Olympic Gold Medalist Klete Keller Charged With Being Inside U.S. Capitol During Riot
(CBS4) -- Video taken as rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol appears to show an Olympic gold medalist, who lives in Colorado, inside the Rotunda. Video shared by a Townhall Media reporter shows a tall, bearded man, in a blue Team USA jacket, among the rioters trying to push past Capitol police on Jan. 6. Several former teammates identified the man as swimmer Klete Keller, according to the swimming news site SwimSwam. Now, Keller has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in the Capitol building and impeding law enforcement.
The man believed to be Keller can be seen from :12-:30 in the video tweeted by reporter Julio Rosas.
The criminal complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, and states, in part:
"At approximately fourteen minutes and thirty-eight seconds, PERSON 1 is still in the Rotunda, and the back of his jacket is again visible. PERSON 1 stands taller than a number of individuals around him and can clearly be seen as law enforcement officers repeatedly attempt to remove him and others from the Rotunda.
"Additional open-source research revealed that media outlets such as SwimSwam, a news organization that covers competitive swimming and other related sports, identified this individual as possibly KLETE DERIK KELLER. Your affiant has confirmed this identification."
Keller was part of the U.S. swim team at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
Keller was part of the the 4X200m freestyle relay team with Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Peter Vanderkaay that won gold, and beat the world record, at the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships in Melbourne in 2007.
According to ESPN, Keller most recently worked as a real estate agent in Colorado Springs with the agency Hoff & Leigh, but no longer.
The real estate company Keller worked for sent a statement, dated Jan. 12, to CBS4 that read, "Effective immediately, Klete Keller is no longer with Hoff & Leigh. Keller, an independent contractor, resigned from the company today. Hoff & Leigh supports the right of free speech and lawful protest but we cannot condone actions that violate the rule of law. We pride ourselves on our deeply held core values of family, loyalty, community and stewardship. We continue to stand by these values."
All of Keller's social media accounts have been deleted and he has not released a statement.
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