CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago man was arrested Wednesday and accused of entering the U.S. Capitol during an attack by rioters that resulted in the death of a Capitol police officer and four others, according to U.S. District Court documents.
Kevin Lyons, 40, was charged in a criminal complaint in Washington with misdemeanor counts of entering a restricted building without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Lyons allegedly joined a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters as they smashed their way into the U.S. Capitol building. Five people, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer, died in the Jan. 6 assault. Dozens of people have been arrested in the attack, which temporarily halted congressional business to confirm Biden as president.
Lyons, an HVAC technician, was arrested at his home and appeared via a telephone link from jail before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes. The judge ordered him released on a $10,000 recognizance bond.
Among the conditions of Lyons’ release, Fuentes ordered him to have no contact with anyone involved in the Jan. 6 riot or anyone planning to impede or disturb the normal course of business of Congress or any other federal agency.
“I understand and agree, your honor,” he answered when asked if he understood the conditions.
Court-appointed defense attorney Lawrence Wolf Levin did not speak about the charges during the hearing.
According to the criminal complaint, Lyons was interviewed by the FBI in Chicago two days after the invasion of the Capitol. When FBI agents first asked Lyons if he had entered the building during the breach, they say he was evasive.
He became cooperative when investigators showed him a photo briefly posted to his Instagram account of a sign that read, “Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.”
Lyons admitted he had entered the Capitol but claimed he’d been swept up by the mob and couldn’t escape the crowd because of his light weight, according to the complaint.
