Former Missouri Proud Boy who wore 'Right Wing Death Squad' cap to Capitol on Jan. 6 found guilty

Court documents filed by the Department of Justice last month indicated that Kennedy was in contact with William Chrestman, of the Kansas City Proud Boys chapter, on the day of the riot and afterward.

Chrestman, considered by the government to be a key player in the Capitol breach, threatened a federal officer and carried an ax handle into the Capitol on Jan. 6. He was indicted in February 2021 along with three other Kansas City-area Proud Boys and two Arizona siblings. He pleaded guilty in October and was sentenced in January to 55 months in prison.

Among the items the government listed as trial exhibits were “a string of messages exchanged on the Telegram application” between Kennedy and Chrestman that the document said were originally obtained from Chrestman’s cellphone.

Other exhibits the government described were “authentic copies of two videos of Kennedy that were sent by Kennedy to Chrestman via the encrypted application Telegram on January 10, 2021,” and “an authentic copy of a photograph of Kennedy, Chrestman and others that was taken on January 6, 2021, at approximately 12:42 p.m. eastern.”

Also listed were “authentic copies of four videos that were recovered from William Chrestman’s phone that were taken on January 6, 2021…”

In addition, the government listed as a trial exhibit a copy of a contact for Chrestman that was saved in Kennedy’s cellphone. And the document included several photos of Kennedy. In two — one taken inside the Capitol and one outside — he is flashing a hand gesture that commonly signals “OK” but has been co-opted by the Proud Boys and other far-right groups to signify “white power.”

Until Wednesday, few details had been available about Kennedy’s actions on Jan. 6. Because he was first indicted by a grand jury, there was no “statement of facts” accompanying a criminal complaint as there was in most of the Capitol riot cases. And Kennedy’s name does not appear on the Justice Department’s website listing the defendants in the Capitol breach cases.

Online sleuths who have gathered evidence that has helped authorities identify many rioters have questioned the lack of information about Kennedy’s case, with some speculating that he was a key player in the investigation. They dubbed Kennedy #RWDSStooge because of the initials RWDS on the ball cap he was wearing in photos and videos from Jan. 6.

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