WASHINGTON — A Virginia contractor was arrested Thursday on misdemeanor charges for allegedly unlawfully entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Brian Leo Kelly, of Fairfax, was arrested on a warrant in D.C. on four misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
According to charging documents, the FBI received multiple tips that led to Kelly’s identification after investigators released a BOLO with a picture of him walking through the Capitol. In the picture, the man identified as Kelly can be seen wearing a “Trump” hat and holding a cellphone as he walks through a hazy area of the Capitol building while people nearby cover their mouths. One of the tips additionally identified Kelly as the owner of Affordable Oil Tank Removal in Fairfax.
Investigators said surveillance video shows Kelly enter the Capitol with other Trump supporters through the Upper West Terrace Door at approximately 2:35 p.m. – about 20 minutes after the first breach of the building. According to charging documents, Kelly then entered the Rotunda and walked through Statuary Hall while holding up his phone and chanting with the crowd inside the building. Kelly exited the building through the Rotunda door at approximately 3:11 p.m.
Although no hearing was scheduled on the docket, Kelly was likely to make an initial appearance in federal court in D.C. Thursday afternoon. His case was assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui.
Kelly is one of a number of Northern Virginia residents who have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot. In September, a federal judge sentenced Michael Gareth Adams, of Springfield, to 60 days in prison after he pleaded guilty to parading inside the Capitol. Adams had previously been a fugitive for more than a year-and-a-half prior to turning himself in. In April 2023, an alleged Alexandria militia member named Fi Duong pleaded guilty to one count of civil disorder for his role in the riot. He’s currently scheduled to be sentenced in September.
In the 41 months since the attack on the U.S. Capitol, more than 1,400 people have been charged with crimes ranging from entering a restricted area to seditious conspiracy. More than 1,000 defendants have now pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial.