Klete Keller filmed attending Capitol riot and inside US Capitol as calls are made to strip US swimmer of his Olympic Gold medals after video goes viral.
###Update: A criminal complaint filed Washington D.C. federal court charges Keller, 38, with obstructing law enforcement during civil disorder, knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Original post: When a sporting hero is held to a higher standard.
A former Olympic swimmer was among the crowd of pro-Trump rioters who stormed the US Capitol last week, according to a report.
Two-time gold medal winner Klete Keller, 38, was reportedly spotted inside the Capitol Rotunda according to video posted on Twitter.
Swimming website SwimSwam said that at least a dozen people within the sport identified Keller as a bearded man seen in the clip wearing a Team USA Olympic jacket. The footage seems to shows Keller — who stands at 6-feet-6-inches — towering over a crowd that was pushing against police officers who were trying to clear the area.
Trump supporters fought back after Capitol Police moved in to retake the Rotunda. pic.twitter.com/4e7mNyqWZy
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) January 6, 2021
@Olympics – Please consider stripping the medals from this guy, Klete Keller if you please? Wearing your organizations insignia while attempting to overthrow the US government isn’t a good optic. pic.twitter.com/8LMUnjDMGJ
— Deidre Sabatello (@OheeBluis) January 12, 2021
Part of a mob
Another video showed Keller standing calmly in the Rotunda holding a bottle of water, according to the website. Which poses the question, simply attending a protest or what would later become a riot without personally taking part in violence, or at the very least, trespassing inside Congress, qualifies one truant behavior worthy of being professionally demerited?
The former athlete’s social media accounts had been deleted as of Tuesday, with the swimming site saying Keller had previously posted about his support for President Trump.
No videos have emerged showing him acting in a violent manner. However, several people who entered the building have been charged with unlawful entry and disorderly conduct.
Keller has won five medal for the US at the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Olympics and was a former teammate of Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.
The incident has since led to some, including media personality, Keith Olbermann calling for Keller to be stripped of his Olympic Swimming Medals, for ‘dishonored his sport and his nation.’
