A Missouri man has admitted guilt and faces conviction for his involvement in the Capitol riots that rocked the nation on January 6, 2021. Nicholas L. Kennedy, the 43-year-old from Sikeston, Missouri, appeared in a District of Columbia courtroom where he pleaded guilty to obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and tampering with records and was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding, Prosecutors announced.
Detailed by the Department of Justice, Kennedy, a self-professed member of the controversial Proud Boys group, engaged in premeditated actions that contributed to the chaos which interrupted the certification of the 2020 Presidential election results by Congress. The Missouri native admitted to creating and sharing over one hundred images that supported unfounded claims of a "stolen" election, demonstrating his intent to forestall the electoral process, according to court documents. On the eve of the Capitol breach, he traveled with accomplices from St. Louis, Missouri, to Washington, D.C., and joined forces with more than 100 Proud Boys before marching to the Capitol, where they breached perimeters and clashed with law enforcement.
According to the same court documents, Kennedy was one of the first to push past the Capitol's restricted areas and, brandishing a wooden plank, was among a group that overpowered police to gain entry to the building. Once inside, Kennedy masked his face and moved further inwards, contributing to the overrun of police barricades near the House Chamber where members of Congress were taking shelter at the time.
After the riot, Kennedy tried to cover his tracks by conducting a factory reset on his iPhone in a bid to erase evidence. The day after the riot, national media outlets buzzed with news that law enforcement were on the lookout for rioters, and, Kennedy sent a revealing text message to a friend which read, "Erase my phone all the time. Feds and s---," uncovering a conscious attempt at evading detection. Caught in the FBI’s net on July 28, 2021, Kennedy’s sentencing is set for August 28, 2024, as ordered by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. The Department of Justice reports this information as part of their ongoing involvement in the wake of the January 6th events.
Throughout the proceedings, Kennedy's case was under the jurisdiction of the FBI's St. Louis and Washington Field Offices, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department, who all provided crucial assistance. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia along with the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section helms the prosecution, receiving extra support from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.
