A federal grand jury has indicted six members of the “Proud Boys,” federal prosecutors said in a Friday news release. Indicted are William Chrestman, 47, Christopher Kuehne, 47, and Ryan Ashlock, 21, of Kansas; Louis Enrique Colon, 44, of Missouri; and Felicia Konold, 27, and Cory Konold, 25, of Arizona.
As Law&Crime previously noted, Felicia Konold is “a rare female self-proclaimed recruit of the anti-feminist” group. Court papers cite a social media post where she says she was “recruited” by the Proud Boys of Kansas City, even though she was from Arizona, and that they told her she was “with them now.”
The defendants face the following indictments:
(1) Conspiracy, with a possible maximum penalty of five years in prison;
(2) Obstruction of an official proceeding, with a possible 20 sentence;
(3) Obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, 10 years;
(4) Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, 1 to 10 years (depending on whether a dangerous weapon was used).
Chrestman faces separate charges of threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer “and for carrying a wooden axe handle while on the Capitol building and grounds,” the DOJ said.
“The indictment alleges that the defendants planned with each other, and with others known and unknown, to enter the Capitol forcibly on January 6, and to stop, delay, and hinder the Congressional proceeding occurring that day,” prosecutors said further. “The defendants brought and wore paramilitary gear and supplies — including camouflaged combat uniforms, tactical vests with plates, helmets, eye protection, and radio equipment, and affixed orange tape to their clothing and tactical gear to identify each other. The defendants marched with other members of the Proud Boys to the Capitol and forcibly stormed past exterior barricades, U.S. Capitol Police officers, and law enforcement officers, before all but Ashlock entered the Capitol.”
Prosecutors say Chrestman stirred the crowd to action.