KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Johnson County, Kansas, man pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges connected to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol.
As part of a plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors, Ryan Ashlock pleaded guilty in a video hearing Tuesday before Judge Timothy J. Kelly to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds.
Federal prosecutors dropped several other charges, including conspiracy, tampering, civil disorder and additional counts of entering a restricted building or grounds, as part of the plea agreement.
RELATED | 7 Kansas City residents charged for roles in Jan. 6 attack
In February 2021, less than two months after the Jan. 6 attack, Ashlock, who lives in Gardner, was charged with the crimes and taken into custody.
A day after he was taken into custody, Ashlock appeared before a federal judge and denied that his actions during the Jan. 6 attack were criminal.
But in the plea agreement reached Tuesday, Ashlock admitted in a “statement of offense” that during the attack, he went over toppled barricades and advanced toward the Capitol’s west plaza, where he “attempted to prevent the police officers from using force against others in the crowd."
COURT DOCUMENT | Read Ryan Ashlock's statement of offense
Ashlock, who admitted to being equipped with body armor, goggles, a filtered breathing mask and a chemical irritant spray, also attempted to “prevent officers from pushing a barricade forward and was sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant” before he left the Capitol’s restricted area.
Ashlock remains out of jail on a personal recognizance bond. Judge Kelly set a sentencing hearing for 10 a.m. on Nov. 10, 2022.
In addition to criminal charges filed against Ashlock, he was one of four Kansas City-area Proud Boys that were the subject of a civil lawsuit filed last December by the District of Columbia in connection to the Jan. 6 attack. Proceedings in that case are ongoing.
In April 2022, Blue Springs resident Louis Enrique Colon, one of the other Kansas City Proud Boys charged in the attacks, pleaded guilty for his role.
The criminal cases against the two remaining area Proud Boys, Christopher Kuehne and William Chrestman, are ongoing.
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