US Olympic Gold Medalist Swimmer Reportedly ‘Faces Federal Charges’ For Being At U.S. Capitol Protests
Klete Keller is a two-time gold medalist, one-time silver medalist, and two-time bronze medalist US Olympic swimmer. Keller also is a “member of the world record-setting 800m free relay at the 2007 World Championships” per Team USA.
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Keller was on the gold medal-winning relay race with Michael Phelps in the 2004 Games. The relay team “upset the Australians, who had not lost the race at an international meet in seven years; he anchored the relay with the fastest 800m free relay split by an American” per Team USA.
Keller was also on 4 x 200 meter winning relay team with Phelps, per Omega Timing, in the 2007 World Championships (as shown in the above video).
The swimmer competed in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
In 2021, Keller reportedly, according to ESPN, “was charged (January 13) for allegedly participating in last week’s riots at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. According to court records, Keller was charged with obstructing law enforcement, knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct. All are federal crimes.”
According to SwimSwam, “a video posted to Twitter appears to show Olympian Klete Keller among the protestors inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda”.
Here’s video that SwimSwam included in their report that was recorded by TownHall Media (part of this was shown on the Tweet mentioned):
“We respect private individuals’ and groups’ rights to peacefully protest but in no way condone the actions taken by those at the Capitol last week,” USA Swimming said in a statement per the AP.
For more on Keller’s story previous to this incident, he was on the Olympic Channel podcast titled: “Olympic gold to homeless: Why you should never give up with Klete Keller”. The swimmer has been through a lot in his journey and he goes in-depth with his experience in the Olympics to his life after winning medals.
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