WASHINGTON – A Sikeston, Missouri, man appeared in federal court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to charges for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot in Washington, D.C.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said Nicholas Kennedy, 43, drove from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, with the intent of disrupting and stopping Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote for the 2020 presidential election.

Prior to January 6, Kennedy, who was a member of the Proud Boys organization, sent, received, or created more than 100 images reflecting his belief that the presidential election had been “stolen.”

On the morning of January 6, Kennedy met with a Kansas City chapter of the Proud Boys at a bar in D.C. The group went to the Washington Monument and joined with additional Proud Boy members.

Sometime after 10:30 a.m., Proud Boy leaders organized the men and they began marching toward the Capitol. By 12:53 p.m., rioters moved toward police barricades and broke through a restricted security perimeter. Prosecutors said Kennedy was among the first wave of rioters who made it into the perimeter.

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Kennedy entered the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol via the Senate Wing Door at 2:14 p.m. He confronted a police line near the Senate Carriage Door, the moved upstairs. Kennedy was among a small group of rioters who overran Capitol police and gathered outside the door of the House Chamber. Kennedy left the Capitol building at 3:02 p.m.

On January 7, when it became apparent that law enforcement and federal authorities were searching for people affiliated with the riot and subsequent breach and vowed to prosecute, Kennedy performed a factory reset of his phone in an attempt to destroy evidence.

Kennedy was finally arrested in Sikeston on July 28, 2021.

Kennedy pleaded guilty to obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and tampering with records, documents, or other objects. As part of a plea agreement, Kennedy agreed to a bench trial on the charge of obstruction of an official proceeding. A U.S. District Court judge found Kennedy guilty of that charge.

Kennedy will be sentenced on the first two charges on Aug. 28, 2024.

Since the January 6 Capitol riot, more than 1,300 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states for their involvement.

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