Olympic gold medallist Klete Keller charged over US Capitol riot

Swimmer was seen online in videos in Capitol with jacket featuring Olympics labels

Five-time Olympic swimming medallist Klete Keller was charged Wednesday, January 13, 2021, with participating in a deadly riot at the US Capitol. AP

An Olympic gold medallist is facing charges for his role in last week's Capitol riot.

Klete Keller, a swimmer and former relay teammate of Michael Phelps, was charged with disorderly conduct, entering restricted grounds and obstructing law enforcement, court records show.

In videos online, Keller is seen standing in the Rotunda during last Wednesday’s riot, wearing a dark jacket with a US Olympics patch.

He took part in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 summer Olympics, winning five medals including two gold.

The charges were filed on Wednesday in the US District Court in Washington DC.

In recent days, US prosecutors have intensfied the investigation into last week's riot at the Capitol, with more than 170 people under scrutiny, several of whom may be charged with sedition and conspiracy.

The probe is one of the most expansive criminal investigations in the history of the Justice Department, with a wide number of agencies helping to build cases, including the FBI and the US Marshals.

All 56 FBI field offices are involved.

“The scope and scale of this investigation in these cases is really unprecedented,” Michael Sherwin, the acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, said on Tuesday.

“We are going to have, I believe, hundreds of criminal cases.”