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Klete Keller, a remarkable swimmer and winner of five Olympic swimming medals (two of them gold), was indicted on January 13, 2021 for her participation in the riots on the Capitol in Washington.
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On January 6, 2021, violent protests took place in Washington by Trump supporters, who took the assault The United States Chapter.
Keller was charged with entering or remaining in the building without legal authorization, violating the law, disorderly conduct for reasons in the Chapter, and obstructing law enforcement.
According to various media outlets, the two-time Olympic gold medalist was among the crowd in Washington. A reporter posted a video of a man seen pushing police officers as Trump supporters tried to clear the Chapter Roundabout.
According to The New York Times, Keller was identified as the man pushing the police by his 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 a ‘United States’ printed on the back and sleeves,” he said. in the article.
SwimSwan’s swimming news was the first to report Keller’s identity after the video began circulating on the Internet following the “confiscation” of the Chapter.
FBI Special Agent Matthew R. Barofsky wrote in court documents that he confirmed 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 case do we tolerate the actions taken by Capitol Hill last week.”
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee has said it has condemned the riots.
“We support the right to protest peacefully and to express values and views in a respectful and legal manner; that strengthens our democracy. Unfortunately, this is not what happened in this case, “the organization said in a statement.
Moreover, following the protests, Keller resigned from his position “with immediate effect” at the Colorado real estate company, Hoff & Leigh, where he worked for three years.
“Hoff & Leigh supports the right to freedom of expression and legal protest, but we cannot approve actions that violate the rule of law,” the media company said in a brief statement.
Keller is known for anchoring America’s winning 4x200m freestyle relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he retained Australian gold medalist Ian Thorpe.
Keller won four other medals at three Olympics, including gold at the same event in 2008 in Beijing.
Although Keller deleted his social media accounts, several of his followers noticed that he posted pro-Trump messages over the years.