Former Kansas City-area Proud Boy pleads guilty to one felony count in Capitol riot
A former Kansas City-area Proud Boy charged with multiple felonies for conspiring to breach the Capitol on Jan. 6 pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to one count.
Christopher Kuehne, a Marine veteran who lived in Olathe at the time of the riot, entered a guilty plea to obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder. His plea hearing was held before Judge Timothy J. Kelly in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Kuehne’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 23. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. He also will be required to pay $2,000 in restitution for damage to the Capitol, which the government says totaled about $2.9 million.
Kuehne’s guilty plea comes just two days after Kelly — a Trump appointee — sentenced Proud Boys’ former national chairman Enrique Tarrio, of Miami, to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other charges involving his role in organizing a mob of Trump supporters to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Tarrio’s sentence is the longest to date in connection with the riot.
Three other Proud Boys leaders found guilty of seditious conspiracy — Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl — were sentenced last week to prison terms of 15 to 18 years. Another member, Dominic Pezzola — who broke a Capitol window with a stolen police riot shield — was acquitted of the seditious conspiracy charge but sentenced to 10 years for other felonies.
Kuehne is the seventh of the 10 Kansas residents charged in connection with the Capitol riot to plead guilty. Six have been sentenced, and the cases of the other three are ongoing.
The far-right Proud Boys have been key targets of the federal investigation into the Capitol attack. Authorities rounded up dozens from around the country on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to sedition.
“No organization put more boots on the ground at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, than the Proud Boys, and they were at the forefront of every major breach of the Capitol’s defenses, leading the on-the-ground efforts to storm the seat of government,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew M. Graves said Tuesday after Tarrio’s sentencing.
Kuehne was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2021 along with three other Kansas City-area Proud Boys — William Chrestman, of Olathe; Ryan Ashlock, of Gardner; and Louis Colon, of Blue Springs — and Arizona siblings Cory and Felicia Konold.
Prosecutors said Kuehne brought orange reflective tape to the Capitol for the Kansas City Proud Boys to wear to identify themselves in the crowd. He could be seen in photos and videos from that day with two rolls of tape strapped to a backpack and a strip of tape on the back of the helmet he was wearing.
Once inside the Capitol, the charging documents said, Kuehne and other Proud Boys acted in concert “to prevent law enforcement officers from controlling the crowd by obstructing metal barriers that had been deployed to prevent the crowd’s further advancement into other areas of the Capitol building.”
The six were charged with conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. 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 personal recognizance bonds pending trial. Court records indicate Kuehne has since moved to Arizona. Chrestman, who prosecutors allege was a key player in the insurrection, remains in custody in the D.C. jail without bond. He has a status hearing scheduled for Sept. 18.
Colon pleaded guilty in April 2022 to one count of civil disorder, a felony. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A status report filed with the court last week requested that the court continue to hold off setting a sentencing date because Colon’s “potential cooperation” in the case was “not yet complete.”
Ashlock was sentenced to 70 days in jail and 12 months of supervised release in November 2022 after pleading guilty to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, a misdemeanor.
The Konolds are scheduled for change-of-plea hearings on Nov. 1, which would leave Chrestman as the only one of the six who appears to be headed to trial.
A statement of offense signed by Kuehne as part of his plea deal said that at the time of the riot, he was associated with the Kansas City Proud Boys chapter. On Jan. 4, 2021, it said, Kuehne traveled to the Washington, D.C., area with other local Proud Boys.
“Several occupants of the vehicle possessed firearms, including the defendant, who traveled with at least one AR-15 style rifle in a case with a lock,” the statement said. “The defendant did not bring a firearm into Washington, D.C.”
On Jan. 6, Kuehne and other Proud Boys entered the Capitol about 12 minutes after the initial breach, the statement said. Once inside, Kuehne and other Proud Boys took steps to ensure that a metal barrier that was being lowered from overhead remained open so others could get through.
“In particular, after another Proud Boys member moved a portable lectern toward the door, the defendant and that individual positioned the lectern in the path of the sliding door, where it would block the door from closing,” the statement said.
Kuehne’s statement noted that “while he was inside, the defendant helped pick up trash that was strewn on the floor.”
After Jan. 6, the document said, Kuehne deleted messages from his phone, including messages with Chrestman and Colon and a Kansas City Proud Boys Telegram chat.
“The defendant also contacted co-defendants Chrestman and Colon and requested that they delete any prior conversations with him,” it said.
The Proud Boys, an organization of self-described “Western chauvinists” known for street-level violence and confrontations with anti-fascists at protests, received national attention in September 2020 when, during the first presidential debate, Trump was asked if he was willing to condemn “white supremacists and militia groups.” Trump responded that the Proud Boys should “stand back and stand by.”
During a CNN town hall with Trump in New Hampshire in May, the former president called Jan. 6 “a beautiful day” and said many of the detainees “are just great people.” If re-elected, he said, he would be “inclined to pardon” many of the rioters convicted of federal crimes.
This story was originally published September 7, 2023 at 2:46 PM.
