They came from the city, the suburbs and deep Downstate, and from many walks of life; a tech CEO, an HVAC repairman, a Chicago police officer, a real estate agent, a community activist and more.
Some are accused of conducting themselves like brawlers, others allegedly wandered around like tourists. All have come under the federal hammer.
Over the past two years, 35 people from Illinois have been charged as part of the ongoing investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which prosecutors have described as one of the largest criminal investigations in American history.
Here are some of Illinois’ accused and convicted, listed by date of arrest:
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Charge: “Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; or knowingly, with intent to impede government business or official functions, engaging in disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds,” according to the Department of Justice.
The former tech CEO was detained by police at the Capitol after he threw a chair in the direction of officers, though he denied trying to strike anyone. Rukstales was president and CEO of the Schaumburg-based tech company Cogensia, but was terminated following his arrest.
Plea: Guilty in September 2021, to willfully and knowingly parading, demonstrating and picketing inside the Capitol, a misdemeanor.
Sentence: 30 days behind bars.
“I have come to realize the weight of my actions, and immensely regret following others into the Capitol,” he said after his sentencing. “As a patriotic citizen, I hope and pray that the people of our nation will move forward united by the many commonalities we share.”
Charges: Three felony counts for entering the U.S. Capitol, a restricted building, with the intent to disrupt official business and for engaging in disorderly conduct once inside. Lyons has pleaded not guilty.
The resident of the Gladstone Park neighborhood was identified through an Instagram photo showing the sign outside the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He allegedly told FBI agents that he entered the building through its rear doors, and provided links to videos he took inside.
“Hello Nice FBI Lady,” Lyons emailed a special agent on Jan. 9, 2021, according to court documents. “Here are the links to the videos. Looks like Podium Guy is in one of them, less the podium. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Podium Guy” was an apparent reference to Adam Johnson, 36, who was charged with participating in the riot after he was allegedly caught on camera carrying the House speaker’s lectern.
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Charge: Entering restricted grounds, resisting a government officer and attempting to obstruct a law enforcement officer.
The Downstate man was identified by a former neighbor who tipped federal agents to Capsel’s Facebook account, which carried the name of “Mateo Q Capsel.” That led investigators to a TikTok account that allegedly showed Capsel fighting National Guardsmen outside the Capitol, according to court documents.
“In this video, Capsel, identifiable by the tattoos on his face and neck, and wearing (a distinctive) hat, shirt, and necklace, is fighting against National Guardsmen until he is pepper sprayed, as shown in the last screenshot,” court documents say.
Sentence: 18 months in prison.
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Charge: Entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. They have pleaded not guilty.
The couple, who investigators say appear to be adherents of the QAnon conspiracy movement, were identified after a tipster led agents to Jason Gerding’s Twitter account. A photo on the site showed them wearing Trump 2020 shirts and triumphantly clasping hands in the Capitol rotunda, according to court documents.
“Well since they let us inside, opened the door for us I think we’ll be just fine,” Christina Gerding allegedly responded to a Facebook critic calling for her arrest.
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Charge: Obstructing an official proceeding, entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct in the Capitol. Adams has pleaded not guilty.
Adams, who has worked in lawn care, was identified via an interview he gave to the Insider media outlet. He allegedly told an FBI agent that he entered the building through an open door and didn’t realize it was a violent takeover until he walked over broken glass.
“I think everything was great until it went from peaceful to everyone acting like a bunch of 12-year-olds destroying things,” he told Insider.
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Charge: Entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
The friends traveled to Washington to attend the rally for Trump and entered the Capitol through a breached door. According to court records, they did not participate in violence — Wangler said he told a man pounding on a window to “knock that (expletive) off” — and even asked a police officer for directions to the bathroom. A tipster identified them through a video sent over Facebook Messenger.
Plea: Guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Sentence: Received two years of probation and were ordered to pay $500 restitution.
“I wish I had just taken a picture and headed back to the hotel,” Harrison told the judge at his sentencing. “It was not worth it.”
Arrested: June 8, 2021 (Christian Kulas); Mark Kulas charged Nov. 19, 2021
Plea: Guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building and await sentencing.
Court documents say tipsters contacted the FBI days after the incursion to say Christian Kulas was at the Capitol, and that he was seen on social media posts and surveillance images wearing a Burberry coat and a hat adorned with Trump’s campaign slogan, “Keep America Great.”
Kulas’ older brother Mark accompanied him, and though Christian Kulas cheered rioters trying to breach a police line to open a door, there was no evidence the brothers assisted, court documents said.
Sentence: Six months each of probation, including 60 days on home detention.
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Arrested: June 11, 2021 (Karol Chwiesiuk); Dec. 19, 2022 (Agnieszka Chwiesiuk)
Charge: Entering or remaining in a restricted building and violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building. The siblings have each pleaded not guilty.
Investigators said they focused on the Chicago police officer after discovering that a device with a Google account associated with Chwiesiuk was in or near the Capitol on Jan. 6. They went on to find a selfie he allegedly took in the office of Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley; he wore a hoodie with the Chicago Police Department logo on it, court documents said.
“We inside the capital lmfao,” Chwiesiuk allegedly texted a friend.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the officer’s alleged actions were “a total disgrace to the badge.”
His sister was identified as the woman seen wearing a red knit cap with white and blue stripes and a face mask with upside-down American flags, accompanying Chwiesiuk as he entered the U.S. Capitol through a broken-out Senate wing door.
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Charge: Assault on a law enforcement officer and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds.
Prosecutors allege Woods, who apparently runs a heating and air conditioning company, joined a large and belligerent crowd that had congregated on the lower west terrace of the Capitol. When someone in the crowd sprayed police with bear mace and an officer tried to pursue that person, a bystander’s video showed that Woods ran forward and tripped her, according to the criminal complaint.
Woods was captured on another video tackling a cameraman from behind, the complaint said.
“In YouTube Video #3, a publicly available video I reviewed during the course of this investigation, an individual who … appears to be Woods can also be observed walking closely around a cameraman dressed in bluejeans and a blue jacket,” an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit. “Soon after, Woods is observed running into and tackling this same cameraman as the cameraman is facing away from Woods.”
Plea: Guilty to scuffling with a police officer.
Woods’s sentencing was put on hold after he was charged in Sangamon County in November 2021 with making a drunken suicide attempt on a downstate highway. But instead of killing himself, he took the life of a 35-year-old woman who was born and raised in Skokie.
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Plea: Guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building and are awaiting sentencing.
An anonymous tip guided FBI agents to a YouTube video showing a woman inside the Capitol who wore a jacket with “Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 422 Joliet IL” on its back. Agents searched for Google accounts associated with Joliet’s 815 area code and found one associated with Amy Schubert, according to court documents. That led to the discovery of photos and videos allegedly shot by Schubert, showing her husband inside the Capitol.
Sentence: Probation and community service. They must also pay a total of $4,500 in fines and restitution.
Charge: Entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. Gleffe has pleaded not guilty.
A tipster allegedly provided FBI agents with Facebook images showing Gleffe outside the Capitol. Investigators used cellphone data to learn he had been inside for about 14 minutes, and confirmed that with footage captured by surveillance cameras, according to court documents.
Gleffe allegedly told agents that police did not stop him from entering the building, and that he did not enter any of the building’s inner rooms.
“At the conclusion of the interview, Gleffe stated he made ‘the biggest mistake going through the door’ and ‘would not do it again if I could go back,’” the criminal complaint said.
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Charge: Entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
An ex-co-worker who said he had worked with Wiersma at PCI Energy Center in Lake Bluff allegedly tipped off FBI agents that Wiersma posted on Facebook that he had entered the Capitol. Investigators found other videos and photos that allegedly showed him and Frankowski, with whom he had traveled to Washington, inside the building, according to court documents.
Frankowski told FBI agents she drove to the Washington, D.C., area with Wiersma and a third man, according to the complaint. The three of them went to the “Save America Rally,” but when the crowd marched to the Capitol building, the third person in their group stayed behind, the complaint said.
“Spent about 30 minutes inside and got out before the swat team went in,” a Facebook post allegedly tied to Wiersma reads.
Sentence: 18 months of probation for both Wiersma and Frankowski, plus community service and restitution.
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Charge: Entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. Ligas has pleaded not guilty.
Ligas, a well-known political operative on Chicago’s Northwest Side, came on the federal radar after investigators learned he was quoted by name in an NPR article about the incursion. Agents found that a device associated with his Gmail account was inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, and he also allegedly appeared in video footage shot there, court documents say.
“We’re not moving on,” Ligas told NPR. ” … We are not Republicans. We are the MAGA party. We are patriots.”
Charge: Civil disorder, assault of a federal officer, entering restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon and carrying out an act of violence on Capitol grounds.
Elliott, whom prosecutors describe as a member of the far-right Proud Boys, was captured in online videos and body-worn camera footage among a large group of rioters trying to break through a police line outside the Capitol, prosecutors said in court.
Elliott was allegedly seen in the footage carrying an American flag on a pole that he swung at police, landing at least one glancing blow on an officer’s head.
“Patriots, what is your occupation?” Elliott allegedly shouted at others in the crowd, rewording a catchphrase from the movie “300.”
Plea: Guilty. His sentencing is set for Feb. 10.
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Charge: Misdemeanor counts of unlawfully entering a restricted government building and disorderly conduct on U.S. Capitol grounds.
A criminal complaint included photos of the three men allegedly standing amid the mob outside the Capitol and later entering through a door, filing past a man in a gas mask and bicycle helmet. Another photo shows the defendants walking single-file through the Capitol rotunda.
Sentence: One year of probation for Vollan and Anthony Carollo. Jeremiah Carollo received 21 days behind bars.
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Charge: Misdemeanor counts of unlawfully entering a restricted government building and disorderly conduct on U.S. Capitol grounds.
In an interview with the FBI at her suburban home, Ferreira told agents she is a citizen of Brazil and present in the U.S. on a work visa and therefore was not able to vote.
“However, Ferreira followed the news of the 2020 election and wanted to travel to Washington, D.C. to see President Donald Trump speak,” the complaint stated.
The day after the riot, Ferreira and her friend, who was also in the crowd that day, exchanged worried text messages about the fallout, according to the complaint. Ferreira texted that she’d been walking with a man and his two sons and never noticed in the moment that people were breaking through barriers and fighting with the police.
“I’m so irresponsible” Ferreira texted. “Yesterday it felt amazing.”
Plea: Guilty.
Sentence: In addition to 14 days in custody, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington gave Ferreira three years of probation and ordered her to perform 60 hours of community service and pay $500 in restitution, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
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Charge: Misdemeanor counts of unlawfully entering a restricted government building and disorderly conduct on U.S. Capitol grounds.
According to the charges, Zoyganeles had planned on traveling to Washington for weeks before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, messaging one friend in December 2020 he was “down for whatever.”
“It’s time we take this country back,” Zoyganeles wrote, according to the complaint.
About 10 days after the attack, a tipster gave the FBI a screenshot of Zoyganeles’ Facebook profile and said he had posted a “very creepy video of him in the Capitol saying ‘Nazis, where are you??’ ” the complaint alleged.
The tipster said Zoyganeles was also part of a group going into offices and going through books and files, according to the complaint. Zoyganeles took down the video later that day.
The FBI used phone records to determine that Zoyganeles’ phone was in the vicinity of the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Zoyganeles pleaded guilty in 2021 and will be sentenced on Jan. 26.
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Charge: Misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and unlawfully entering a restricted government building.
A criminal complaint alleged Bokoski entered the Capitol with his father while wearing a “Trump 2020″ flag as a cape and left after a few.
Plea: Guilty. His sentencing is set for Jan. 17.
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Charge: Misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and unlawfully entering a restricted government building.
According to the complaint, Castle and DiFrancesco were both seen on surveillance footage entering the Capitol building through a Senate wing door shortly after it had been breached by the unruly mob.
Images included in the complaint allegedly showed the two as they walked through the building to the elevator bank near the visitors center. In one of the images, Castle, dressed in a white jacket and red and blue “Trump” hat with a pom-pom, could be seen walking past chairs from an earlier clash with police that had been strewn on the floor.
Plea: Guilty. They were sentenced to 30 months each of probation.
Charge: Interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder, a felony, as well as four related misdemeanors. Daniel Leyden was also charged with a felony for assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers with a dangerous weapon.
According to a criminal complaint, Daniel Leyden and other rioters repeatedly lifted and pushed a metal barricade that ultimately toppled and pinned an officer and the barricade was also used to attack other officers, including one who was knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion.
His brother was accused of lunging at police and pushing an officer.
They have each pleaded not guilty.
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Charge: Interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder and four related misdemeanor offenses. Yang has pleaded not guilty.
According to the charges, surveillance cameras captured Yang as he entered the Capitol through building’s upper west terrace doors and made his way up a flight of stairs and into a lobby area outside the rotunda.
He then entered the rotunda, where he took selfies and posed for photos, according to the charges.
“When law enforcement officers attempted to clear the crowd, Yang forcibly interfered by physically grabbing hold of an officer’s baton,” the charges stated. “The officer had been using the baton to push back against others in the mob.”
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Charge: Assault of a federal law enforcement officer, destruction of government property, and civil disorder.
McNamara earned the online moniker #Railmixer after being seen allegedly using a metal railing to ram the doors of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot.
McNamara’s case is pending in U.S. District Court in Washington.
