Supporters raise $70k for Proud Boys members accused over Capitol riot

The donations are significantly short of the combined $700,000 goal

A pair of Kansas City Proud Boys charged with multiple felonies stemming from their alleged actions during the Capitol riot have taken in nearly $70,000 in donations for their legal defence fund.

William Chrestman and Christopher Kuehne are both members of the Proud Boys, a violent, right-wing extremist gang created by conservative Canadian media personality Gavin McInnes. Federal prosecutors claim that many of the gang's members — including Mr Chrestman and Mr Kuehne — plotted and incited the breach at the Capitol on 6 January, 2021.

According to the Kansas City Star, after the men were arrested, their families established a fundraiser to help pay for their legal defence. Despite raiding nearly $70,000, the fundraiser is still well below its goal of $700,000.

Since both of the alleged Proud Boys are veterans, donors have been calling them patriots, heroes, and freedom fighters.

“Keep strong, this is an atrocity what is happening in this once free country taken over by demons who will stop at nothing to gain and keep their ill-gotten power,” a woman named Nancy, who gave $20 to Mr Chrestman, wrote. “God be with you and all the other political prisoners being unjustly locked up.”

William ‘Billy’ Chrestman and Christopher Kuehne are both alleged members of the Proud Boys facing federal charges for their reported involvement in the Capitol riot (Wyandotte County Jail)

Despite both men taking oaths as military members to defend the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic, they and other Proud Boys members were among the sea of Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol to disrupt the lawful transition of power. According to a federal judge, Mr Chrestman was "much, much more than someone who merely cheered on the violence or who entered the Capitol after others cleared the way."

Mr Chrestman came to be known as "Axehole" on Twitter as images of him carrying around an axe handle during the Capitol riot and leading others in chants were shared around the platform.

Both men were indicted by a federal grand jury last year, which alleged that the men "planned with each other, and with others known and unknown, to forcibly enter the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and to stop, delay, and hinder the Congressional proceeding occurring that day."

Mr Chrestman was also charged with threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer.

Both men are facing possible jail time if convicted.

Numerous Proud Boys were rounded up in the federal government's investigation into the Capitol riot. Some have been charged with disorderly conduct, others with sedition.