Klete Keller: why did an Olympic champion invade the US Capitol?

[marmar]

(Guardian UK) Klete Keller was somebody, a two-time Olympic gold medallist who swam in three Games. Then he was nobody, aimless, penniless and reduced to sleeping in his car. Now he is “Person 1” in court documents, identified by the FBI as a participant in the storming of the US Capitol and charged with federal crimes.

Amid the militia gear and Maga paraphernalia on display during the 6 January riot at the heart of American government, footage shows a bearded man in the Rotunda who stands out for his height and his clothes. He wears an officially-branded jacket with a United States Olympic Team patch and USA on the left sleeve and the back.

The choice of apparel, with the Olympic rings logo and Stars and Stripes flag, seemed to symbolise the perversion of patriotism among insurrectionists loyal to Donald Trump who hold the warped belief that it is their duty to agitate for the overturning of a legitimate democratic election. Aspirational emblems appropriated and debased as the president, his enablers and his acolytes crumpled a set of ideals to fit a dishonest and deranged narrative.

....(snip)....

He has not commented in public, so the reason for his actions during the deadly demonstration-turned insurrection on the day Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s election victory are unclear. What is certain is that, like many athletes before him, he found it hard to adjust to ordinary life after an extraordinary sporting career.

His marriage collapsed, he was unable to hold down a series of sales jobs and he struggled to afford a place to live while paying child support for his three kids. He felt bitter and angry, losing motivation and gaining weight as he ate and drank to excess. He said his money problems prompted him to live in his Ford Fusion after his divorce in 2014. He would squeeze his 6ft 6in frame into the car and try to grab some sleep in Walmart parking lots. .......(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jan/19/klete-keller-us-capitol-invasion-olympic-swimmer

[dsc]

1. It is literally unimaginable that a person of color who did something like this

would get an article like this written about him or her. No way, no how.

[Bluethroughu]

2. To bad traitor.

Where he'll be, he won't have to worry about 3 meals and room and board.

I feel sorry for his children, that he chose an insurrection over spending time and money with them.

Not sorry for him.

[brush]

3. A white guy, Olympic gold medalist has so many advantages in our society.

He should've had it made. Talk too, that's another advantage. Sorry he ended up down on his luck but his situation is not Biden's fault. The anger/depression of so many magats who blew it was so on display on Jan. 6.

[frazzled]

4. In other words

He was a loser (in his personal and professional life) and a sucker (for believing Trump’s lies), just as one might suppose most of the other insurrectionists who followed Trump’s orders were.

I hate to use such words, but they were used by the outgoing president himself to describe members of the US military who were captured or killed. What an act of projection: his army of insurrectionists are being captured, and at least one was killed. So, back at you, Donald.

[demtenjeep]

5. his poor choices caused his circumstance

not Joe Biden