A Chicago tech CEO was arrested for unlawful entry at the US Capitol riots and placed on a leave of absence from his company

<p><img src="https://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5ff7839fd184b30018aada77-2009/Trump riot2.jpg" border="0" alt="Trump riot2" data-mce-source="Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="A pro-Trump rioter carries the lectern of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi through the Roturnda of the Capitol."></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>A Chicago-area tech CEO has been arrested and charged with unlawful entry to the US Capitol during the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-standoff-outside-senate-chamber-capitol-police-rioters-2021-1">riots in Washington, DC</a> on Wednesday, <a href="https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/us-capitol-police-arrests-january-6-2021">US Capitol Police said</a> on Thursday.&nbsp;</p><p>Bradley F. Rukstales from Inverness, Illinois, was one of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/number-of-arrests-capitol-riot-compared-blm-protests-chart-2021-1">dozens arrested</a> after thousands of people from across the US converged in Washington, DC, on Wednesday to protest the presidential vote certification in Congress. Encouraged by President's Trump <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-video-statement-capitol-rioters-we-love-you-very-special-2021-1">repeated false claims</a> that he lost the presidential election because of massive voter fraud, rioters clashed violently with police and stormed the Capitol building, leaving <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-destruction-inside-us-capitol-building-insurrection-riot-coup-2021-1">a trail of destruction</a> in their wake.</p><p>Rukstales is the chief executive of <a href="https://www.cogensia.com/">Cogensia</a>, a tech company based in the Schaumburg suburb northwest of Chicago that provides "data-driven marketing solutions," according to its website. In <a href="https://twitter.com/brad_rukstales/status/1347384943824031744">a statement posted to Twitter</a> on Thursday, Rukstales apologized for entering the Capitol.</p><p>"In a moment of extremely poor judgment following the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, I followed hundreds of others through an open set of doors to the Capitol building to see what was taking place inside," Rukstales said in the statement.&nbsp;</p><p>"My decision to enter the Capitol was wrong, and I am deeply regretful to have done so," he continued. "Without qualification and as a peaceful and law-abiding citizens, I condemn the violence and destruction that took place in Washington."</p><p>In <a href="https://twitter.com/Cogensia/status/1347340504934047747">a separate statement,</a> Rukstale's company, Cogensia, said they had placed the CEO on a leave of absence while they "assess further."</p><p>The company said that Rukstales was "not acting on behalf of Cogensia nor do his actions in any way reflect the policies or values of our firm."</p><p><img src="https://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5ff72c1bd184b30018aad80a-2381/OLIVIER DOULIERY:AFP via Getty1.jpg" border="0" alt="US Capitol riots aftermath" data-mce-source="OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP/Getty" data-mce-caption="The aftermath of the US Capitol Building riots."></p><p>In the past few years, Rukstales, who has been CEO of Cogensia for 19 years, has <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/search'q=rukstales&amp;type=donors">donated thousands to Republican political causes</a>, including $2,600 to President Trump's campaign and $2,400 to the Republican National Committee (RNC) in October 2020, according to Open Secrets. Also in October, he gave $250 to Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-glad-georgia-gop-candidates-perdue-loeffler-lost-runoffs-report-2021-1">lost her Georgia Senate runoff election</a> earlier this week to Democrat <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/raphael-warnock-victory-speech-quote-mother-pick-somebody-elses-cotton-2021-1">Raphael Warnock, the first Black senator</a> from Georgia.</p><p>In 2019 and 2019, Rukstales donated $1,250 to the RNC. He's also donated to Jeanne Ives, a former Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives.</p><p>While Rukstales is on a leave of absence from his company, Cogensia's COO and senior vice president, Joel Schiltz, has stepped in to lead the company in the interim, the company <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cogensia_we-have-been-informed-that-our-ceo-brad-activity-6753104806161764352-acyS">said on Linkedin</a>. Cogensia and Schiltz did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.&nbsp;</p><p>Before joining Cogensia in 2002, Rukstales was a senior vice president at InfoWorks, a Nashville-based management consulting company, for four years and an analytics manager at Michigan-based data marketing company R.L. Polk for five years in the 1990s, according to his LinkedIn profile.&nbsp;</p><p>In his statement, Rukstales said that he regretted that he had brought embarrassment to his family, colleagues, friends, and "fellow countrymen."&nbsp;</p><p>"It was the single worst personal decision of my life; I have no excuse for my actions and wish that I could take them back," he said.</p><p>In <a href="https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/01/07/brad-rukstales-of-inverness-arrested-at-u-s-capitol-riot-apologizes-and-expresses-embarrassment/">an interview with CBS Chicago</a> outside his Inverness home on Thursday evening before he posted his statement on Twitter, Rukstales declined to say why he entered the US Capitol Building.</p><p>"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and I regret my part in that," he told the network, adding that the violence was "terrible."</p><p>Rukstales did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment for this story. His statement on his arrest is his only tweet.&nbsp;</p><p>The lawmakers who had been forced out of the Capitol earlier on Wednesday due to the violent insurrection, resumed their session later that evening and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/republicans-objecting-to-electoral-votes-in-congress-live-updates-2021-1">certified Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' election win</a> at about 3:45 a.m. ET on Thursday.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-standoff-outside-senate-chamber-capitol-police-rioters-2021-1" >Video shows tense standoff between Capitol Police and pro-Trump rioters trying to enter the Senate chamber</a></strong></p><p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-destruction-inside-us-capitol-building-insurrection-riot-coup-2021-1" >Photos show the trail of destruction inside the US Capitol following an attempted coup by pro-Trump supporters</a></strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chicago-tech-ceo-arrested-capitol-riots-2021-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-if-jump-off-international-space-station-2018-6">What would happen if you jumped off the International Space Station</a></p>
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