Nine Kansas residents were charged in the Capitol riot. Here’s where their cases stand

Three Johnson County Proud Boys, a Topeka man with two master’s degrees and a registered sex offender from Kansas City, Kansas.

These are some of the Kansans charged in connection with the Jan. 6. Capitol attack.

Now, 30 months after thousands of protesters stormed the building in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, the cases of hundreds charged in the attack continue through the courts.

The Capitol riot investigation “will be the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence,” according to federal authorities.

More than 1,069 people from nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia have been charged with crimes related to the breach, the Justice Department said in a July news release. As of July 6, it said, about 594 have pleaded guilty, 160 to felonies and 434 to misdemeanors. Of those, 561 have been sentenced, with about 335 of them receiving periods of incarceration.

Nine Kansas residents are among those charged. Six have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced — two received probation, one was given probation and 30 days’ home detention, one got 70 days’ incarceration, one received four months’ incarceration and another, 20 months in prison. The cases of the three others are still ongoing.

Here are the names of the nine defendants and the details of each case.

For the names and details of Missouri defendants, click here.

William “Billy” Chrestman, of Olathe, who prosecutors allege is a member of the far-right Proud Boys Kansas City chapter, was arrested Feb. 11, 2021, and faces multiple felony charges. He was indicted Feb. 26, 2021, along with Ryan Ashlock, Louis Enrique Colon, Christopher Kuehne and Arizona siblings Cory and Felicia Konold for conspiring to breach the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Prosecutors allege that Chrestman threatened to assault a federal law enforcement officer and carried a wooden ax handle while in the Capitol building and on the grounds. He could be seen on numerous videos alongside other Proud Boys during the insurrection, dressed in tactical gear, leading chants and wielding the ax handle inside the Capitol.

Chrestman pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond in the D.C. jail pending trial. His case has been repeatedly continued, and his next court hearing is Aug. 4. He also is among dozens of defendants named in a civil lawsuit filed by the attorney general of the District of Columbia that calls the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers domestic terrorists and seeks to recover the costs of the attack.

Kuehne, formerly of Olathe, also faces multiple felony charges. Prosecutors say he brought orange reflective tape to the Capitol for the Kansas City-area Proud Boys to wear to identify themselves in the crowd. He can be seen in photos and videos from that day with two rolls of tape strapped to a backpack and a strip of tape on the back of the helmet he was wearing.

Once inside the Capitol, the charging documents said, Kuehne and other Proud Boys acted in concert “to prevent law enforcement officers from controlling the crowd by obstructing metal barriers that had been deployed to prevent the crowd’s further advancement into other areas of the Capitol building.” At one point, Kuehne grabbed what appeared to be a podium and placed it in the way of a metal barrier to keep it from closing, the documents said.

Kuehne, a Marine veteran, has pleaded not guilty, remains free on bond and moved to Arizona in 2022. His next court hearing is Aug. 4. He also is among those named in the civil lawsuit filed by the attorney general of the District of Columbia.

Ashlock, of Gardner, did not enter the Capitol building but was part of the pro-Trump mob that breached police barricades on the grounds. He pleaded guilty on June 14, 2022, to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, a misdemeanor. As part of the plea agreement, the government dropped the other charges against him, which were felonies. A “statement of offense” signed by Ashlock as part of his guilty plea said that he and other Kansas City Proud Boys took guns — including two AR-15 style rifles — body armor and breathing masks with them to the D.C. area but did not take the weapons to the Capitol.

Ashlock was sentenced Nov. 10, 2022, to 70 days in jail, 12 months of supervised release and $500 restitution for more than $2.8 million damage to the Capitol building and grounds and costs incurred by U.S. Capitol Police. He also is a defendant in the civil lawsuit filed by the attorney general of the District of Columbia.

William Pope, of Topeka, was arrested Feb. 12, 2021, and faces eight charges in the Capitol riot, including multiple felonies. Among the allegations is that he tried to force open a door inside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office suite.

Pope, who has two master’s degrees, ran for Topeka City Council in 2019 and has been a student with Kansas State University’s Leadership Communication Doctoral Program. He also was a graduate teaching assistant at K-State. A K-State spokeswoman said in July 2022 that he was no longer employed by the university.

In August 2022, a federal judge ruled that Pope would be allowed to represent himself in the case. Since then, he has been fighting for access to U.S. Capitol Police security videos from Jan. 6 that he says include footage of undercover Metropolitan Police officers inciting protesters to breach the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His next court appearance is July 13.

Mark Roger Rebegila, of St. Marys, was arrested in Topeka on March 15, 2021. Prosecutors said Rebegila entered the Capitol twice, despite being forced out the first time by law enforcement officers. Rebegila “initially bragged about his illegal breach of the Capitol to friends, claiming that he sat in a lawmaker’s chair and stole a bottle of liquor,” the government said, “and admitted that he later deleted evidence of his criminal conduct ‘because he did not want to get in trouble.’” But prosecutors said they found no evidence that he had stolen any liquor.

Rebegila pleaded guilty Dec. 1, 2021, to parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol building, a misdemeanor. After apologizing to all “who have been hurt by my actions,” the father of four was sentenced on April 20, 2022, to 30 days of home detention, two years’ probation, a $2,000 fine and 60 hours of community service. Rebegila also was required to pay $500 restitution for damage to the Capitol building.

Jennifer Ruth Parks, of Leavenworth, was arrested April 23, 2021, along with her friend, Esther Schwemmer. The two traveled together to Washington, D.C., from Kansas to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. After the rally, they walked to the Capitol and witnessed the chaos unfolding as rioters were climbing the walls of the building. Prosecutors said the women took advantage of the chaos and entered the Capitol through an entrance where the doors had been broken open. They left the building after about 15 minutes, but only when law enforcement officers ordered them to go.

Parks pleaded guilty Sept. 28, 2021, to one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. She was sentenced on Dec. 8, 2021, to two years’ probation, 60 hours of community service and $500 restitution.

In a letter to the judge, Parks wrote: “I was devastated when I learned of the violence that had occurred at the Capitol that day, and that I had been a part of it.”

Schwemmer, also of Leavenworth, is a longtime hair stylist who retired in 2019. Schwemmer pleaded guilty on Sept. 28, 2021, to a single misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. On Jan. 10, 2022, following a tearful apology for her actions, she was sentenced to two years’ probation, 60 hours of community service and $500 restitution.

“I’m deeply ashamed of my actions on that day,” Schwemmer told the judge. “Nothing about it was Christ-like…I hope with time I can forgive myself.”

Michael Eckerman, of Wichita, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 8, 2021. He was charged with three felonies and five misdemeanors.

The charging documents said that Eckerman was seen on surveillance cameras outside the Crypt of the Capitol building, pushing his way through the crowd, then shoving an officer. That officer was later interviewed and said that Eckerman pushed him “with aggressive force,” causing the officer to fall down a small set of stairs. After being knocked to the ground, the officer was sprayed in the face with a fire extinguisher by an unknown individual, the documents said.

Eckerman and two companions then went up to Statuary Hall on the second floor, where he again pushed his way forward to another police line, according to the documents. Surveillance video later captured Eckerman heading toward the back entrance to the House Chamber, where Ashli Babbitt was shot by a law enforcement officer as she tried to climb through a door where glass had been broken out to get to the House Chamber, the documents said. Just after the shooting, video showed Eckerman and his companions exiting the Capitol through the upper House doors around 2:44 p.m.

One of the conditions of release set by U.S. Magistrate Judge Gwynne E. Birzer after Eckerman’s arrest in Wichita in September 2021 raised questions about a possible connection to the far-right Proud Boys. It said, “No contact with Proud Boys organization nor anyone a member of or connected to it.”

Eckerman was scheduled to go to trial in Washington, D.C., in late November 2022, but on Nov. 8 he pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees, a felony. He was sentenced March 8 to 20 months in prison, two years’ supervised released and $2,000 restitution.

Kasey Von Owen Hopkins, of Kansas City, Kansas, was arrested Aug. 5, 2022, on four misdemeanor charges. Among the allegations is that he roamed through the Capitol building, entered a senator’s office and took a selfie in front of a bust of Winston Churchill.

Records from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation show that Hopkins is a registered sex offender in Kansas. Online court records show he pleaded guilty on Feb. 24, 2003, to forcible rape, forcible sodomy, domestic assault and felonious restraint involving a July 25, 2002, incident in St. Louis. He received a seven-year prison sentence.

Hopkins pleaded guilty on Dec. 20, 2022, to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. He was sentenced on April 10 to four months’ incarceration, two years’ probation and $500 restitution.

“I’m ridiculously ashamed to be here right now,” he told the judge at his sentencing, but added that he was not the man he used to be. “If there’s any takeaway from January 6, it was that I allowed myself to get caught up — and bringing fear to people is something that goes against everything I am.”