Man with ties to Proud Boys pleads guilty

A southeast Missouri man with ties to the Kansas City-area Proud Boys pleaded guilty Wednesday to two felonies involving the Capitol riot and was found guilty by a judge on a third felony count.

Nicholas Kennedy, 43, of Sikeston, entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of civil disorder and one count of tampering with records, documents or other objects. And Judge Colleen Kollar-kotelly found him guilty of a felony count for obstruction of an official proceeding based on an agreed set of facts between the government and Kennedy’s attorneys.

Kennedy’s sentencing has been scheduled for Aug. 28. He faces a likely sentence of between 18 months and 24 months in prison but could be subject to a maximum of 20 years in prison on two of the felony charges.

He also must pay $2,000 restitution for damage to the Capitol.

Much of Kennedy’s hearing Tuesday involved prosecutor Jason Mccullough laying out the evidence behind the plea deal.

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 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 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 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.