Man who threatened police with an ax on January 6 is jailed for almost five years
A member of the extremist Proud Boys group who threatened police officers with an ax and breached the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack was sentenced Friday to nearly five years in prison, federal prosecutors said.
Judge Timothy J. Kelly of the US District Court in Washington sentenced the man, William Chrestman, 51, of Olathe, Kansas, to 55 months in prison. Mr. Chrestman pleaded guilty in October to crimes including obstructing an official proceeding and threatening a federal officer.
The judge also ordered Mr. Chrestman to pay $2,000 in restitution, and his prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement. statement on Friday.
Mr. Chrestman was sentenced to less time in prison than the 63 months prosecutors recommended in a sentencing memo. They argued that Mr Chrestman had “played a significant role during the riot due to his presence and behavior at key times during the day.”
Lawyers for Mr. Chrestman did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. Prosecutors declined to comment.
Mr. Chrestman has been in jail since his arrest in February 2021 and will receive credit for time served, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Mr. Chrestman was a member of the Kansas City chapter of the Proud Boys, and he made plans with other members to travel to Washington in January 2021 to show support for President Donald J. Trump and protest Congress over the certification from the election commission. College vote, prosecutors said.
After arriving in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutors said Mr. Chrestman joined other Proud Boys members and marched on the U.S. Capitol shouting, “Whose streets are they? Our streets.”
While outside the Capitol, Mr. Chrestman yelled at Capitol Police officers who were preparing to fire nonlethal projectiles into the crowd outside the building, according to a criminal complaint.
Gesturing to the ax handle he was carrying, Mr. Chrestman told the officers that if they shot at the rioters he would “take them out,” prosecutors said.
Mr. Chrestman and a group of others eventually entered the Capitol through the Senate wing door, and once inside, Mr. Chrestman used his ax handle to hold open a door and help rioters move through the building, prosecutors said .
After the attack on the Capitol, Mr. Chrestman called someone and
“bragged” about his encounter with police, prosecutors said.
“Dude, the police were right to be afraid for their lives,” Mr. Chrestman said during a phone call he recorded, according to court documents.
According to the Justice Department, Mr. Chrestman is among more than 1,200 people criminally charged from nearly all 50 states for their actions in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
More than 400 people have been charged with assault or attempted obstruction of law enforcement.
More than 720 people have been convicted or found guilty and received sentences ranging from a few days in prison to more than 20 years. The most common charge rioters face is entering or remaining on restricted federal grounds.