Chris Kuehne, a decorated Marine Corps combat veteran, received a prison sentence on Feb. 23 for obstructing law enforcement during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach.
Accused of conspiring with members of the Kansas City Proud Boys chapter to breach the Capitol, he was sentenced to 75 days in prison and 60 days of home detention, and must pay $2,000 in restitution for damage to the Capitol building.
Mr. Kuehne was charged with multiple felonies for conspiring to breach the Capitol, but in September 2023, he pleaded guilty to obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder. He 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 Feb. 23 issued a sentence that was lighter than that requested by prosecutors, who sought a six-month prison sentence, 36 months of supervised release, and $2,000 in restitution.
More Details
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.
“I open the door, and for a second, I didn’t realize that there were about 20 FBI SWAT Team members with semi-automatic rifles pointed at my son and I,” Mr. Kuehne’s wife, Annette Kuehne, 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 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 members of the Proud Boys chapter entered a restricted area, where they stayed for more than an hour, “ignoring law enforcement commands to disperse,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement.
Mr. Kuehne 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.
Ms. Kuehne said that her husband didn’t hurt anyone on Jan. 6, didn’t go to Washington to commit any offenses, and intended only “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. Kuehne’s case, Feb. 23 saw several other law enforcement actions against Jan. 6 participants.A Florida man was indicted and arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges related 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, whom 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 of them receiving some time in prison.
The longest prison sentence—22 years—was handed down to Enrique Tarrio, 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.
