Chicago woman charged in Capitol insurrection after brother
CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago woman faces federal charges for allegedly taking part in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol with her brother, a Chicago police officer who was charged last year for his role in the insurrection.
Agnieszka Chwiesiuk, 29, was arrested Monday at her Chicago home and charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., with four misdemeanor counts, including entering a restricted government building and disorderly conduct.
Each count carries a maximum term of one year in prison upon conviction.
Chwiesiuk appeared later Monday before a federal magistrate, who ordered her release on a $10,000 appearance bond, which does not require her to post any money, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Keith Scherer, an attorney representing Chwiesiuk, did not return a message seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.
The criminal complaint alleges that Chwiesiuk was identified as a woman seen wearing a red knit cap with white and blue stripes, and a face mask with upside-down American flags while accompanying her brother, Karol Chwiesiuk, as he entered the U.S. Capitol through a broken-out Senate wing door.
Surveillance footage captured the siblings walking through the Capitol’s Crypt area appearing to film the mob, prosecutors allege.
Last year Karol Chwiesiuk, a Chicago police officer since 2018, was stripped of his police powers after his arrest on numerous charges, including disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds with the intent to impede a congressional proceeding. Prosecutors allege that he was among a mob of people who broke into and damaged the office of Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat.
Karol Chwiesiuk has pleaded not guilty and a trial is tentatively set for May.
Approximately 900 people have been charged with federal crimes for their conduct on Jan. 6. More than 400 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor offenses. Sentences for the rioters have ranged from probation for low-level misdemeanor offenses to 10 years in prison for a man who used a metal flagpole to assault an officer.