(TotalConservative.com) – A member of the controversial right-wing group Proud Boys pleaded guilty to charges related to the riot at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021.
On Monday, the 49-year-old Kansas native, William Chrestman, entered a guilty plea to obstruction of an official government proceeding and threatening a federal law enforcement officer at the Capitol on Jan. 6 after he and other members of Proud Boys participated in storming the building and clashing with police.
Chrestman is scheduled to be sentenced on January 12, 2024, by US District Judge Timothy Kelly. He may face four or five years in prison.
Chrestman, along with other members of the Kansas Proud Boys chapter, traveled to Washington together. He brought a gas mask, helmet, axe handle, and other tactical items. Chrestman and his party marched alongside dozens of other members, leaders, and Proud Boys associates to the Capitol grounds, moved past torn-down barricades, and joined the riot clashing with police at another barricade.
Prosecutors claim that Chrestman shouted threats at Capitol Police officers and told others in the crowd to interrupt the arrest of a fellow rioter. Footage presented as evidence shows Chrestman facing the crowd and riling them up with chants of “whose house is this?” to which the crowd responded, “our house!” Chrestman then asks the crowd if they wanted their “house back” and tells them to “take it.”
The Kansas native is also accused of using the handle of an axe to keep a barrier from closing inside one of the tunnels in the Capitol building where rioters clashed with police. Chrestman is accused of assuming “a de facto leadership role” in the incident, leading Proud Boys members around the building and coordinating their movements to stop law enforcement while encouraging others to follow suit.
Five others were charged alongside Chrestman, one of whom was sentenced last year and the others are awaiting separate hearings. So far, federal prosecutors have charged over 1,100 people in relation to the Capitol riot, 60 of whom were members, leaders, or associates of Proud Boys.
Copyright 2023, TotalConservative.com
