Chicago man charged with entering Speaker Pelosi's office during Jan. 6 Capitol riot to face February trial
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago man accused of entering House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, is set to become the first person from Illinois to face trial, after rejecting a plea deal from federal prosecutors.
Kevin Lyons is facing misdemeanor charges of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building; and obstruction of an official proceeding.
At a status hearing on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell scheduled Lyons' trial to begin on Feb. 6, 2023, after federal prosecutors said he had rejected offers of a plea deal.
Lyons was arrested at his home in the Gladstone Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side one week after the riot at the Capitol.
The FBI was led to Lyons after investigating his social media accounts, which included several pictures of him in body armor holding guns.
Lyons' Instagram account included a screenshot of a map tracing the route from his home to the Washington, D.C. area, with a post beside it reading, "I refuse to tell my children that I sat back and did nothing. I am heading to DC to STOP THE STEAL!"
That account also included a photo depicting a sign that read "Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi," with a caption under it, "WHOS HOUSE?!?!? OUR HOUSE!!"
The FBI interviewed Lyons on Jan. 8, 2021, in Chicago. Lyons admitted that he was in Washington, D.C., two days earlier but at first was evasive about whether he entered the Capitol building, according to the charges against Lyons.
Lyons said he "100% guaranteed, without incriminating himself," that he saw nothing being dragged from the Capitol.
He also claimed he had a dream where he saw a lot of banging on doors, paper being thrown around, and a mob of people, and he said in his dream, "people really didn't have much choice of where they were going because of the mob," the complaint said. Lyons advised that if he were inside, he was inside for approximately 45 minutes, the complaint said.
Then, Lyons was shown the photo reading, "Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and he said, "Wow, you are pretty good. That was only up for only an hour." He also said he could not guarantee he was the one who posted it to Instagram, but when the agent asked him to show them his camera roll on his phone, the photo was there, the complaint said.
When asked if there were other pictures from the Capitol building on his phone, Lyons showed the agents another picture of the wooden plaque with Pelosi's name, and a video showing a large group of people walking through what appeared to be the U.S. Capitol, the complaint said.
When asked if he would give FBI agents a copy of the video, he said the file would be too big and instead offered to upload the videos to YouTube and email the links, the complaint said.
The complaint said Lyons went on to email an FBI agent with the words: "Hello, Nice FBI Lady, Here are the links to the videos. Looks like Podium Guy is in one of them, less the podium. Let me know if you need anything else. Kevin Lyons."
The complaint said that one of the videos Lyons emailed to the agent showed a large group of people outside the Capitol with Lyons speaking throughout. The complaint said that the second showed people in what appeared to be a Capitol hallway with Lyons' voice also heard, and a third showed people in the Rotunda. The videos were posted to Lyons' YouTube channel, the complaint said.
Lyons told agents he had gone to Washington, D.C., to attend President Trump's rally and described himself as a tourist, the complaint said. He said he took an Uber to the Washington Monument where the rally was held and had only planned to attend the rally, the complaint said.
But he said while walking along Pennsylvania Avenue, he heard "flash bangs" and saw people walking toward him with red faces, the complaint said. He said the crowd pushed toward the Capitol building, and there was not much he could do to escape because he only weighed 140 pounds, the complaint said.
He said near the Capitol, he saw people tearing up scaffolding and climbing the walls, and he said he went up the stairs and walked in a door, the complaint said.
The complaint said that inside the Capitol, Lyons said he first walked around the Rotunda and took a moment to look at the statues and gather his bearings. He said he then walked upstairs to the second floor but did not go to the House of Representatives' Chamber because he did not know where it was, the complaint said.
But Lyons admitted to going into the "big boss" office, referring to Pelosi's office, the complaint said. He said he did take that picture of the plaque outside Pelosi's office and uploaded the photo to Instagram, the complaint said.
Lyons said Pelosi's office was a "good size" office, and about 20 to 30 people were already inside when he walked in. He said he saw a broken mirror but was told it was broken before he entered, the complaint said.
Lyons said while he was in Pelosi's office, a Capitol Police officer entered with his 40mm pistol drawn. Lyons raised his arms above his head as the officer told him to get out, and he left, the complaint said.
Lyons said as he walked back to the first floor, he found the second floor was filled with tear gas, and he passed by several officers with AR-15 rifles, the complaint said. He said upon leaving the Capitol, he got in his car and left Washington, D.C., the complaint said.
Lyons has a previous criminal record in Cook County. The mugshot below is from an arrest by Chicago Police in 2014.
The 2014 arrest was on a charge of obstruction of a police officer, but the charge was later dismissed.
Also on Thursday, a Chicago man who wore a "Trump 2020" flag as a cape inside the Capitol during the riot pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge alongside his father, who joined him during the insurrection.
Matthew Bokoski and his father, Bradley Bokoski, of Utah, both pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building.
They're now scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 17 and face up to six months in prison, up to five years of probation, and a fine of up to $5,000.
According to federal prosecutors in D.C., at least 29 people from Illinois have been charged in connection with the Capitol insurrection.
Including Matthew Bokoski, 19 of those have pleaded guilty to various charges. Ten of those defendants have been sentenced; eight of them to probation only, and two to less than a month each in jail.