- Incarcerated Proud Boys member William Chrestman was sentenced to four years and seven months in prison for his role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
- Chrestman, a retired Army veteran from Olathe, Kansas, pleaded guilty in October to obstruction and threatening to assault a federal officer.
- Chrestman will receive credit for time spent in custody.
A member of the Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced Friday to more than four years in prison for his role in the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol three years ago, according to court records.
William Chrestman, a military veteran from Olathe, Kansas, brandished an ax handle and threatened police with violence after leading other members of the Proud Boys around the Capitol on January 6, 2021. .
Chrestman pleaded guilty in October to disrupting the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress to certify the electoral vote. He also pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony count of threatening to assault a federal officer during the Capitol riot.
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U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly sentenced Chrestman to four years and seven months in prison, according to court records.
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of five years and three months in prison, arguing that he “played an important role during the riot by being present and acting at critical moments during the day.”
“In fact, Chrestman regularly claimed to be a leader among the mob, including when he was part of the tip of the spear that provoked violations in peace circles, and to police other rioters.” “He encouraged the Proud Boys to move to barricades and instructed the mob to stop making arrests, thanking them for their support of the Proud Boys,” prosecutors wrote.
William Chrestman (circled in red) joins a mob at the Capitol building in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021. (Department of Justice, via AP)
Chrestman has been incarcerated since his arrest in February 2021. He will receive credit for the nearly three years he has already spent in custody.
Defense attorney Michael Cronkright argued on Jan. 6 that Chrestman never used the ax handle “to commit any remotely violent act.”
“The worst the government has claimed so far is that he used it to touch a security gate that was already up,” Cronkright wrote.
Chrestman also had a gas mask, helmet and other tactical gear with him when he traveled to Washington with members of the Proud Boys from the Kansas City, Kansas, area. On January 6, he marched to the Capitol grounds with dozens of other Proud Boys leaders, members, and associates.
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Chrestman and other Proud Boys walked past a fallen metal barricade and joined other rioters in front of another police fence. Prosecutors say he made threats toward officers and yelled at others in the crowd to prevent them from arresting another rioter.
Chrestman shouted to the crowd, “Whose house is this?”
“Our home!” the crowd responded.
“Do you want your house back?” Chrestman asked.
“Yes!” the crowd responded.
“Take it!” Chrestman yelled.
Chrestman also pointed his finger at a line of Capitol Police officers, gestured with an ax handle and fired a “pepperball” round into a crowd of rioters, according to court filings accompanying his guilty plea. He allegedly threatened to assault her if she did so.
More than 1,200 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. About 900 of them either pleaded guilty or were convicted after trials decided by a jury or judge. More than 750 of them have been sentenced, and nearly 500 have received some form of prison sentence, according to data compiled by The Associated Press.
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Dozens of Proud Boys leaders, members and associates have been arrested on charges related to the Jan. 6 attack. Enrique Tarrio, the group's former national president, was sentenced to 22 years in prison, the longest sentence ever for the Capitol riot. A jury found Tarrio and three police lieutenants guilty of sedition and conspiracy in a failed plot to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican Party lost the 2020 election.
