Christian Kulas is at least the ninth person from Illinois to be charged in the Capitol breach, and the third from Cook County. Hundreds have been charged nationwide, and authorities have gathered a staggering amount of evidence.
Federal prosecutors have charged a man from a tony North Shore suburb who allegedly wore a Burberry coat and laughed as he participated in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Christian Kulas, 24, was arrested at 6:12 a.m. Tuesday and later participated in a remote hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes. He is charged with unlawful entry of a restricted building and disorderly conduct on U.S. Capitol grounds, both misdemeanors.
Fuentes ordered Kulas released under the supervision of his mother to live at the family’s home in the 200 block of Sheridan Road in Kenilworth. Authorities also executed a search warrant at the residence Tuesday morning, said Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney John Lausch’s office.
The home, on the shore of Lake Michigan, sold for $4.5 million last year, according to the real estate website RedFin.
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Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
The charges against Kulas have been filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. Kulas is now at least the ninth individual from Illinois to be charged in connection with the Capitol breach, and he is third from Cook County to be charged.
Hundreds of people have been charged nationwide in connection with the breach, and a staggering amount of evidence has been collected. Prosecutors have said it will likely amount to the largest criminal investigation in U.S. history.
Like in several cases stemming from the Capitol breach, court records show a tipster led the FBI to Kulas. That person handed over Instagram video clips depicting then-President Donald Trump’s rally on Jan. 6. A second clip then showed a large crowd of people walking toward the Capitol chanting, “block the steal.”
A third clip showed people scaling the Capitol’s exterior wall, court records show. And a fourth clip showed a crowd of people walking up the steps of the building.
During that fourth clip, the feds say the camera panned around to show the face of the person apparently operating the camera.
“The individual depicted in the video is laughing,” an FBI special agent wrote.
The person, later identified as Kulas, wore a dark baseball hat that read, “Keep America Great” in bright orange letters. The person was also wearing a dark coat with Burberry print.
In a fifth clip, a male voice can be heard saying, “Storming the Capitol,” according to court records.
Additional footage also put Kulas inside the building, court records show.
The person who handed over the Instagram video to the FBI also said Kulas lived around Winnetka or Lake Forest. That person also identified a former classmate of Kulas’, who viewed the videos and “was highly confident that the individual depicted in the videos wearing the Burberry coat was Kulas,” according to the feds.
The Instagram account in which the videos were found featured a profile photo of someone who appeared to be Kulas, and it identified the user as a “yogi,” “spiritual catalyst” and “alchemist.”
Meanwhile, court records show someone tried to ask Kulas’ mother on social media whether the person in the video was her son.
The answer, from an account apparently connected to Kulas’ mother, replied, “yes.”
Contributing: Michael Sneed