KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The debate over the release of a Proud Boy from Olathe, Kansas, pending his trial on charges involving the deadly U.S. Capitol invasion has taken another turn.
For now, William “Billy” Chrestman, 47, remains in custody in Kansas — at least until a hearing Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
The latest action is an indication of how strongly prosecutors believe that Chrestman was a key player in the Capitol insurrection. Many others who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 — including two other Proud Boys from the Kansas City area — have been released on their own recognizance pending trial.
The back-and-forth over Chrestman’s release began Friday when Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge James O’Hara ordered that Chrestman be released pending his trial on charges of conspiracy and other offenses.
O’Hara, who said the decision was “a very close call” and that he believed the government’s case against Chrestman was overwhelming, placed conditions on Chrestman’s release that included in-home incarceration and electronic monitoring.
Federal prosecutors in Kansas immediately filed a motion to halt Chrestman’s release while they appealed, and on Saturday, O’Hara ruled that he would hear that motion Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas.
But also on Saturday, prosecutors in Washington, D.C., where the charges against Chrestman originated, filed an emergency motion with the court in the District of Columbia to stop Chrestman’s release pending a review of O’Hara’s decision.
“This Court has the authority to stay the Magistrate Judge from the District of Kansas’s order to release Defendant pending trial in this case,” prosecutors said in their motion. “Moreover, this Court has the authority to overrule that decision and order that the defendant be detained and transferred to the District of Columbia pending trial.”
The Washington, D.C., prosecutors argued that Chrestman should remain in custody “because not only did the defendant violently enter the U.S. Capitol without lawful authority, but he also went in carrying a dangerous weapon, that is, an axe handle, that he concealed initially with a flag.”
They said the evidence against Chrestman “weighs strongly in favor of detention.”
“Dozens of videos and photographs exist to prove the defendant’s participation in the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021,” prosecutors said in their motion. “As the Magistrate Judge in Kansas stated, the amount of evidence against the defendant is overwhelming, to the point where ‘ultimate conviction is highly probable.’”
On Sunday, Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, issued a stay of Chrestman’s release pending a review of O’Hara’s decision. A hearing on the issue is scheduled for Tuesday morning in the District of Columbia.
On Monday, O’Hara ruled that because the District of Columbia had issued a stay of his release order, he was canceling Tuesday’s hearing in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas.
The case now heads back to the District of Columbia.
Chrestman and two other Kansas City-area Proud Boys — Christopher Kuehne of Olathe and Louis Enrique Colon of Blue Springs, Missouri — were charged Feb. 10 with conspiracy, civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Chrestman, an Army veteran, also is charged with threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer and using and carrying a dangerous weapon during the commission of the offense. He could be seen on numerous videos alongside other Proud Boys during the insurrection, dressed in tactical gear, leading chants and wielding an ax handle inside the Capitol.
Colon, 44, and Kuehne, 47, were released on their own recognizance. All three men are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 26.
In his release order Friday, O’Hara said Chrestman’s freedom would come with strict conditions.
“The bottom line is that the court believes very stringent conditions on the defendant’s release...can and will reasonably assure against the risks of flight, danger to the community at large, and obstruction of justice,” O’Hara wrote.
Chrestman would have been placed on electronic monitoring and under “home incarceration,” meaning he would be restricted to his residence at all times with few exceptions. All travel must be approved in advance, and he must post a $10,000 cash bond, the judge ruled. That’s most of the $10,500 in cash that Chrestman told the judge he had stashed in a safe at his home.
Prior to Chrestman’s release, O’Hara wrote, the Pretrial Services Office must verify that all firearms have been removed from his home and from any vehicles parked at or near his residence.
At a hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas, federal prosecutors argued that Chrestman was a flight risk and a danger to society and should remain locked up. They alleged that he was the leader of a cell of Kansas City-area Proud Boys that breached the Capitol.
But Chrestman’s attorneys argued against his pretrial detention, saying he was not a serious flight risk, chances were slim that he would attempt to obstruct the prosecution and he was not a danger to the community.
They also said that former President Donald Trump — not the rioters — was responsible for the insurrection.
The rioters were “actively misled” by Trump, Chrestman’s attorneys said in a Feb. 16 court filing. “...Trump told the assembled rabble what they must do; they followed his instructions. Then, he ratified their actions, cementing his symbiotic relationship with the rioters.”
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