Kimberly Dragoo filmed a large group of Metropolitan Police officers arriving in riot gear to jeers and objects being thrown from the crowd. After filming those scenes, the statements said, the Dragoos moved across the Capitol grounds and onto the terrace outside the Senate Wing Door.
Steven Dragoo took a picture of his wife posing just outside a broken window near the door, the statements said, then both of them entered the Capitol about 3:15 p.m. through that window. They exited less than two minutes later and saw officers trying to barricade the broken window and direct rioters out of the building.
Capitol security video showed the Dragoos re-entering the Capitol around 3:23 p.m., this time through the Senate Wing Door, their signed statements said. They walked with a crowd down a corridor and then retreated when confronted by a line of officers.
After Steven Dragoo took several more photos of his wife inside the Capitol, the couple left through the Senate Wing Door, the statements said.
A probable cause affidavit filed with the Dragoos’ criminal complaints said the FBI had interviewed them on Jan. 20, 2021, at the agency’s St. Joseph office after receiving multiple tips that the two had invaded the Capitol.
The couple “advised they had been following a ‘Stop the Steal’ Facebook page, which provided them with details for their attendance at the Trump rallies in Washington, D.C., on December 12, 2020, and January 6, 2021,” the affidavit said.
Kimberly Dragoo said she had started a similar “Stop the Steal” Facebook page for Missouri, it said.
“During that interview,” the affidavit said, “both Kimberly Dragoo and Steven Dragoo admitted to their presence inside the Capitol and stated that they had not done anything wrong.”
