(MotionStudios / Pixabay)
A Chicago man convicted of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, who boasted about taking a framed photo from the desk of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will spend more than four years in federal prison.
Kevin James Lyons, 40, was sentenced Friday to 51 months in prison after he was found guilty on several charges related to the Capitol insurrection, including: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct; entering and remaining in certain rooms in the Capitol building; disorderly conduct at the grounds and in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building; and obstruction of an official proceeding.
“At the Capitol, he freely and happily walked into a riot and ultimately followed the rioters into the building itself and the personal office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum.
According to federal prosecutors, Lyons drove through the night to arrive in Washington, D.C., for the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. In a Jan. 5 post on Instagram, he stated: “I refuse to tell my children that I sat back and did nothing. I’m heading to DC to STOP THE STEAL!”
After the rally, Lyons walked to the Capitol amid flashbang grenades and tear gas, and mounted the west front of the Capitol while stating “We’re storming the Capitol building!” prosecutors said in the sentencing memorandum.
He was overheard yelling “I guess we’re all going to jail” and “Let’s take it!” before heading up the Capitol stairs toward the Senate Wing doors. Prosecutors said Lyons yelled comments at police officers as he walked that included: “Oath breakers!” “F--king Nazi bastards!” and “Traitors!”
Once inside, Lyons made his way through the building while yelling “Nancy, where are you?” before he entered Pelosi’s private office where he filmed himself taking a wallet from a congressional staffer’s coat and a framed photograph of the speaker with deceased U.S. Rep. John Lewis, prosecutors said.
Later that same night, Lyons texted some friends a picture of the stolen photograph with an admission that he’d taken it, saying, “I’m pretty confident I am now a multiple Federal felon,” according to the sentencing memorandum. That photo was never recovered.
Kevin James Lyons holding a framed photo he was convicted of taking from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the Jan. 6 insurrection. (U.S. Attorney’s Office)
Lyons eventually returned to his Chicago home, where he was interviewed by FBI agents days after the Capitol breach. He admitted he was in D.C. on Jan. 6, but prosecutors said he gave “evasive” answers about whether he actually entered the Capitol building.
When the agents presented him with a screenshot of another Instagram post Lyons made that included a photo of a wooden plaque outside Pelosi’s office suite, he stated, “Wow. You guys are pretty good. That was only up for an hour,” according to the sentencing memorandum, but then added that he “can’t guarantee that I posted it.”
He was ultimately arrested and was found guilty at trial on April 7, 2023.
Lyons’ defense attorney had sought a five-month prison sentence, stating that “there is no question that the defendant was wrong. He knows that.”
“He accepts responsibility for his actions and is ready to face the consequences,” attorney Lawrence Wolf Levin wrote in his own sentencing memorandum. “But the offense conduct does not define him.”
More than 1,069 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 350 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431
