(LifeSiteNews) — Joining me on this episode of The John Henry Westen Show is Leo Kelly, a January 6 protester who was recently released from prison, to discuss the events of that day, his charges, how his faith helped sustain him while he was incarcerated, his open letter to fellow Jan. 6 prisoners, and more.
I asked Kelly to walk me through what happened when he entered the Capitol building that day, reminding listeners that he walked in with a large crowd and didn’t commit any violence.
“I had walked in an open door to the Capitol. I found out later … that it had been opened by a man who had smashed the window. And he pushed the latch of the door open but somebody from the inside had unlocked the magnetic lock. Which, I mean, this is the U.S. Capitol building; it’s obviously a very secure facility, so there’s some cooperation there with this guy on the outside and the people on the inside,” Kelly said.
Kelly stressed that after entering the Capitol, most of the protesters remained peaceful, with just a few becoming violent and ransacking offices.
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“I actually intervened at one point and told them to stop. That was presented at trial and used as evidence to convict me of one of my misdemeanor trespassing charges, because I had to go into an office to do that, which was a specially protected office under the law; I didn’t know [that law at the time]. I figured I was doing a good thing, telling people to stop ransacking an office, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office disagreed,” he said.
Kelly told me he was one of the protesters who had gone onto the Senate chamber floor, and while he was there someone suggested they pray for the country at such a pivotal moment in its history.
“Whatever I was upset about in the way our elections were going and how the government was acting and all that, I know very well and remain convinced it’s just an expression of generations of us leaving God. What do we expect? Except that will lead to hardship, oppression, and slavery. … And so we prayed. And to me that was the most important thing we did that day. We interceded on behalf of our nation for just mercy,” Kelly said.
A bit later in the episode, I turned to Kelly’s time in prison, asking him about the beautiful open letter he wrote to his fellow Jan. 6 prisoners that called them to be faithful servants of Jesus Christ.
After emphasizing that he is loyal to Our Lord because He is our salvation, protection, healing, and deliverance, Kelly said he wanted to encourage the other prisoners to embrace their sufferings.
If I’m following Jesus, this is the guy who had the worst injustice in human history perpetrated against Him on the Cross. He in no way deserved that, not even close, and you know what He said? ‘Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they do.’ So if that’s good enough for Him, it’s good enough for me; that was my rationale. And I just recognized that, ‘Okay, I think God can work through this in my experience. And if He can do that for me and vindicate me and save my nation through my suffering – at least I’ll play my part faithfully – then that is available to every one of the Jan. 6ers. All we have to do is turn our eyes off of ourselves, stop whining about the injustice, and say, ‘I’m going to be a faithful servant of God.’
Watch or listen to my full interview to hear more from Leo Kelly.
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