A Cedar Rapids, Iowa, man who served prison time in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the nation’s Capitol will be sharing his story at the Twin City Conservatives’ Feb. 28 meeting.

The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. at A’s Kitchen in Rock Falls and is listed as one of three upcoming appearances in which Leo Kelly will discuss and answer questions about why he was in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, how he ended up at what he says he thought would be a peaceful rally and inside the Senate Chamber, and the aftermath.

Kelly, an Iowa native and entrepreneur who was one of the very few rioters who breached the Senate Chamber on Jan. 6, has since written a book, “Hope From the Ashes of Jan. 6″ and has appeared at speaking engagements to share what he experienced.

He is also set to make appearances in Ottumwa, Iowa, and Cedar Rapids, according to his Facebook page. Despite the turmoil, Kelly decided he could either get bitter or better, according to Twin City Conservatives organizers.

According to a U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia news release, Kelly drove to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 5, 2021, from his home in Iowa and on Jan. 6 joined a large group of people, including his parents, for a rally at the Ellipse. After the rally, Kelly and his parents marched toward the Capitol building.

The news release states that Kelly eventually made his way past the barriers to the West Terrace Courtyard, where rioters had broken into the Senate Wing door and flooded into the building. Kelly used his phone to capture video of the scene. His footage showed shattered glass windows, rioters, and police officers in riot gear guarding the inside of the Capitol.

“Around that same time, a rioter began bashing in the Parliamentarian’s Door just across the courtyard from Kelly,” the release states. “After the rioter bashed in the window with a metal pole and opened the door for the mob, rioters rushed into the building, Kelly included.”

Kelly entered the Capitol building through the Parliamentarian’s Door at 2:43 p.m. Across the hallway, rioters had already breached the Parliamentarian’s Office. Kelly entered that office for a short time, walked out and down the hallway a few more steps, and again entered the office through a second door.

Kelly entered the ransacked office, shooting video on his phone. Shortly after, Kelly rejoined the rioters in the hallway and faced off against a line of officers attempting to keep the rioters back, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in the release. The rioters successfully pushed the police line all the way back to the end of the hallway.

Kelly then joined the mob as it started down a second hallway and encountered another police line, the release says. To the rioters’ right and front, officers held a police line guarding hallways that led into the Capitol building. To the rioters’ left, there was an exit. Kelly stepped toward the police line until he was face to face with the officers guarding the stairway that led to the Senate Chamber, according to the release.

“As Kelly confronted the police line, he ignored officers’ repeated orders to exit out of the nearby door. Rioters promptly started to ‘push and shove’ the police officers,” the release states. “After tussling with the officers, one rioter near Kelly stepped through the police line. When an officer turned to grab the rioter, Kelly took a step forward and created a gap for all the rioters behind him to ‘pour through’ the now-broken police line, opening a path to access the staircase that led directly to the Senate Chamber.

“From there, Kelly ascended the stairs to the second floor and ultimately made his way onto the Senate floor as rioters flooded the Chamber, yelling, screaming, and ransacking the Senators’ desks. Kelly made his way to the head of the room – to the Senate Dais – where shortly before, the vice president had presided over the Senate, convened to certify the electoral college vote.

“Kelly rifled through sensitive documents and took video footage of the papers on the vice president’s desk, including a ballot sheet, handwritten notes, and a script. Kelly then joined a group of rioters and ‘prayed’ to ‘send a message to the tyrants, the communists, and the globalists that this is our nation, not theirs.’ Kelly then rifled through sensitive documents on another desk in the Senate Chamber.”

The release says Kelly exited the Chamber soon after officers entered. Kelly sent the photos that he took in the Senate Chamber to several individuals, including a reporter, and he sent video footage to his friends.

On Dec. 3, 2021, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Kelly. FBI agents arrested Kelly on Jan. 18, 2021, in Cedar Rapids.

He was found guilty following a trial by jury on May 9, 2023, of obstruction of an official proceeding, a felony offense. In addition, Kelly was convicted of six other misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, entering and remaining on the floor of the Congress, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

Kelly was sentenced in August 2023 to 30 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $7,000 in restitution and fines. He has completed his sentence, per multiple news reports.

Twin City Conservatives is free for the public to attend. For more information, contact Administrators Linda Pennell at 815-535-6949 or Kristol Anderson at 815-499-9145.