Feds charge Gladstone Park man for allegedly participating in breach at U.S. Capitol, being in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office
by CYRYL JAKUBOWSKI
A Gladstone Park man was arrested on federal charges Wednesday, Jan. 13, at his home in the 5500 block of North Mason Avenue, after he allegedly participated in last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol and was one of 20 to 30 people who were in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ransacked office on Jan. 6, according to a federal complaint.
The suspect was identified in a U.S. District Court complaint filed in the District of Columbia as Kevin James Lyons, age 40, of the 5500 block of North Mason Avenue.
He is charged with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. He appeared on Jan. 13 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes in Chicago via video and was ordered released to face the charges in D.C, according to Joseph Fitzpatrick, assistant U.S. attorney for Northern District of Illinois.
The complaint states that scores of people captured videos and took pictures on their cell phones after they entered the Capitol building illegally on Jan. 6 as the events were being broadcast live on television.
Law enforcement during an investigation reviewed Lyons’ Instagram account that allegedly showed a posted map tracing his route from Chicago to Washington, a more than an 11 hour drive, and a posting that said “I refuse to tell my children that I sat back and did nothing. I am heading to DC to STOP THE STEAL!”
Lyons, who works for an HVAC company, said that he drove to D.C. to attend President Trump’s rally and was simply a tourist and live streamed his experiences online, according to the complaint.
The same Instagram account also posted a photo showing a sign outside of Pelosi’s office from inside of the Capitol building with the post “Whos House?!?!? Our House!!” according to the complaint.
FBI agents interviewed Lyons on Jan. 8 at his home in Chicago and he was shown the photo from his Instagram of the wooden sign that said “Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi” at which time he stated “Wow you are pretty good that was up for only an hour,” before it was removed, the complaint states. Lyons “stated that he can’t guarantee that he posted it,” according to the complaint.
The complaint also states that Lyons allegedly had the photo on his phone that he showed to agents and forwarded three links to his YouTube Channel with videos that allegedly showed Lyons narrating as large group of people was outside of the Capitol building, and then narrating as people were walking in what appeared to be a hallway and a rotunda in the Capitol building.
The complaint also states that while he was in the crowd he heard flash bangs and saw people with “red faces” and as the crowd pushed toward the capitol “there was little he could do to escape the crowd because he weighed 140 pounds.” Lyons said that he did not enter through a window but through a rear door to the Capitol and mostly stayed in the hallways, the complaint states.
The complaint states that while inside the building Lyons allegedly went into Pelosi’s office, which he described as a “good size” and there were 20 to 30 people there and that while he was there a Capitol Police officer entered with a gun and he raised his hands and was told to leave. He said that he “went directly to his vehicle and left Washington D.C.,” according to the complaint.
View the complaint here
