Kansas Proud Boy enters a guilty plea and agrees to cooperate with the Feds

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Facing up to five years in prison if he failed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Louis Colon, a “first degree” member of the Kansas City Proud Boys chapter, has pleaded guilty to obstructing police during the Jan. 6 attack.

The 45-year-old Blue Springs, Missouri, man was facing a slew of charges including felony obstruction, civil disorder, trespassing, and disorderly conduct when he was initially indicted with five other members of the neofascist group in January. 

But with his plea deal struck, those counts are expected to be dismissed when Colon is sentenced. That date has not been set as of Thursday according to court records, but prosecutors have indicated it will come once they figure out how Colon’s cooperation might influence other Proud Boys in the case who have pleaded not guilty.

Two days before President Donald Trump would hit the stage at the Ellipse in D.C., back in Kansas, according to a statement of his offense, Colon and a few other Proud Boys decided they would come to Washington to show support for the outgoing president’s push to stop the certification of Electoral College votes by Congress. 

Colon, members Ryan Ashlock and Christopher Kuehne, and another unnamed individual popped into a car that had two of Kuehne’s AR-15s stowed inside. The car was never brought into the nation’s capitol, however. 

Once they arrived in Virginia on Jan. 5, Colon admitted the group went to a hardware store where he picked up, among other things, an ax handle. He would later modify it so it could be used as a walking stick and a weapon. 

But before they left the shop, Colon said Kuehne suggested they grab a bit of bright orange tape and use it to identify each other as members of the same group in the crowd. According to the initial indictment, the Kansas Proud Boys Colon traveled with wore paramilitary gear, camouflaged uniforms, tactical vests and plates, helmets, and eye protection. They also carried radio equipment.

On the eve of the assault, Colon said his group met with Proud Boy and co-defendant William Chrestman and they discussed how to move “safely” as a group. 

According to Colon, it was then that someone in the group said they didn’t come to Washington ”to just march around.”

“Do we have patriots willing to take it by force?” the person asked. 

“[Colon] was shocked by this and understood that the individual was referring to using force against the government,” a statement of his offense notes. 

In the moment, Kuehne, who has pleaded not guilty, said he still had his guns in his car and another member of the group piped up, saying the Proud Boys should “go in and take over.”

Meeting around the Washington Monument on the morning of Jan. 6, Colon said the group was joined by siblings Felicia Konold and Cory Konold of Arizona. 

In Snapchat videos Felicia Konold posted describing the riots, she said she was recruited by the organization in Kansas. In one clip, she shows off a Proud Boys challenge coin of sorts that she received.

Her acceptance into the group would be notable given that the network is a self-professed “chauvinistic” organization steeped in misogyny. Sometimes, however, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Proud Boys have created offshoot chapters for wives or girlfriends. 

According to court records, with their group amassed, Colon, Kuehne, Ashlock, Chrestman, and the Konold siblings began marching through the street toward the Capitol, chanting. Chrestman shouted to the crowd: “Do you want to take your house back?”

They would scream back, “Yes!”

Chrestman, prosecutors say, urged them on.

“Take it,” he allegedly told the mob.

Once on the west side of the Capitol, they scaled a wall, searched for higher ground, and then found a way inside. But the group was first met by police struggling to keep rioters back. As U.S. Capitol Police fired non-lethal projectiles at them, Chrestman allegedly screamed at the officers: “You shoot and I’ll take your fucking ass out!”

Konold, prosecutors say, was meanwhile urging people to keep fighting. All in the group but Ashlock made it inside of the Capitol. 

Once in, Colon said they spotted retractable doors being lowered by police to keep rioters from spreading into another part of the building. 

That was when Colon said he used his hands to stop the door and then put a chair in the way to keep it open. Kuehne, he said, was nearby with another person using a podium as a doorstop. 

Colon admits to being inside the Capitol for roughly 50 minutes before he and co-defendants fled.

In addition to his sentence, Colon will pay $2,000 towards restoring the U.S. Capitol. The damages to the complex alone hover around $1.4 million. If he is forced to pay a fine on top of the sentence and restitution, it could total up to $250,000. 

 Louis Colon Plea Agreement by Daily Kos on Scribd

Another plea agreement for a different Proud Boy appears to be in the works, too.

On April 22, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued an order noting that prosecutors and lawyers for Nicholas “Nick” Kennedy, also known as Squatch, have “progressed in discussions regarding pretrial resolution” and requested another status hearing be held in June.

The 41-year-old of Sikeston, Missouri, faces six counts including obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted area, disorderly conduct in a capitol building, and parading in a capitol building. Prior to the April 22 order, Kennedy pleaded not guilty.

When news of his indictment first emerged, his picture, Cash app handle, and email were posted in the Proud Boys’ Telegram channel, as noted by Jan. 6 sleuths Sedition Track last year. 

An attorney for Kennedy did not immediately return a request for comment to Daily Kos on Thursday.