A Kankakee County man admitted Tuesday that he shoved a police officer and then threw a metal travel mug at a police line before wrongly entering the U.S. Capitol and smoking marijuana during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
Quinn Keen, 36, of Manteno pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting or impeding officers. Federal sentencing guideline estimates call for Keen to spend more than two years in prison, according to his plea agreement.
Keen’s sentencing has been set for June 27.
Keen is among 46 known Illinois residents who have faced federal charges stemming from the attack on the Capitol. It interrupted the Electoral College vote count and prompted a massive investigation that has so far led to charges against more than 1,300 people nationwide.
The events of that day are also at the center of a court battle over whether former President Donald Trump is disqualified from the presidency because of his own actions relative to the riot.
Keen admitted that he arrived at the Capitol with other protesters and had entered a restricted area by 1:14 p.m. that day. He joined thousands of others on the lower west terrace, where U.S. Capitol and Metropolitan police had formed a line behind a bicycle-rack barricade.
Keen confronted officers on the line, threw the contents of a water bottle at them and then threw the bottle itself, according to court documents.
Meanwhile, other rioters pulled a bike rack from the police line to the ground. When an officer bent over to pick it up, Keen shoved the officer backward with both hands, records show.
Keen then backed away but, one minute later, he threw a metal travel mug at other officers, according to the court record. The mug hit a plexiglass riot shield and fell to the ground.
Afterward, Keen entered the Capitol at 2:38 p.m., made his way into the Rotunda and smoked a joint, records show. He left once officers began to push the crowd out. In all, he spent 37 minutes inside the building.
