Decorated Marine Vet Sentenced to Prison in Jan. 6 Prosecution

Chris Kuehne, a former Proud Boy and decorated Marine Corps combat veteran, received a prison sentence on Friday for obstructing law enforcement during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach.

Mr. Kuehne, who was accused of conspiring with other members of the Kansas City chapter Proud Boys to breach the Capitol, was on Friday sentenced to 75 days in prison, 60 days of home detention, and must pay $2,000 restitution for damage to the Capitol building.

He was charged with multiple felonies for conspiring to breach the Capitol but in September pleaded guilty to obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder. Mr. Kuehne faced a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, an appointee of President Donald Trump, on Friday issued a sentence that was lighter than that requested by prosecutors, who called for a six-month prison sentence, 36 months of supervised release, and $2,000 restitution.

So far, over 1,313 individuals have been charged for actions related to the Jan. 6 incident.

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Mr. Kuehne, a 22-year veteran who received numerous medals including the Purple Heart, was arrested on Feb. 11, 2021, in an FBI raid on his home.

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“I open the door, and for a second, I didn’t realize that there were about twenty FBI SWAT Team members with semi-automatic rifles pointed at my son and I,” Annette Kuehne, his wife, told the outlet. “We were covered by the bright red lasers pointed at our faces, chests, and various points on our bodies.”

Ms. Kuehne said she suffered a miscarriage the day after the raid.

Charging documents show that Mr. Kuehne faced a series of charges for his role in the Jan. 6 incident, including conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, obstruction of law enforcement, and entering and remaining in a restricted building.

Prosecutors accused him of making plans with other members of the Kansas City chapter of the Proud Boys to attend a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.

At one point on Jan. 6, Mr. Kuehne and other members of the Proud Boys chapter entered a restricted area, where they stayed for over an hour, “ignoring law enforcement commands to disperse,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement.

Mr. Kuenhe later entered the Capitol building, where he and the others used a portable lectern to block police from closing a door in the Crypt that would have prevented the group from moving around the building, prosecutors said.

“Kuehne and others then moved from the Crypt to the Capitol Visitor Center and eventually left the building through the Senate Wing Door,” the DOJ stated.

His wife said that he didn’t hurt anyone on Jan. 6 and didn’t come to Washington DC to commit any offenses and that he only intended “to protect Trump supporters with families from potential Antifa attacks.”

Ms. Kuehne said she’s baffled by what she believes to be heavy-handed treatment of her husband at the hands of federal authorities.

Other Cases

Besides Mr. Kuenhe’s case, Friday saw several other law enforcement actions against Jan. 6 participants.

A Florida man was indicted and arrested on Friday on felony and misdemeanor charges relating to the Capitol breach, and a Texas man was sentenced to 18 months in prison and 24 months of supervised release for assaulting a police officer, who prosecutors said he shoved to the ground.

Among those convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6 incident, roughly 750 have been sentenced, with nearly two-thirds receiving some time in prison.

The longest prison sentence—22 years—was handed down to Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys national chairman who was convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors alleged was a plot to stop the transfer of power from then-President Donald Trump to President-elect Joe Biden during the certification of electoral votes in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.