Kenneth Bruce Rader

Case Summary

On Jan. 8, 2021, a tipster contacted the FBI with the following message: “My radicalized [family member] Kenneth Bruce Rader Jr. from Sioux City, IA has been sharing videos of himself on Capital [sic] grounds and inside the building and has verbally articulated a full rage [sic] of threats against VP Mike Pence,” according to court documents. According to the FBI, Rader updated his profile picture on Nov. 7, 2020, which was the day Joe Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election, to show a burning American flag. In February 2021, he updated his profile again with a picture that included a large Q, referring to QAnon, the far-right conspiracy theory. In September, the FBI interviewed Rader who said he attended a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C., and stated he looked into the U.S. Capitol through an open door but never entered. According to the FBI, however, surveillance video shows Rader entering the building through the Senate wing door and exiting three minutes later.

Case History

Rader pleaded Guilty to one charge: Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building. The other charges are dismissed. Sentenced on 9/29/2022 to 90 days incarceration; 36 months of Probation; $10 special assessment; $500 in restitution. On 4/17/2024, he was sentenced to 135 days incarceration, with credit for the 90 days served, at a probation revocation hearing. Rader received a full pardon on January 20, 2025

Sources

• Primary Documentation
  NPR Jan. 6 Defendant DatabaseNPR
• Primary Documentation
  Underlying court recordCourt record linked by NPR

Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.