KANSAS CITY (AP) — A Kansas woman has been sentenced to two years of probation for her role in the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
Esther Schwemmer of Leavenworth also must perform community service and pay $500 in restitution for damage to the Capitol building. The sentence was handed down Monday. Schwemmer said that she hopes in time, she can forgive herself.
Schwemmer and her friend Jennifer Ruth Parks attended then-President Donald Trump’s rally before following the crowd to the Capitol. Parks, of Leavenworth, received a similar sentence in December. Eight Kansas residents have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot.
----------
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Two Kansas women arrested in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol told the FBI they expected to participate in a peaceful protest supporting former President Donald Trump that day.
Court records show that Jennifer Ruth Parks and Esther Schwemmer were both arrested Friday. An affidavit filed in Parks’ case describes how the two women entered the U.S. Capitol after protesters broke into the building and remained inside for 30 minutes to an hour.
Parks is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, but the charges against Schwemmer had not been released as of Sunday.
“Parks believed she was attending a peaceful rally in support of President Donald Trump,” an FBI agent wrote.
The two friends who travelled to Washington together are among at least seven people from Kansas and dozens nationwide who have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol while Congress was meeting to certify Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential race.