Kennedy joined the Proud Boys in 2020 and left the organization after his arrest in 2021. In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, Kennedy took screenshots and shared posts and memes claiming the election had been stolen from Trump — including a post by Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, saying he would object to the certification of the election.

On Jan. 6, Kennedy met up with several Kansas City-area Proud Boys outside Harry’s Bar, a now-defunct dive bar in downtown Washington, D.C. He got a piece of orange duct tape from one of the Proud Boys and put it on his black baseball cap, which had the letters RWDS on it.

The letters are an acronym for Right Wing Death Squad, a phrase dating back to the 1970s that has been used in recent years by far-right extremists — including the Proud Boys — to express opposition to the left.

Kennedy walked with the Kansas City Proud Boys from the Washington Monument to the Capitol, where they were among the first group to breach the police barriers on the west side of the building. Prosecutors showed videos of Kennedy’s steady march to the Capitol, past two lines of barricades, up the scaffolding put in place to construct the stage for the inauguration and into the building through a fire exit.

Once inside, Kennedy was part of a group being held back by Capitol Police as the U.S. Secret Service was attempting to evacuate Vice President Mike Pence from the Senate chamber. He twice pushed at an officer who was trying to keep the crowd back.

Kennedy then walked to the other side of the Capitol and joined a group trying to push its way into the House chamber. Kennedy could see officers on the other side of the door pointing guns at the protesters as Republican lawmakers tried to reason with the mob.

At 2:43 p.m., about the time that Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot while trying to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby, Kennedy left the area in front of the House chamber and started making his way out of the building. He exited about 3:01 p.m., about an hour after he entered.

Kennedy wiped his iPhone clean after learning that federal authorities were seeking information about people who entered the Capitol that day. The FBI was able to recover some images and messages Kennedy sent to friends and family, but was unable to find several photos and videos Kennedy took of his actions on Jan. 6.

Kennedy was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 23, 2021, on felony charges of civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding along with misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

He was arrested on July 28, 2021, and released on a personal recognizance bond. A second superseding indictment handed down in February added the felony charge of tampering with records, documents or other objects. The misdemeanor counts were dismissed Wednesday as part of his plea agreement.

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