When President Trump put pen to paper on one of his biggest campaign promises Monday night, Klete Keller’s phone started buzzing with text messages.
“It didn’t feel real. And waking up this morning, I was like, ‘My gosh. Wow, this is over. I don’t have to check in with my probation officer anymore,’” Keller said. “It’s just such an amazing feeling of relief.”
More than four years after he was arrested for entering the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, and one year after his sentencing, Keller was among those pardoned on Monday in one of Trump’s first acts as president.
Keller, 42, is among the most high-profile Jan. 6 defendants. He swam for the United States in three Olympic Games and won five medals, including a relay gold alongside Michael Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Games. His 6-foot-6 frame made him easy to identify on security footage from the Capitol that day. So did his Team USA jacket.
Keller was not charged with a violent crime and pleaded guilty to a single count of obstructing an official proceeding. While prosecutors sought a 10-month prison sentence, a federal judge in 2023 ordered Keller to six months of home detention plus three years probation.
“I know my actions really angered and caused hurt to millions of Americans,” he said Tuesday in his first interview since his arrest. “I told this to the judge and I meant it. I acted without thinking. I didn’t pause and take time to reflect.”
Keller said he was in a “very emotional, dark place during that period” and that he felt caught up in the excitement of the mob that stormed the Capitol.
“I really regret the actions I took that day. I love this country,” he said. “I’m just so grateful that I have the opportunity now to move forward.”
Prosecutors said Keller resisted police efforts to remove him from the Capitol, and video footage showed him participating in profane chants directed at then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In Washington that evening, he began getting calls from friends who spotted him on news reports. He threw away the Team USA jacket he wore and smashed his cellphone. On the plane back to Colorado, he said, the TV on every seat back seemed to be tuned to news channels airing footage of him. He was arrested days later.
“I felt justified at the time, but we really short-circuited the whole process,” he said. “I think a lot of people were probably like me, staying up until 2 or 3 in the morning on Twitter, probably reading some questionable content from questionable accounts. … I think it all just created a perfect storm and people just lost it. Speaking for myself, I regret losing it.”
Keller said his life has been an emotional roller coaster ever since. Relationships were frayed. He spent a night in jail. He lost his real estate job back home in Colorado Springs – though he was later hired back – and was financially devastated by legal fees.
“I felt like I was at the bottom of the ocean with the weight of the justice system crushing me,” he said. “It felt like it affected every cell in my body. Every waking moment was fully consumed with fear and not knowing what was going to happen. I can’t complain because my actions precipitated all that, but to feel the hammer of justice come down on you is very painful and overwhelming.”
“It was a whirlwind of emotions and feelings. One minute I would be raging against what I felt was the unfairness. And the next minute I would say, well, I brought this all on myself by my actions. I can’t really blame them because if somebody broke into my house, I would have no mercy on them.”
As Trump campaigned for a return to the White House, he championed those arrested for their actions January 6 as “hostages” and “patriots.” Keller said he voted for Trump last November but never got his hopes up about a pardon. “I had come to peace with being a convicted felon the rest of my life,” he said.
Trump’s mass pardon prompted an immediate backlash from many on the Hill. Pelosi said in a statement the president’s “actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution.”
Others drew a distinction between those who entered the Capitol unlawfully and the protesters who resorted to violence that day.
“While I believe some Americans were caught up in the crowd on January 6 and may well deserve the clemency President Trump has given, there is a great difference between violent crimes and nonviolent crimes,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said in a statement Tuesday.
Keller said he never advocated for a pardon, but he’s grateful for Trump’s swift action.
“I’m still trying to comprehend it. I feel like something has been restored to me,” he said. “You know, I’m not angry. I’m not a victim. I feel blessed to have this opportunity of life again. I’ve learned a lot of lessons. And I’m going to take these lessons forward.”