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Klete Keller, a prominent swimmer and winner of five Olympic swimming medals (two of them gold), was charged on January 13, 2021 for his involvement during the riots at the Capitol, located in the city of Washington.
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On January 6, 2021, violent protests were held in Washington by Trump supporters, who broke into the United States Capitol.
Keller was charged with entering or remaining in the building without legal permission, for entering violently, for his disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and obstruction of law enforcement.
According to various media, the two-time Olympic gold medalist was among the crowd in Washington. A reporter posted a video of a man pushing police officers as Trump supporters tried to clear the Capitol Roundabout.
According to The New York Times, Keller was identified as the man pushing the police for his own former teammates and coaches. “Several former teammates and coaches said they recognized Keller in the video because of his size and because he wore a U.S. Olympic team jacket that had ‘United States’ printed on his back and sleeves,” he noted. the article.
SwimSwan swimming news media was the first to report Keller’s identity after the video began circulating on the Internet after the Capitol’s “takeover.”
FBI Special Agent Matthew R. Barofsky wrote in court documents confirming Keller’s identity by comparing the photos in which he was with his Colorado driver’s license.
In a statement, USA Swimming told CNN: “We respect the rights of individuals and private groups to protest peacefully, but in no way do we tolerate the actions taken by those at the Capitol last week.”
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said it condemned the actions of the rioters.
“We support the right to protest peacefully and to express values and views in a respectful and lawful manner; this is what strengthens our democracy. Unfortunately, this is not what happened in this case,” the organization said in a statement.
On the other hand, after the protests, Keller had resigned from his post “with immediate effect” on the Colorado-based real estate firm Hoff & Leigh where he worked for three years.
“Hoff & Leigh supports the right to freedom of expression and legal protest, but we cannot condone actions that violate the rule of law,” the company told the media in a brief statement.
Keller is known for anchoring the winning U.S. team in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics, in which he kept gold medalist Ian Thorpe of Australia in check.
Keller won four medals at three Olympics, including gold at the same event in 2008 in Beijing.
Although Keller has deleted his social media accounts, several of his followers noticed that he has posted messages in favor of Trump over the years.