A Bridgeville QAnon believer accused of storming the U.S. Capitol along with the wife of a Shaler police officer in support of Donald Trump’s baseless election fraud claims is set to admit to crimes that the FBI said he livestreamed on Facebook.
Kenneth Grayson, 52, and his public defender have scheduled a plea hearing for June 1 before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who has been one of the toughest District of Columbia judges in sentencing Capitol rioters.
Grayson, who according to prosecutors said he wanted to kill Joe Biden, is accused of entering the Capitol with Jennifer Heinl, a former nurse from Ross. She has pleaded guilty and was set to be sentenced last month, but that was pushed back to June 6.
Grayson was initially charged by complaint when the FBI arrested him a few weeks after the Capitol riot and later indicted on five counts related to the breach.
A review of Grayson’s Facebook page showed that he and Heinl had been talking on Facebook Messenger about traveling to Washington in support of Mr. Trump’s false claims about the election.
The FBI said Grayson livestreamed himself inside the Capitol while carrying a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag and dressed in a Pittsburgh Pirates hat and a sweatshirt with the QAnon symbol on it.
QAnon is a debunked conspiracy movement that many Trump supporters have embraced.
The case against Grayson began on the day of the riot when a witness told the FBI about his livestream on Facebook. Agents also received other images of Grayson inside the Capitol.
A review of Grayson’s Facebook account indicated he had traveled to Washington in November and December for Trump rallies. When he got back from the one in November, he boasted about “beating commies” with a flagpole and leaving one person unconscious.
The FBI said he also talked with family and friends about his Jan. 6 plans, saying he would be there to celebrate “after [then-Vice President Mike] Pence leads the Senate flip” and vowing that “they are not going to steal this election.”
Grayson also wrote, in all capital letters, that if “Trump tells us to storm the [expletive] capital Ima do that then!”
No evidence has emerged to support Mr. Trump’s repeated election fraud allegations, and former Attorney General William Barr, who was head of the Justice Department under Mr. Trump, has said no fraud occurred.
The FBI said that while Grayson was in Washington, he also received various messages from family and friends. One told him to “get the hell out of there” because he was committing federal crimes. But others praised him for his “nice work” and encouraged him to steal items.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Soo Song, a Pittsburgh prosecutor, had previously said Grayson has connections to the QAnon movement and the Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group.
Grayson is likely facing jail time, especially since the judge in his case has been the harshest of all the judges hearing Capitol cases, according to a review by Politico. While most judges impose sentences at or below terms suggested by the U.S. attorney, Judge Chutkan has exceeded the government recommendations multiple times and made no secret of her outrage over the insurrection.
“There have to be consequences for participating in an attempted violent overthrow of the government beyond sitting at home,” she said after sentencing one rioter to 45 days in prison despite the government recommendation for home detention.
Heinl, 44, is also facing a possible short jail term. She wants probation, but prosecutors say she deserves two weeks behind bars because they said she entered the Capitol despite witnessing rioters battling police outside, filmed herself inside the building, and lied to the FBI that she wasn’t there when video clearly showed she was.
The FBI identified her through her association with Grayson, who is seen on videos talking to Heinl inside the Capitol.
Heinl said she lost her VA nursing job because of her actions as well as her marriage to Michael Heinl, a Shaler police officer on an FBI task force who had warned her not to go to Washington. The two are finalizing a divorce.
Grayson and Heinl are among some two dozen Western Pennsylvanians to be charged in the insurrection. More than 770 people have been charged nationwide, and the FBI investigation, the largest in the bureau’s history, is not over as agents continue to identify and track down rioters.
Two more suspects from Western Pennsylvania were just charged last month. Melanie Archer, of Shaler, is accused of storming the Capitol with a U.S. Marine reservist, Jordan Bonenberger of Cranberry. Both are free on bond pending trial in Washington.
Torsten Ove: tove@post-gazette.com
First Published: April 13, 2022, 1:25 p.m.
