Lockport couple to tell court Jan. 6 US Capitol riot happened because 'Trump invited them'
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A suburban Chicago couple about to face sentencing for taking part in the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot offered up an insightful explanation for how the uprising happened that day.
Kelly Lynn Fontaine said she and Brian Dula went to Washington on Jan. 6 for a simple reason: "Donald Trump invited them."
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That is part of what she will tell a D.C. judge next Tuesday when the Lockport couple is sentenced.
In new court records obtained by the I-Team, there is detailed explanation for why an eclectic group of Americans crashed the Capitol that fateful day.
Fontaine and Dula, seen in FBI photos entering the U.S. Capitol, were dating at the time and have since married. Both pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and said they just took pictures and committed no violence.
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But in a sentencing memo filed Wednesday, Fontaine said what they did was illegal and wrong, and she also provided an explanation of how one of America's worst days actually came to be.
"There is, at very least, probable cause to believe that the gathering of Trump supporters and their attack on the Capitol on January 6 was one prong of a larger scheme to keep Donald Trump in power despite losing the 2020 election," she writes.
"To remain president, Trump needed the help of tens of thousands of people. He needed communications and media people to help create and spread the false narrative that the election had somehow been fraudulent.
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"He needed insiders in government and Congress to create a pretense of propriety, and lawyers to create a colorable rationale for his plans. He needed tough guys like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to be front line soldiers.
"And he needed ordinary people like Kelly and Bryan to be there to make the whole thing seem more normal, as if all of this was a grass-roots reaction to actual election irregularities."
In their sentencing hearing, the couple will ask for probation and Fontaine will tell the judge she feels profound guilt for having been present in a mob that desecrated the Capitol, stole property and violently assaulted police officers.
The husband and wife are in their early fifties and care for her two daughters. And while both are asking for probation, the I-Team has learned the government will ask for short jail terms.
In newly filed documents, prosecutors want 21 days in jail for her and 14 days for him. The jail time difference may be reflecting the fact that going to Trump's rally in DC was her suggestion, something Fontaine said she also regrets.
