KC man who took mom to Capitol on Jan. 6 and confronted police in tunnel gets prison time

A Kansas City man who took his mother to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and participated in a violent confrontation against a police line at one entrance was sentenced Tuesday to 10 months in prison and two years of supervised release.

Kyle Kumer, 44, also must pay $2,000 restitution for damage to the Capitol, Judge Carl J. Nichols ordered at the sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Kumer pleaded guilty in January to obstructing officers during a civil disorder. He faced a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The government requested a sentence of 15 months’ incarceration, three years of supervised release and $2,000 restitution.

Kumer is the 28th of the 37 Missouri residents charged in Capitol riot cases to be sentenced. Three other Missouri defendants have been convicted and await sentencing, and the cases of another six are pending.

At the time of his arrest, Kumer was on the staff at Northland Church KC, according to the church’s website. After the charges were made public, however, his photo in a section called “Meet Our Team” was removed.

The government said in its sentencing memorandum that Kumer’s conduct on January 6 “was the epitome of disrespect for the law” and “part of a massive riot that almost succeeded in preventing the certification vote from being carried out, frustrating the peaceful transition of Presidential power, and throwing the United States into a Constitutional crisis.”

“Kumer witnessed the eruption of the riot on the West Plaza and the violence against the police before he even decided to go up to the Inaugural Stage and enter the Lower West Terrace tunnel,” the government said. “Inside the narrow tunnel, Kumer enthusiastically joined at least five separate push efforts against the outnumbered police during the almost twenty-five minutes he was there, one of which resulted in bodily injury to MPD Officer Hodges as he was pinned against a doorway and, in one of the most searing images from the day, causing him to scream out in pain and fear.

“And Kumer did all of this with his 71-year-old mother in tow.”

Kumer also lied to the FBI when he was interviewed, the document said, claiming that he didn’t participate in any violence against police and saw no conflicts of any kind with officers.

The government said Kumer is a former church minister who owns and operates a silkscreen printing business.

“As a former church minister and middle-aged adult, Kumer was in a position of trust within his community, and he should have known better than to participate in a violent riot that threatened the peaceful transfer of power,” the filing said. “He should have known better than to place his 71-year-old mother in an extremely dangerous situation where she easily could have been injured. And the lies he spread afterward, claiming that the rioters were ‘respectful’ and ‘waved in,’ were all the more damaging based on his position in the community.”

Kumer’s sentencing document, filed by Kansas City attorney J.R. Hobbs, asked that he either receive probation or a “non-custodial sentence.”

“Mr. Kumer fully accepts responsibility for his criminal conduct,” Hobbs wrote. “He has not and will not diminish or excuse his actions.”

Kumer’s conduct, Hobbs said, “was an aberration in a life otherwise devoted to his wife and family and to the youth of the Kansas City area.”

“A non-custodial sentence will undoubtedly satisfy the statutory objective of providing ‘just punishment for the offense’ to which he pleaded guilty in this case. The likelihood that Mr. Kumer will commit other criminal acts in the future is virtually nonexistent.”

The document included five letters of support for Kumer.

Mark Opara wrote that Kumer had coached youth in a low-income housing complex as part of an outreach ministry at Northland Kansas City church. He said he “was shocked to learn about the circumstances that have led him to the situation he is in today.”

“I know Mr. Kumer’s heart, and I know that he stands for more — he is not defined by the worst mistake of his life,” Opara said. “Mr. Kumer will redeem himself. He will use this mistake as a launch board towards teaching the youth he sincerely cares about how one mistake can have lifelong ramifications.”

A statement of offense Kumer signed as part of his plea agreement described his actions on Jan. 6. By at least 2:30 p.m. that day, it said, he and his mother were on the West Plaza of the Capitol building. Barricades had been removed and dozens of officers were trying to contain the crowd, it said.

Over the next 20 minutes, the two worked their way up to the Lower West Terrace and onto the inaugural stage set up for President Joe Biden’s upcoming inauguration, the statement said. While there, Kumer joined in chants of “Whose House? Our House!” while pumping his fists in the air.

Around 2:56 p.m., it said, Kumer and his mother made their way through the mob on the Lower West Terrace and approached the entryway to the tunnel leading into the Capitol.

“At approximately 3:04 p.m., the rioters in the tunnel organized and began to push in a rocking motion against the police line, calling out “HEAVE! HO!” as they did so,” the government said. “Kumer joined this group push effort, turning his back to the police line and pushing against the rioters in front of him.”

At about 3:08 p.m., as the two moved further into the tunnel, the crowd began to push in unison in a second “Heave Ho” attack against the police line.

“Kumer turned his body so that his back was pushing up against the rioters between him and the police and began to push against them,” the statement said. “As he pushed, Kumer called out, “Let’s go! C’mon! Let’s go!” to the rioters around them to encourage them to join the push against the police.”

Many rioters left around 3:10 p.m., the document said, but Kumer and his mother stayed.

“At approximately 3:12 p.m., another “heave ho” push began in the tunnel and Kumer enthusiastically joined for a third time,” the government said. “During this group push, MPD Officer Daniel Hodges was crushed between the frame of one of the doors in the tunnel and the crowd, including a rioter who was pressing up against him with a stolen riot shield.”

Kumer and his mother continued to remain in the tunnel, even though many exited, the statement of offense said. Kumer joined in another group push around 3:16 p.m, it said, and about two minutes later police succeeded in pushing them back to the tunnel entrance. Kumer and his mother were among the last rioters to be cleared from inside the tunnel, it said.

“Kumer then stayed near the police line at the Lower West Terrace for several more minutes,” the government said. “For example, after Officer Fanone was dragged into the crowd and as he made his way back to his fellow officers at the tunnel, Kumer was there and Kumer reached out and touched Fanone.”

Michael Fanone, who was beaten, tased and robbed of his badge, police radio and 17-round magazine as rioters tried to remove his gun from its holster, suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury from the assault.

Hobbs argued in Kumer’s sentencing memorandum that Kumer was not trying to harm Fanone when he touched him but was trying to help him get back to the other officers.

The probable cause statement filed with Kumer’s charges said that after the riot, the FBI received two tips saying Kumer was at the Capitol that day. One tipster was a relative who said Kumer had posted photos and video from the Capitol on his Facebook page but took them down a few days later. The tipster gave authorities screenshots taken from Kumer’s Facebook page that discussed his experience at the Capitol, along with a video of the Lower West Terrace.

Around Nov. 17, 2021, the affidavit said, authorities interviewed Kumer at his home in Kansas City. Kumer admitted he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and showed them videos and photos taken on his cellphone. He also admitted to entering the tunnel and helping the crowd push against the police line, it said, but denied entering the Capitol.

“Kumer claimed he was pushing against the crowd to protect his elderly mother from injury,” the affidavit said. “Kumer stated he brought his elderly mother to the tunnel to fully experience the moment.”

After he left the Capitol, the government’s filing said, Kumer texted multiple people about the riot. Among the messages:

“I think God was honored by our hearts and actions today.”