Klete Keller, Former Olympic Swimmer, Charged Over Capitol Attack : Insurrection At The... - 0 views
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Klete Keller, the Olympic gold medalist swimmer, is facing federal charges for his alleged role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week.
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Keller faces three criminal counts, according to court documents filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia: obstructing law enforcement, knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
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Keller, 38, was part of U.S. Olympic teams in 2000, 2004 and 2008. He is perhaps best known for holding off Australia's Ian Thorpe while swimming the anchor leg of the 4x200 freestyle at the 2004 Athens games to help his team win by 0.13 seconds.
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According to court documents, he was wearing a blue jacket with "USA" on the back and a "red and white Olympic patch on the front left side."
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Investigators said conservative news site Townhall Media posted a video of a crowd at the Capitol. Then, outlets such as SwimSwam, which follows competitive swimming, said it appeared Keller was in the video, according to the charging documents.
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Federal authorities said they confirmed his identification by comparing screen shots of Keller with his driver's license with his image from Colorado's Department of Motor Vehicles.
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USA Swimming, the U.S. governing body of competitive swimming, said in a statement to its membership Wednesday that "while we respect private individuals' and groups' rights to peacefully protest, we strongly condemned the unlawful actions taken by those at the Capitol last week."
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"Mr. Keller's actions in no way represent the values or mission of USA Swimming. And while once a swimmer at the highest levels of our sport — representing the country and democracy he so willfully attacked — Mr. Keller has not been a member of this organization since 2008."