Daily Southtown (Sunday)

Lockport couple latest Illinois residents to face charges in Jan. 6 Capitol riots

- By Caroline Kubzansky Chicago Tribune’s Jason Meisner contribute­d.

A couple from Lockport became the latest Illinoisan­s to be charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, federal court records show.

Kelly Fontaine and Brian Dula face four counts of knowing and unlawful entry to a restricted building, disorderly conduct in restricted buildings, disorderly conduct in and around the U.S. Capitol and parading and picketing in and around the

Capitol, according to a criminal complaint and arrest warrant dated Wednesday.

The charges made Fontaine and Dula the 45th and 46th Illinois residents charged since the rampage that sent members of Congress running for safety.

In the complaint, an FBI agent alleges that Dula and Fontaine traveled to Washington on Jan. 5, 2021 for the “Take America Back” rally and that Fontaine posted to Facebook about those plans in

December 2020.

Fontaine posted a photo of the pair traveling to Washington on Facebook and subsequent photos of the march from the Ellipse to the U.S. Capitol and from restricted areas of the Capitol grounds.

“During their time on the Upper Northwest Terrace Fontaine also took a photograph of herself giving a thumbs up, with the area of the Senate Wing doors and the Parliament­arian door visible in the background,” the complaint stated.

The pair also appeared on security footage entering and walking in restricted areas of the Capitol, the complaint alleges.

The pair admitted traveling to Washington, as well as attending the rally and entering the Capitol in a September 2022 interview conducted in Romeoville, the complaint states.

Fontaine and Dula were each released on recognizan­ce bonds Thursday and ordered to appear on the charges in Washington.

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