Articles written by Michael Kunzelman
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A Proud Boys member who wielded an axe handle during the Capitol riot gets over 4 years in prison
A jailed member of the Proud Boys extremist group was sentenced on Friday to more than four years in prison for his role in a mob's attack on the U.S. Capitol three years ago, court records show. William Chrestman, a U.S. Army veteran from Olathe,...
Hundreds of convictions, but a major mystery is still unsolved 3 years after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot
WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of far-right extremist groups. Former police officers. An Olympic gold medalist swimmer. And active duty U.S. Marines. They are among the hundreds of people who have been convicted in the massive prosecution of the Jan 6, 20...
Two ex-Proud Boys leaders get some of longest sentences in Jan. 6 Capitol attack
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two former leaders of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group were sentenced to more than a decade each in prison Thursday for spearheading an attack on the U.S. Capitol to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from Donald...
Trump pleads not guilty to federal charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 election
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to trying to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss, answering for the first time to federal charges that accuse him of orchestrating a brazen and ultimately unsuccessful attempt t...
Oath Keeper who guarded Roger Stone before Jan. 6 attack gets more than 4 years in prison
WASHINGTON (AP) — A member of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group who was part of a security detail for former President Donald Trump's longtime adviser Roger Stone before storming the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Thursday to more than f...
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 attack
WASHINGTON (AP) — Oath Keepers extremist group founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison for orchestrating a weekslong plot that culminated in his followers attacking the U.S. Capitol in a bid to keep President Joe Biden o...
Proud Boys leader lawyer: Trump to blame for Jan. 6 riot
WASHINGTON (AP) — A defense attorney argued Tuesday at the close of a landmark trial over the Jan. 6 riot that the Justice Department is making Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio a scapegoat for Donald Trump after the former president's supporters stor...
Ex-firefighter gets prison for Jan. 6 extinguisher attack
A retired firefighter who threw a fire extinguisher at police officers during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced on Tuesday to more than four years in prison. Robert Sanford struck two police officers in the head with the fire extinguisher that he...
Feds: Proud Boys deployed foot soldiers in sedition plot
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors are employing an unusual strategy to prove leaders of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group orchestrated a violent plot to keep President Joe Biden out of the White House, even though some of the defendants d...
Rioter who menaced officer with Confederate flag gets prison
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Delaware man who threatened a Black police officer with a pole attached to a Confederate battle flag as he stormed the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Thursday to three years in prison. Kevin Seefried, 53, tearfully apologized f...
Prosecutor: Oath Keepers saw Jan. 6 as 'first battle' in war
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four Oath Keepers charged with plotting to stop the transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden accepted an "invitation to sedition" issued by the far-right extremist group's founder, a federal prosecutor said M...
Antisemitic celebrities stoke fears of normalizing hate
A surge of anti-Jewish vitriol, spread by a world-famous rapper, an NBA star and other prominent people, is stoking fears that public figures are normalizing hate and ramping up the risk of violence in a country already experiencing a sharp increase...
EXPLAINER: US power grid has long faced terror threat
WASHINGTON (AP) — Investigators believe a shooting that damaged power substations in North Carolina was a crime. What they haven't named yet is a suspect or a motive. Whatever the reason, the shooting serves as a reminder of why experts have s...
Riot plea: Proud Boys member admits to seditious conspiracy
WASHINGTON (AP) — A North Carolina man pleaded guilty Thursday to plotting with other members of the far-right Proud Boys to violently stop the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election, making him the first member of the extremist g...
Jan. 6 sedition trial underway for Oath Keepers leader
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of the founder of the Oath Keepers extremist group and four associates charged with seditious conspiracy, one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. C...
Ex-NYPD officer sentenced to record 10 years for Jan. 6 riot
WASHINGTON (AP) — A retired New York Police Department officer was sentenced on Thursday to a record-setting 10 years in prison for attacking the U.S. Capitol and using a metal flagpole to assault one of the police officers trying to hold off a m...
Man's 63-month prison term matches longest for Capitol riot
A man who attacked police officers with poles during the riot at the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than five years in prison, matching the longest term of imprisonment so far among hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions. Mark Ponder,...
Officer hailed as hero testifies at Capitol riot trial
WASHINGTON (AP) — A police officer lauded for his bravery during the U.S. Capitol riot testified Monday that a man carrying a Confederate battle flag jabbed at him with the flagpole before joining the mob that chased him up a staircase. In his f...
Proud Boys charged with seditious conspiracy in Capitol riot
The former top leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group and other members were charged Monday with seditious conspiracy for what federal prosecutors say was a coordinated attack on the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying...
Blame Trump? Jury hears that defense at Capitol riot trial
WASHINGTON (AP) — An Ohio man charged with stealing a coat rack from the U.S. Capitol doesn't deny that he joined the mob that stormed the building last year. But a lawyer for Capitol riot defendant Dustin Thompson vows to show that former P...
Official guilty of illegally entering Capitol grounds Jan. 6
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday convicted an elected official from New Mexico of illegally entering restricted U.S. Capitol grounds but acquitted him of engaging in disorderly conduct during the riot that disrupted Congress from certifyi...
Proud Boys leader charged with conspiracy in Capitol riot
WASHINGTON (AP) — A leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group was arrested Tuesday on a conspiracy charge for his suspected role in a coordinated attack on the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 e...
Witness: Jan. 6 rioter wanted to remove 'corrupt' lawmakers
WASHINGTON (AP) — The first person to be tried in the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol was a Texas militia member who advocated for physically removing and replacing "corrupt" members of Congress as he drove to Washington, D.C., a former group m...
Many Capitol riot cases could hinge on 1st trial's outcome
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department launched one of the largest and most complex criminal investigations in its history after a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol over a year ago. Now it's time for a jury to hear some of t...
2 men charged with making separate threats to kill president
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — A Maryland man and a Kansas man have been charged with making separate threats to kill President Joe Biden, authorities said Monday. Ryan Matthew Conlon, 37, of Halethorpe, Maryland; and Scott Ryan Merryman, 37, of I...
