Illinois man charged with involvement in Jan. 6 Capitol breach
CHICAGO — An Illinois man was arrested Thursday and charged with participation in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and will be transported to Washington, D.C., to face the charges.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, Nicholas Von Keudell, of Hampshire, is the latest of at least 38 arrests in Illinois of individuals accused of crimes committed at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
Von Keudell is the son of Trudy Castle, 57, who was earlier sentenced along with her sister, Kimberly DiFrancesco, 55, to 30 months of probation. Castle and DiFrancisco confirmed to FBI agents that Von Keudell traveled to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 5 with the pair and spent part of Jan. 6 at the Capitol with them.
According to the complaint, law enforcement body-worn camera footage of the Jan. 6 crowd, along with supplementary footage, displayed an individual alongside Castle and DiFrancisco who appears to be Von Keudell. Multiple images appeared to show Von Keudell inside the Capitol building and outside on restricted Capitol grounds between 2:24 and 3:49 p.m. At one point, the video allegedly shows Von Keudell attempting to reenter the building and being turned away.
The U.S. Department of Justice reported that in the 29 months since the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for involvement in the breach, “including nearly 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.”
The specific charges Von Keudell is facing include entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
There was no attorney listed for Von Keudell on the court docket as of Friday.
The arrest came a day before another Illinois resident, Thomas B. Adams Jr., 41, was sentenced to prison for felony and misdemeanor charges during the breach of the U.S. Capitol. Adams, of Springfield, was sentenced Friday to 14 months in prison, according to court records.
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(Chicago Tribune’s Jason Meisner contributed.)
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