Image by Richard Burton from Pixabay
June 27, 2024 - WASHINGTON – An Illinois man was sentenced to prison today after he pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.
Quinn Keen, 36, of Manteno, Illinois, was sentenced to 24 months in prison, 24 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly. Keen pleaded guilty on Feb. 20, 2024, to a felony charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers.
According to court documents, Keen traveled to Washington, D.C., from Illinois to protest the 2020 presidential election results. After arriving in the District, Keen walked toward the Capitol building with other protestors and, by 1:14 p.m., was within the restricted area and had made his way to the Lower West Terrace. There, Keen joined other rioters facing off against U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) and Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers who had formed a police line behind metal barricades to try and stop the crowd from penetrating deeper into the restricted area. Keen confronted the officers holding the police line multiple times. He approached the police line and initially threw the contents of a water bottle at officers, then tossed the empty bottle at them.
As Keen was throwing the water bottle at officers, other rioters grabbed one of the metal barricades that formed part of the police line and wrestled it away from officers and to the ground. As an MPD officer tried to retrieve the barricade, Keen shoved the officer with both of his hands, pushing the officer backward. Then, at about 1:15 p.m., Keen threw a metal travel mug at officers, which deflected off an officer’s plexiglass riot shield and fell to the ground.
When rioters eventually breached the police line, Keen advanced with the mob up the Northwest Stairs to the Capitol building and was observed entering the U.S. Capitol through the Upper West Terrace door at about 2:38 p.m. Once inside, Keen traveled up a staircase and into the Capitol Rotunda. While in the Rotunda, Keen celebrated with other rioters and smoked a marijuana joint. Keen was fully aware at the time he entered that he did not have permission to enter the Capitol building, yet he knowingly remained inside for approximately 37 minutes.
The FBI arrested Keen on April 6, 2023, in Chicago.
This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Chicago and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the 41 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,450 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 500 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
Source: DOJ Release
