Jamiesfeast – A Kansas City man took his mother to the Capitol on January 6 and joined a coordinated “heave-ho” movement against a police line during the riot. On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of blocking officers during a civil disorder.
In U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Kyle Kumer, 43, pleaded guilty at a hearing. Judge Carl J. Nichols set it for May 17.
If found guilty, the offender could face up to five years in prison, a hefty $250,000 fine, and a three-year period of supervised release.
Kumer becomes the 28th Missouri resident out of the 36 charged so far to plead guilty in relation to the Capitol riot.
In June, he faced charges of civil disorder, a felony, along with three misdemeanors. These misdemeanors included entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings. However, as part of his plea agreement, the three misdemeanors were dropped.
A charge of crime As part of his plea deal, Kumer said that he and his mother were on the West Plaza of the Capitol building by at least 2:30 p.m. on January 6. It said that the barricades had been taken down and that dozens of police officers were trying to keep the crowd in check.
For the next 20 minutes, they made their way up to the Lower West Terrace and arrived at the grand stage prepared for President Joe Biden’s imminent inauguration. Excitedly, Kumer enthusiastically joined in the spirited chants of “Whose House? Our House!” while energetically pumping his fists in the air.
At approximately 2:56 p.m., Kumer and his mother navigated through the crowd on the Lower West Terrace and approached the entrance of the tunnel that led into the Capitol. Upon entering, he raised his phone above the crowd and seemingly captured a photo of the scene, including the police line.
The crowd started pushing against the police line as they moved deeper into the tunnel around 3:08 p.m.
According to the statement, a number of rioters departed at approximately 3:10 p.m., but Kumer and his mother chose to remain. Shortly after, Kumer decided to join another group as they initiated a push against the police.
“This group push effort caused MPD Officer D.H. to be crushed between the crowd and the door,” it said. Kumer and his mother continued to remain in the tunnel, even though many exited, leaving them ample space to get out.
Around 3:16 p.m., Kumer joined another group in a push, according to the statement. Just a couple of minutes later, the police managed to push them back to the entrance of the tunnel. The statement mentioned that Kumer and his mother were among the last rioters to be cleared from inside the tunnel.
According to the statement, Kumer witnessed MPD Officer M.F. being dragged into the crowd while in the vicinity just outside the tunnel entrance. He was also present when Officer M.F. was rescued and brought back to the tunnel by his fellow officers. Additionally, Kumer saw another rioter forcefully take a stolen U.S. Capitol police shield from a nearby police officer, who was standing near the tunnel entrance.
In November 17, 2021, authorities conducted an interview with Kumer at his home in Kansas City, according to the affidavit. During the interview, Kumer openly confessed that he was present at the Capitol on January 6. He even showed the authorities videos and photos that he had captured on his cellphone. The affidavit further states that Kumer admitted to participating in the crowd’s attempt to push against the police line in the tunnel. However, he firmly denied entering the Capitol itself.
In the charging documents, there is a picture of an officer with his badge number written on his helmet. This is the badge number of Michael Fanone, who was attacked by rioters who tried to take his gun out of its holster and was hit, tased, and robbed of his badge, police radio, and 17-round magazine. Fanone had a heart attack and traumatic brain damage in the attack.
The probable cause statement that Kumer’s charges were based on said that the FBI got two tips that he was at the Capitol that day after the riot. A family member gave information that Kumer had put pictures and videos from the Capitol on his Facebook page but then took them down a few days later. The person who gave the information gave police photos from Kumer’s Facebook page that showed him talking about his time at the Capitol and a video of the Lower West Terrace.
The statement said that Kumer was questioned by police at his home in Kansas City around November 17, 2021. Kumer told them he was at the Capitol on January 6 and showed them pictures and videos from his phone. It also said that he admitted going into the tunnel and helping the crowd push against the police line, but he said he didn’t go into the Capitol.
It said in the statement that Kumer said he was pushing against the crowd to keep his elderly mother from getting hurt. “Kumer said he took his little old mother to the tunnel to fully enjoy the moment.”
The webpage for Northland Church KC says that Kumer was working there at the time he was arrested. His picture was taken down from an area called “Meet Our Team” after the charges were made public.