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William Chrestman is seen at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 (via FBI court filings).
A Kansas member of the extremist Proud Boys group who admitted to carrying a wooden ax handle while threatening police officers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has been sentenced to more than four years behind bars — although he has already received credit for more than half his sentence.
William Chrestman, 51, of Olathe, was ordered Friday to spend 55 months — around four-and-a-half years — behind bars for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Federal prosecutors described Chrestman as a “second-degree member of the Proud Boys in the organization’s Kansas City chapter” and accused him of leading a charge of Donald Trump supporters that overwhelmed law enforcement and breached the building as Congress had begun to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win.
After meeting with a group of Proud Boys members at the Washington Monument on Jan. 6, Chrestman began his march toward the Capitol, prosecutors said in a sentencing memo.
According to the government, Chrestman was ready for battle.
“Chrestman was wearing a tactical-style vest, camo pants, brown gloves with knuckle guards, and held an approximately two-foot long wooden axe handle with an American flag wrapped around it,” the memo said. “Chrestman purchased this axe handle the day before the riot and used the American flag as a way of disguising the fact that it was a weapon.”
As Chrestman climbed the stairs toward the Capitol, he “continued to incite other members of the crowd, shouting slogans like
‘Whose house!? [our house!] … Take your house!”” the government’s sentencing memo says. He apparently boasted about the group he was with as being “the ones in front,” and expressed appreciation to the people around him for “helping” the Proud Boys that day.
Chrestman also helped rioters overcome police barricades.
“As the rioting on the west front continued, the anger of the crowd intensified, and a physical struggle broke out as rioters tried to shove the barricades against the outnumbered officers who were attempting to resist,” the government’s sentencing memo says. “Chrestman participated vigorously in that struggle … pushing against bike racks that have been lifted from the ground; Chrestman heaves with his shoulder as he and the other rioters try to overpower the officers holding the line on the other side of the barricade. In another angle of this time period, Chrestman can clearly be seen wearing a gas mask while threateningly pointing his axe handle at officers.”
Prosecutors say that when facing off against law enforcement officers who were using “less lethal munitions” to try to hold back the crowd, Chrestman responded with a threat.
“Hey, if you shoot I’ll f—— take your a– out,” he said, while pointing his ax handle at several officers, the sentencing memo said.
He also is alleged to have led the rioters in a call-and-reponse: “Whose country is this!? — Our country! — Whose house is this!? — Our house! — Do you want your house back!? — Yeah! — Take it!”
After Chrestman made his way inside the building, the ax handle made another appearance, this time as a tool to block a barrier from dropping that could have stopped rioters from flooding into the building.
“Once inside the Capitol, Chrestman helped to stop a security barrier from closing, which allowed rioters to move past the barrier and chase retreating officers,” the government’s sentencing memo says. “While officers confronted Chrestman and other rioters inside the Capitol Visitor Center, Chrestman prevented the arrest of yet another rioter. As he later bragged, Chrestman took all of these actions with the intent of stopping Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote for the 2020 presidential election.”
William Chrestman, circled in red, uses his axe handle to stop barriers from closing at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021 (via FBI court filings).
Chrestman pleaded guilty in October to one count of obstruction of an official proceeding and one count of threatening a federal officer. He faced a potential 20-year statutory maximum on the obstruction charge and six years for threatening an officer.
Prosecutors noted that Chrestman is a military veteran and acknowledged that his “service in the U.S. Army is commendable on its own terms.”
“However,” the government’s memo continued, “in the context of this offense, Chrestman’s military service means that he swore an oath to [the] Constitution, and that he violated that oath by helping lead an attack on the government.”
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, sentenced Chrestman to 55 months in prison. He will then spend 36 months on supervised release and will have to pay $2,000 in restitution toward the estimated $2.9 million in damage resulting from the attack.
Prosecutors had wanted a sentence of 63 months. Chrestman, meanwhile, was hoping to stay out of prison entirely; his lawyer described him in a sentencing memo as “an excellent home confinement candidate.” In reality, Chrestman has less than two years to go on his sentence; according to The Associated Press, he will receive credit for the nearly three years he has already been in custody.
Chrestman is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit over the Jan. 6 siege brought by the District of Columbia against members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia-style extremist group.
