A federal memo has called for a year behind bars for Chicago police officer Karol Chwiesiuk, who breached the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 attack. Accused of entering the office of Sen. Jeff Merkley, Chwiesiuk and his sister Agnieszka were convicted of misdemeanors, with prosecutors accusing him of lying during his testimony. "Nearly every aspect of Karol Chwiesiuk’s testimony was self-serving and a misrepresentation of the facts to the jury," prosecutors detailed in documents acquired by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Despite prosecutors' claims that the siblings were aware of the unlawful nature of their actions, the defense described the federal memo as a distorted representation of the Chwiesiuks, according to attorney Nishay Sanan. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Sanan called the prosecution's memo a "boilerplate mishmash" that fails to capture "who [the Chwiesiuks] are or what … specifically happened in their case." The Chwiesiuks were seen mingling outside the Capitol on January 6, undeterred by the chaos, before they entered through the Senate Wing Door, prosecutors asserted. After spending approximately 10 minutes inside, climbing out of a broken window, Karol Chwiesiuk then described the riot as "epic" in a text message.
As a former correctional officer, Chwiesiuk was on an unpaid leave of absence from the Chicago Police Department since participating in the Capitol assault, during which he was on medical leave for back issues. From over 40 Illinois residents facing charges related to the Capitol riot, the Chwiesiuks mark a conspicuous example of law enforcement crossing the line into unlawful conduct. Karol Chwiesiuk, the trial showed, sent messages expressing his intention to "f--- up some commies," signaling a premeditated mindset.
The sentiment was shared across digital messages even before the riot, as presented by the prosecution. Texting his sister before the presidential election, Chwiesiuk proclaimed, "Very confident Maga 2020 my sister," and later told his cousin about heading to Washington, "To save the nation," as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. On a separate note, Agnieszka Chwiesiuk received a recommendation for an eight-month prison term from the assistant U.S. attorneys leading the prosecution.
Adding to the narrative, the ABC 7 I-Team learned that after over five hours of deliberation, a Washington, D.C. jury convicted Karol Chwiesiuk and his sister on four misdemeanor charges related to the January 6 siege. They rejected plea deals, with Chwiesiuk having testified on his defense, claiming he did not vandalize anything nor hear any alarms when entering the Capitol. Despite all this, he was found not guilty on one of the five charges and currently remains on unpaid status with his state firearms card revoked, as ABC7 Chicago reported. The sentencing is expected on January 24.
