Public January 6 profile · ready to claim
Billy Chrestman
J6 case participant / Sibick statement signatory · C-2B pod, DC DOC
Billy Chrestman, born William Chrestman, is a U.S. Army veteran and union sheet metal worker from Olathe, Kansas. FACT: service first, then the trades. The Army from 1992 to 1996, then years as a union sheet metal worker in the Kansas City area (WUSA9; sentencing memo filed in federal court). Court filings and local coverage describe a working man with deep roots in his community (KSHB; Union Leader). He also knows the inside of this system better than almost anyone. FACT: Chrestman spent roughly three years in pretrial detention before his case resolved (Union Leader). Court records describe him at the Capitol on January 6 carrying a wooden club or axe handle wrapped with a blue flag, and his attorneys argued in filings that he and others believed they were following the President's lead that day. FACT: he was a signatory on the October 26, 2021, Thomas Sibick witness statements from the D.C. jail, documents preserved in this archive. Dubbed "#axehole" online by strangers who never met him, Chrestman is a Kansas man who served his country, worked a trade for years, and then spent longer locked up before trial than most Americans ever will. WHERE THINGS STAND: FACT, in October 2023 he pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding and threatening a federal officer (DOJ). FACT, on January 12, 2024, he was sentenced to 55 months in prison, with credit for the years already served (DOJ; Washington Post; NBC News). FACT, on January 20, 2025, the clemency proclamation covered his case, and Billy Chrestman came home to Kansas. CASE RECORD U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Pleaded guilty October 2023 to obstruction of an official proceeding and threatening a federal officer. Sentenced January 12, 2024, to 55 months. Clemency proclamation January 20, 2025. This profile is unclaimed. If this is you, or your family, claiming it is free, forever.
The case file
On the record
- Disposition
- Arrested 2/11/2021. Pleaded guilty October 2023 to obstruction of an official proceeding and threatening a federal officer. Sentenced January 12, 2024, to 55 months. Case covered by the January 20, 2025 clemency proclamation.
- Arrested
- February 11, 2021
Charges
- Conspiracy
- Obstruction of an Official Proceeding and Aiding and Abetting (guilty plea)
- Obstruction of Law Enforcement During Civil Disorder and Aiding and Abetting
- Threatening a Federal Officer (guilty plea)
- Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds While Carrying a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon
Sentence
55 months in prison, with credit for time served in pretrial detention.
Press & news
- https://johnsoncountypost.com/2025/01/21/trump-pardon-jan-6-attack-251374/ →
- https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.228130/gov.uscourts.dcd.228130.202.0.pdf →
- https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/kansas-proud-boy-sentenced-55-months-prison-felony-charges-related-jan-6-capitol-0 →
- https://www.kcur.org/news/2025-01-21/january-6-rioters-insurrection-trump-pardon-kansas →
- https://www.kshb.com/news/crime/attorneys-for-alleged-capitol-rioter-from-olathe-blame-trump-in-detention-memo →
- https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/kansas-proud-boy-sentenced-4-years-jan-6-attack-rcna133780 →
- https://www.unionleader.com/news/crime/two-years-later-kc-proud-boy-still-in-jail-and-still-at-center-of-jan/article_e9494f66-2893-5e4b-ac53-a70e8e942ff6.html →
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/01/12/proud-boy-kansas-city-sentenced-chrestman/ →
- https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/ax-handle-wielding-proud-boy-sentenced-to-45-years-in-prison-for-capitol-riot-william-billy-chrestman-kansas-city-olathe-army-veteran/65-0497455b-5050-4ebf-a77f-d63ccc40db57 →
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Connection to United States v. Nichols
Billy Chrestman appears in the record of United States v. Nichols through 3 shared documents on file below. The full case — timeline, people, documents — is public and free.
Walk the whole case →Evidence on file
3 documents on file
Ryan1 document
Ryan Nichols' own paperwork — grievances, motions, letters, cell notes.
Co-detainee2 documents
Witness statements and letters from fellow January 6 detainees. These are attributed accounts, not court findings.
grievance_form · Nov 17, 2021
Informal Grievance Form #135251 page 2 — witness list incl. Jon Mellis, Doug Jensen, Brandon Fellows (11/17/21)
Page 2 of Ryan Nichols' Informal Grievance #135251/IGP #22111223-848 dated 11/17/21 — cites Inmate Handbook page 1 number 8 non-discrimination clause, references unresolved 9/18/21 incident, lists J6 co-detainee witnesses, and requests copy for attorney Joseph McBride.
Readexhibit · Oct 26, 2021
Co-detainee Statement Concerning Thomas Sibick, Part 2 (October 26, 2021)
Page 2 of four handwritten statements concerning Thomas Sibick, dated October 26, 2021. The scan bears the names and signatures of Billy Chrestman and Jon Mellis and records allegations about conduct they describe witnessing. These are attributed witness accounts, not court findings.
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