American Klete Keller, who won two Olympic gold medals as a teammate of Michael Phelps’ relay team, was identified among supporters of Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol last week, according to several reports.
SwimSwam swimming news website alleged in a report that at least a dozen people in the sport identified the imposing man wearing an American Olympic team jacket inside the building like Keller after reviewing the video and screenshots of the riot.
USA Swimming did not respond when asked if they could confirm whether Keller was part of the crowd that entered the legislative complex when lawmakers began certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s Nov. 3 election victory over Trump.
Reuters’ attempts to reach Keller were unsuccessful.
A woman who answered the phone from the Colorado-Ohio-based real estate agency where Keller works told Reuters, “I’m not commenting on anything right now,” and then hung up.
In one of the videos, which was taken by a journalist from the conservative news program Townhall, a man identified as Keller is seen among the crowd that police officers are trying to push towards the exits of the United States Capitol.
Keller is a five-time Olympic medalist who held the great Australian Ian Thorpe at the anchor of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the 2004 Athens Games to win gold for the United States.
World of swimming
(@SwimmingWorld)Olympic champion Klete Keller appears to have been at the U.S. Capitol during the uprising – https://t.co/JiDwxgSPog pic.twitter.com/9b0zwbLXCH
Swimming World also claimed to have confirmed with sources that Keller was seen at the U.S. Capitol and added that the videos show no violence by the 38-year-olds. The Guardian has not been able to independently verify that the person in the videos was Keller.
According to the New York Times, Keller has deleted his social media accounts, some of which according to the publication had included a flow of pro-Trump messaging in recent years.
Trump urged thousands of supporters to march on the Capitol last Wednesday, causing chaos in which crowds broke into the building and forced the evacuation of both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.
Five people, including a police officer, died as a result of the disaster.